About 1 hour into the trip we needed to make an unscheduled stop. One of the students was ill and decided to place the contents of her stomach all over the lead van. Glad it wasn't mine! We decided that the lead van would wait until the student's mother arrived and would then set off to catch up. The way we figured it they would catch up to us sometime during our lunch stop and they did.
The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived at Milligan College in time for registration, dinner and unpacking.
The week was an unbelievable experience for the students as well as the adults. Every day started with a main session that was followed by Encounter time - a time to spend alone with God. It is an awesome sight to see all those students spread out on the campus, silently reading, praying and thinking. The worship band incredible, the food - well college food need I say more, the speakers thought provoking and this years mission - Rapha House. Words can not describe the video that was shown - dry eyes were far and few.
The week included intense ultimate Frisbee games, a dodge ball tournament in which our two teams faced each other in the 1/4 finals, a hike to a beautiful waterfall (Laurel Falls), four baptisms - one in the falls and one in the snake creek during a storm - two back home, a student making the decision to go into missionary work, lots and lots of stairs, laughs and tears and a time for the students to bond.
On the way home we got stuck in traffic and I mean stuck. I-81 was closed for 45 minutes due to an awful accident. So being on a youth ministry trip what do we do - park the van and "play" in traffic.
CIY summer conferences are always intense but I wouldn't miss them for anything. The only bad thing is they have to come to an end.
