Done Boatin!

Well, we finished another Grand Canyon Raft trip!  To be honest, this was probably one of the most amazing trips we've taken.  The people, as always, were amazing and the teaching of Tom Vail and Andrew Snelling was awesome.  The weather was a real challenge.  Our first couple of days was sooo cold.  It was actually 20 degrees below normal!  I froze because I packed for the normal weather patterns.  On one occasion while we were camping we watched it snow on the north rim!  One of the most amazing parts of our trip was our crew, (more later about them)!

We had challenges from the first day.  The morning that we were to leave one of the participants got sick and wasn't able to make the tirp after flying all the way to Las Vegas!  We felt so bad for her and her brother who was on the trip.  In one way though this worked out pretty interestingly.

The weather had been so bad that we had to fly to the Bar 10 Ranch to pick up some folks who had be stuck in the canyon for a couple of days waiting for the weather to clear up.  We then flew them to Paige, AZ and then finally to our launch site.  This was out of the ordinary for sure..  When we arrived at the launch site the "dauy bags" that were supposed to be sent witht he crew weren't there so we had to wait on someone to drive the bags to us.  When Julie arrived with the bags the crew asked if she would like to come on the trip with us since we had lost a person!  She agreed.  If the one passenger had not gotten sick she could not have come.  This actually worked out pretty well because we were able to share with Julie during the few days she was with us.

Meet Chelsea, Evan and Parker (Christina)!  I didn't get a picture of Julie, sorry.  These folks did an amazing job on the trip.  Almost from the beginning there were challenges.  Parker, who was our trip leader, hit a rock and bent the drive shaft in a rapid.  This was only the second time this has happened to her in 10 years.  After they put the backup motor on they realized that the linkage on this engine wasn't connected correctly so it wouldn't work.  This was a brand new engine, first time on the river!  We took the backup engine off of the other boat and put it on Parkers boat.  While doing this Julie got her finger caught in the motor and really hurt it!  It was bad looking.  Later that day she had to hike 9 miles out of the canyon to try and hitch hike to get home!  I felt horrible for her.

The next day while going through another rapid Parker's boat took another hit.  The "jackass", which is what they use to lift the motor out of the water so it doesn't hit the stones, broke!  They had to take it off and then reattach the motor directly to the frame of the boat.  It made her job VERY difficult.  We had no backup motor and she couldn't lift the engine out of the water to protect it from stones at certain points.  Needless to say she was very nervous.  That same day she had to make a run through a rapid that is notorius for rocks, without the ability to lift the engine.  She made it without damaging the motor.  This was amazing.

To make a long story short, because of all of the challenges and the way that those in attendance reached out and loved on the crew I believe they truly saw Christ at work.  All the kudo's in the world go to the participants.  Folks truly loved on our crew and genuinely lifted them up in prayer.  Parker told us how much that meant to them and that was really encouraging.

It's really hard to be upset at the bottom of the canyon though.  The scenery is just plain amazing.  The picture above is taken from my cot.  Those are my feet as I looked up from laying down.  Quite a view!  Below you see where I was.

We had such good people on this trip.  One lady, see below, truly touched my heart.  She and her family used to be in the Philippines as missionaries.  Her husband died and she returned to the United States.  She has two sons who are great young men.  They truly blessed my heart listening to them speak on the last day.  The one young man told us how he though he was just going to be with a bunch of old people looking at a bunch of rocks!  That got a good laugh from us all.  He told us that he really had enjoyed his time on the river though.  Below is his mom give a massage to one of the other folks.  She set up a cot and gave those weary travelers a massage whenever they needed it.  She is a truly sweet lady.

We had another lady who has a ministry in Canada sharing DVD's and her testimony with all kinds of people. Another man who teaches on the Creation/Evolution controversy and does a great job.  He's 71 years old and did a great job keeping up with everyone.  A young man who does hiking and outdoor adventures with city kids to show them a different world, a pastor, a retired teacher and his wife, a public school teacher, a housewife, a couple of retired men who were just funnier than anything you can imagine and so on.  It was such an eclectic group and God truly blessed us.

My buddy Tom Vail took some medicane before the trip that made his hair grow!!!  Not good!!  He's been on the river now for 32 years.  He's really a blessing to be with.  He loves the Canyon so much and uses it to bring folks to a closer walk with the Lord, and it works.  Everyone on our trip was blessed.  How can you not be, look at the beauty in one of the side canyons below.

I wish I could go into more detail on our conversations with the crew, I just don't feel it would be right.  Let me suffice it to say they were very open, honest and encouraging.  After a few days people can see what your heart truly is and will open up.  I was blessed to be able to share with these young men and women.  I ask that you lift them in prayer though and that the Lord will draw them close to Himself.

On the last day I took the picture below.

After 9 days you get pretty ugly.  I left the river at 12 pm eastern time, got showered and shaved then caught my flight to Las Vegas.  When I checked in at the airport they had an earlier flight that I could get on!  Awesome!  When I first booked the flight I had to leave at ll pm, arrive at 7 am and speak at 9:30 am.  This wasn't good!  I was able to get into Atlanta at 9:30 pm and to the hotel by 11 pm.  I needed that sleep bad.

On the airplane from Las Vegas I sat next to Darin and had the chance share with him.  He told me that he was a Christian and was interested in the Canyon trip.  As we talked me made the comment about how he was one of those type Christians that didn't care how God created.  He told me that God could have created in six million years, six thousand years, six days or six seconds.  It just didn't matter to him.  I responded with him, "You're right!  God could have created in any way that He wanted to do.  The only restriction is that He had to create the way that He said that He did!  If He didn't do it the way that He said that He did then He's a liar and that's not possible."  I then spoke with him about the challenge of having millions of years of death and suffering before Adam sinned and how Jesus quoted Genesis 25 times as real history, not fairy tale or fable.  I also took him to Exodus 20:11 where God Himself wrote on stone that He created in six days.  Plus a few other stops along the way.  It was a very cordial conversation and I believe it caused him to think.  That's all we can do, give a reason for the hope that lies within us, for why we believe what we believe.  The Holy Spirit will then do His job!  Pray for Darin, he has 3 young children and a wonderful wife that loves him.  Pray the Lord will raise him up as a godly example to his family.  It was a privilege to share with him.

Spoke 4 times on Sunday in Marietta, GA.  Really enjoyed being with the kind folks at Noonday Baptist Church.  They are some of the most hospitable folks I've ever had the privilege to be around.  Speak again tonight and then go home tomorrow!  Yeah!  I'm very excited to see Masami, I really miss her.

Stay bold,

ck