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Summer stories
A story
So it's a huge rafting day. Kids are getting brought up in busses. Lots of busses. I'm standing around waiting with two other guides for our bus of kids to arrive. Our bus of kids rolls up and the kids start pouring out. Boy, boy, boy, another boy. It's an endless line of males. The entire group I'm a part of is boys. Did I get put in the wrong place? Nope. My crew of paddlers come down to the water. I have a group of freshman boys. Excellent! I'm already lovin' today hopefully I'll be able to share something with these guys. I've never been a freshmen boy, so I'm thinkin' God, this is all you. Please be in this boat and speak through me so these boys hear you. He did! We started paddling down river and these guys have already gotten me to admit that I was Garth, as in Wayne and Garth, for Halloween last year. We're having an excellent time. I asked each of the guys to ask 1 question and the rest of us would answer. So we all shared our favorite food, our happiest moment, our most embarrassing moment etc When we get to my question I ask if I can tell a story before I ask my question. They say OK, so I tell my testimony and explain how my faith had to be something I had to make my own. I had to develop my own relationship with Christ. I then ask my question--if Christianity is the boat, your own relationship with Christ, where are you on the river? Are you swimming next to the boat (around Christianity, but haven't claimed it for yourself) on the shore? I had been as sincere as I could, and the guys in turn were really honest with me. Three of my guys said they were in the boat and three more weren't. I asked why. One didn't feel connected to God, another just didn't know. One boy said he had one foot in the boat but couldn't seem to climb in all the way. I nodded, talked, listened, and we continued down the river. Towards the end of the day we pulled out at swimmers rapid, swam the rapid and then mark, one of the two other guides I was working with, presented an invitation to commit to Christ. An invitation to climb in the boat. Two of the guys from my boat raised their hands and committed their lives right there on the beach! Totally righteous. It's just a huge joy to see these boys decide they want to live their lives for Christ. Awesome. Please pray that these guys take that commitment home and apply it to their lives. --C