Faith Expedition

“Why am I doing this?“  One of those things we say, from time to time, with great exasperation.  In the days leading up to a big trip, mixed in with the anticipation and excitement, this question invariably rises in me.  “Why?”   

This coming Saturday, very early, our group leaves for Mountain TOP.   For those who don’t know, the “TOP“ stands for Tennessee Outreach Project.  Redeemer has sent many teams of youth and adults to Mountain TOP over the years, going back to the mid 80s.

What is Mountain TOP?  The quick, easy response is that it has something to do with serving those living in poverty in rural Appalachia by helping with various home projects:  painting, cleaning brush, or small construction projects such as building wheelchair ramps or sheds.

But if that was all there was to it, one might ask, “why do you have to go all the way to Tennessee to do that? Surely there are people in need right here, close to home!!“

But there is much more to it than that.  Mountain TOP isn’t just a “service project”;  it is more like a “faith expedition."   Our Christian story often speaks of journeys, of leaving the known and the comfortable and venturing forth into the unknown, in faith.  Like Abraham in the Genesis story, we answer God’s call to go forth in faith, “to a land that I will show you.”  (Genesis 12)

The “land” that mountain toppers find is an intentional Christian community, an intergenerational summer camp.  Here, there is a good bit of the usual “campy” fun, but instead of activities such as boating and archery, there are daily excursions into the community, into sometimes challenging situations.  We daily leave behind our pleasant base camp and venture ”into the valley below.”  With our newfound friends we go!  We work hard, we practice love, and somewhere along the way we encounter Christ.  

Sure, there are hard and sometimes disagreeable tasks to do, things that most of our kids (and some of our adults!) never imagined doing.  These turn out to be rather light burdens.  Perhaps to their surprise, time for quiet prayer is relished and evening worship is deeply felt.  Those who make this journey discover others just like them, and together they come to find (once again) a God who accepts them as they are and invites them in deeper.     

No mere service project, this…but a journey of transformation.  I think, in the end, that’s the WHY.  

But sometimes, the WHY is easy to forget.  And so, as our fears and our anxieties enter in.  Still, we pack our bags and gather our tools and ready ourselves for the unknown…   

And we go.