When I was a kid, I used to play with matchbox cars. I had an orange track that I would build. I would build an oval or on a good day a figure 8. In order for my cars to go around the track without stopping, I had to put an accelerator on the track. It was two rubber wheels that spun in such a way that they accelerated the car so that it would make it all the way around the track. It would almost run out of momentum as it reached the accelerator and then it would be shot out at full speed and complete another lap, and another lap and another lap after that.
The annual retreat is my matchbox car accelerator for Young Life in Africa and the Middle East. I come in a little bit slow but leave at full speed to go hard after what God is doing through Young Life Africa and the Middle East.
I have three most favorite parts of from the retreat. (If God can be a Trinity, why can’t I have most three favorite parts.) My most favorite part is that I love to connect with the African staff. There are few staff that I know better from traveling to Africa and love reconnecting with them, but I also love getting to know other Africa and Middle East staff as we share a meal together or wait for club to start. My most favorite part is hearing the stories of what God is doing in Africa and the Middle East. At every meal and at every club an African or Middle Eastern staffer shares a story about what God is doing in or through his or her life. I love to hear those stories of what God is doing. My most favorite part is worshipping with people across all different continents and all different denominations and all different races in all different languages. I don’t know that there is a better picture of heaven than that.
I can’t wait to get to the accelerator next January in Nashville. In the meantime, I will do all that I can to support the A/ME staff from home, Charleston, WV.
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