Thoughts on Believe '08: Anderson, IN

First, let me just say that Believe was a great event. It was a great chance for our jr. highers to "Connect."

Like all trips; we had our share of unexpected events. But nothing hampered the weekend. Here is a breakdown of how we started the weekend (picture it if you will)...

- got to the school "on time" to pick up 7th graders, the 8th graders were at a local church for the day doing an all day 8th grade thing.
- walked in office and one of the secretaries (both who go to the church) said "I've got good news and bad news, what do you want first?" This is never a good way to start a trip.
- I said, "let's go with the bad news." To which she responded by telling me that a couple of the students left their bags on the bus. We would have to drive to the bus drivers house to get them off the bus.
- Waited for the 7th graders. They were in gym (I mean PE). The teacher's words to dismiss them from class "Alright, all you believers can go now" - had to be one of the highlights of the weekend for me, it brought a smile to my face.
(we never heard the good news)
- Drove down the street to pick up 8th graders. Then on another 5-7 minutes to get the bags from the bus. Then back past all three stops to head out of town.
- I think we started off being at least 30 minutes off schedule

The trip was good. We got there after the first session started. But the good thing about that was, as we were walking in we ran into Brent the Stunt Guy outside. Got to talk to him for a few minutes, great guy.

Even the first night, the students were opening up and sharing. This is rare for me; it usually takes the first day to get them talking.

Scott Rubin did a phenominal job communicating with the students. Also with the adults in the "breakout session"

Brent was great doing his "stunt guy stunts." The students think he is crazy.

Eric Timm added a whole new dimension to the weekend with his art. I've seen him before at other conferences and such, but this Believe tour has to be my favorite stuff I've seen him do.

I had some great adults who really made the weekend a great time to connect with the students. We were able to have some really good, deep, conversations that were about more than surface issues. Hoping to have it just springboard into ongoing conversations...

Thanks to Johnny and the rest of the staff for all the work they put into making Believe a very jr. high intentional and effective ministry.

(maybe I'll post some pics soon)