Last Friday I got back from my annual two-week binge on students, Jesus, and IV staff, a.k.a. Rockbridge, our year-end, summer conference. Every year these two weeks remind me why I have the greatest job on the planet. Allow me to illustrate:
For the seventh year, I co-directed/directed the small group leader training track: 150 students over two weeks. On Sunday, the future small group leaders arrive (most of them rising sophomores) as decently gifted students who have varying amounts of clarity as to what they've gotten themselves into.
By mid-week, they're reading their Bibles exponentially more thoughtfully. One afternoon I facilitated a student Bible study prep session and I literally got teary as they unpacked and dug into the Scriptures. In four days, they were loving digging into the good news of Jesus.
By the end of the week, they've got a clear vision for a small group that's a God-centered community.
Over the course of six days, many of them report life-changing experiences in the Scripture and/or in their understanding of leadership. Old people (like me) don't have this kind of time or absorption/growth rate.
People who do this ministry thing (in any context) do it because a) we love God and b) we love people and seeing them grow. Campus ministry is a greenhouse. College students are mature enough emotionally and spiritually to begin to grasp deeper complexities of grace, forgiveness, mission, disciplines.
Students are also at a place when they have the time/space for engaging life (I got 150 small group leaders for a whole week! Church-world friends, any of you planning a week-long small group leader training course for your church small group leaders?) and their souls are churning over they key questions that God is passionate about engaging: who am I? who (or what) is God? what am I doing here?
The week at camp brings all those benefits front and center, and as a result, we see God do amazing stuff.
This year at Rockbridge was also full of quality incidental conversations with students, some sweet frisbee golf, helping our student Coordinating Team map out vision and large group talks for the first six weeks of the fall, and partnering with some of the most gifted people on the planet as I work with other IV staff from across the Region.
Now I'm home, mostly recovered. I generally have to go through post-Rockbridge-buzz de-tox, and this year is no different. I've already ideas for Rockbridge, 2010, which dulls some of the pain. In the mean time, there's plenty of other work to do.
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