Celebrating 50 years of Christian camping in Iowa

  

Camp Ewalu
Mission Statement:

In the rhythm
of Christian life,
Ewalu serves as
a place apart
to connect
the Word of God
with the world
of God.

La Frontera:  Meeting Jesus
on an EWALU Pack & Paddle Trip

Pack and Paddle TripThe Road to Emmaus: Luke 24:13-35

In the Gospel story, the disciples tell Jesus (not knowing it was him) that they had hoped he would be the one to set Israel free.  Had Hoped - Hope in the past tense… hope turned hopeless.  The one in whom they hoped, the one in whom they had placed their faith and trust, the one who they had given up their lives to follow, had been crucified.  And when he died, so did their hopes.  Have you ever felt so hopeless? Have you ever been in a situation where you felt your hopes fading fast?  But then, in the midst of their hopelessness, Jesus met them on the road… but they did not know it was him.   Has Jesus ever met you on your road?  Did you know it was him?

A couple of weeks ago, I was one of two counselors for an off camp trip where we went backpacking and canoeing.  We began the canoeing portion on Wednesday, but it stormed all morning so we got a very late start.  We put our canoes in the water at 4pm, and then we were a slow group, so a trip we thought would take 2 ½ hours actually took almost 5. 

Canoeing in Northeast IowaSome of the campers had swamped (flipped over) their canoes, so we were all wet.  It was getting cold and we were hungry.  The campers had great attitudes, but I could feel my hopes fading with the setting of the sun.  We got to our campsite around 8:45 pm, and it was getting dark.   The ground was getting wet with dew, so it’ would be hard to start a fire to cook supper, and the water pump was a long way down the road.

We were hungry, wet, and cold, and it was quickly getting dark.  Then, one of the campers got an injury.  It was one of those times when, just when things seem to be at their worst, something else goes wrong.

And after the walk to Emmaus, Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread…

We weren’t the only ones at that campsite.  A United Methodist youth group from Creston, Iowa was also camping there.  They saw our difficult situation, and they came over to us.  They saw that we were hungry, and they told us they had lots of food left over from their supper.  They had sandwich fixings, and they offered made-to-order sandwiches for each of us.  They also had leftover stew, which they heated up and gave to us.

In Matthew 25, Jesus says “I was hungry, and you gave me food.”

As we were eating, we realized we didn’t have much water with us, and we weren’t sure where the water pump for the campground was… we had only been told it was a short walk down the road.  Don’t worry, they said, we will go fill one of our 5 gallon containers full of water and bring it to you.  Just give us the container back in the morning.

In Matthew 25, Jesus says “I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink.”

It was dark, and all the firewood was wet with dew, so we were going to have a difficult time setting up our campsite and starting a fire.  But our United Methodist neighbors brought over some of their dry wood and started a fire for us.  They also brought over a bright, fancy lantern we could use to have light at our campsite.  Use it as long as you need it, they said, just bring it back to us in the morning.

In Matthew 25, Jesus says “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

Friday GoodbyesIn that place, in the midst of our hopelessness, Jesus met us.  Matthew 25 also says “That which you do for the least of these you also do for me.”  We certainly were in a situation where we were the “least of these.” We were having troubles, we needed help, and Jesus came to us through the United Methodist youth group.  It amazed me how well the situation fit our theme verse for the summer, which was Matthew 25:35.  We were hungry, and they gave us food.  We were thirsty, and they gave us something to drink.  We were strangers, and they welcomed us.

Our group didn’t get a chance to sit down and do a Bible study that night, but we all learned more from this experience than we ever could have learned from a sit-down Bible study.  We learned about real ministry.  We learned about God’s active presence in this world.  And we learned about how Jesus meets us through our neighbors.  Because for us, just like the disciples at Emmaus, Jesus was made known to us in the breaking and sharing of the bread.

By Kristen Corr
Explorer/Mini-Camp Coordinator
Ewalu Summer 2006