REVved - Mount Hermon Afterglow

Amazing!  Stupendous!  Glorious!  Wondrous!  Heavenly!

We’re home after a week “on the mountain!”  Mount Hermon Camp exceeded all of my expectations.  From the time we arrived until the time we left we were convinced that this was a Divine Appointment!  As we said our final good-byes yesterday morning, I felt like a kid at camp who didn’t want to leave all of my new friends.  This was an amazing spiritual adventure.

One of the best parts of the week for Jan and me was the opportunity to once again minister with my friend, Dave Burns. (photo above) Dave and I served together at FBC for just over 6 years, and since his return to California he got married to Leslie (after the death of his first wife, Terri) and joined the Mount Hermon Staff.  He is the reason why this opportunity came to me.  Thanks Dave!  Dave’s band led the worship in each session.  I found myself regularly “lost in wonder, love, and praise!”  To reconnect and serve with Dave was simply too good to be true.

To top it off, I also had the honor of teaching the Bible alongside international evangelist, Luis Palau.  I taught in the morning sessions – a series from the Book of Job – and Luis handled the evening sessions - a study in Joshua.  Luis is not only a powerful teacher of the Word, he is hilariously funny!  We had fun playing off each other’s talks (if you were there, remember -> “wafting incense!”) and by the end of the week, it felt like we were life-time friends.  No pretense or pomposity with this amazing man of God.  He’s spoken in 72 countries to over 25 million and has seen over 1 million people respond to faith in Christ – and is one of the most humble men I’ve ever met.  He and his wife, Pat, accepted us and warmly welcomed us into the Mount Hermon family – and we’re forever grateful.  Their whole family was there and as an extra blessing, we got to meet all four sons and their families. (Kevin, Keith, Andrew, and Steve.)

Mount Hermon is situated among the towering California redwood trees.  The camp has created a one of a kind zip-line canopy course in the forest on their property.  It’s not open to the public yet, but to my surprise I was given an opportunity to try it out on Friday afternoon, with seven other people.  140 ft. high narrow platforms, speedy “zip lines” (the longest was 440 ft.), and stunning views of the redwoods from the “canopy” section was a life-time adventure.  The adrenaline was pumping like mad as we walked across a bridge and stood on that first platform.  Pictures don’t do it justice.  (I’ll include a few below to give perspective.)  My speaking was done by this point, so if I had become a fatality, it would have been OK, and Luis agreed to do my funeral if it was necessary!  (Ha!)  I can’t imagine I’ll ever again do something with a higher thrill factor than this!

 (Bridge)

 (Platform)

 (Me, arriving at end of course)

I’ve got so much more to write, but I need to keep this short.  Here’s a quick summary of some other highlights of the week: 1) The way the campers engaged with Jan and me – we had so many great conversations, 2) The fun connection with several Mt. Hermon staff, 3) The Opening Night “David Betterman Show,” 4) The piano/organ concert by Dave Talbott, 5) Visits by some of our FBC friends and some friends from our first church in Michigan, 6) blueberry scones, 7) Purell and plastic gloves – after a couple of cases of sickness early in the week, all campers were met at the door of the dining hall with Purell and required to wear plastic gloves in the buffet line at EVERY meal!  YES!, 8) Joking with Chris about “zip-zip” (<—you had to be there!), 9) Cotton candy on Friday night, 10) Capitola, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, and 11) Frogs!  Every night outside our room, we were serenaded by bass notes of the loudest frogs I’ve heard in my life!

 (A parting gift from one of the campers!)

You can probably tell, Jan and I had the “time of our lives” at Mount Hermon,  Although we arrived home tired, it’s a “good tired” - the sense that we were able to serve the Lord with all of our strength.  God stirred us all in some amazing ways.  Thank you Lord, and thank you Mount Hermon!

Comments

[Sandy]

Mr. & Mrs. Rev,
What a delight to read about your Mt. Hermon experience :-) I was praying that it would be fruitful and memorable...it sounds like it was all that and much much more! So glad that you both arrived home safe and sound :-) We miss you both!! Have a special day tomorrow!!

[Anna Thorne]

Love the pictures, you two are adorable as always!! Zip lines are so much fun...I have only ever tried the one at Camp IdRaHaJe up in Bailey, but the one at Mt Hermon sounds even better! Glad it was a great week for you both, and I second Sandy...enjoy tomorrow especially, along with the rest of your vacation! Love you both!!

[Darla Swan]

Great to have you back. Praise God for such an "up-lifting" vacation!

Happy Anniversary to you both. May God truly continue to bless you both with His love and your love for each other.

[Steve-O]

First of all - Happy Anniversary! Second - sounds like an incredible time at Mount Hermon (am I allowed to be jealous that you got to spend a week with Dave & Leslie?). Third - enjoy the rest of your time off, but know that we miss you and are praying for you!

[Christine Ives]

i'm so glad you had fun! We were there the previous week and I'm so bummed we were not there the week you were there. I joked to Dave Burns that I hoped he told you to bring Germ-X. We had a few of our family members get sick, and we just barely dodged the bullet. I'm glad to hear that they took immediate steps (the next week!) to try to abate the germs! (the first year we went there, all of us got very sick; i think it is common in a camp situation). Glad you enjoyed your time and hopefully the next time you are out there speaking, we can coordinate our family reunion trip to be there (by the way for other readers, this is the BEST way to do a family reunion!!)

Have a blessed day
Christine Ives