I remember my first real road trip as a young man. It was with a group of fifty plus teenagers from Colorado Bible Church. Our destination was a camp in Hollywood, Florida...in July...on an overcrowded school bus with no air conditioning. Did I mention that our starting point was Denver, Colorado? Strange smells indeed. Let's just say that this particular summer camp didn't conclude with a baptism in the Atlantic Ocean. It started with one, just to scrub the stink off.
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In spite of the odor challenges I will never forget that spiritually life-altering week. God used it to transform my young life. It was at this camp that I really began to catch a vision for what God could do through an army of fired up teenagers (there were 2,000 of them or so at this particular camp.) It was there that God moved my heart to make a difference with my life by investing in teenagers.
To be honest this change of perspective began before I ever got to Hollywood. It started on the bus ride. Driving from Denver to south Florida was a two day extravaganza and Kenny Sanchez, the bus driver and my youth pastor, asked me to stay up with him to talk as he drove into the late hours of the night. As teenagers snored and snoozed all around us we had a deep conversation about the power of the gospel and the difference that one teenager could make. Kenny believed in the power of the gospel and the potential of young people. Kenny believed in me. When I walked off that bus two days later I wasn't just soaked in sweat I was drenched in faith. I knew that God wanted to use me, and other teenagers, to make a difference
That road trip changed my life.
