07 Mar What now? RISE LIKE THE PHOENIX.

So you might be wondering: What on

earth does Salt’n Light do the rest of the year once the crazy, jam-packed summer is over? A noble question indeed my dear watson, and since you asked, here are just a few of the things we’ve been up to since you last heard from us:

1. NEW STUFF- If you come to any of our fall rallies or events you’ll see some, well, NEW STUFF. We have some new people working with us throughout the fall and spring; people who are just as wonderful and crazy as the summer staff you know and love 🙂 You might hear some beatboxing or hang out with us at one of our youth retreats. And you’ll definitely see some new dramas and skits, some of which may or may not involve paper hearts,sticky chairs, and Micheal Buble. ( I mean seriously, how long can you go writing dramas without having at LEAST one that involves Michael Buble?)

2. Getting lost in Maryland- We recently did an event in the downtown Cumberland area of Maryland. The interesting thing about this particular town is :Train Tracks. Now, using our expert technologies of GPS and Mapquest, we were able to actually make it to Cumberland. But getting to the event site proved EXTRA difficult considering that the only way to get there was to cross the train tracks…upon which sat a completely immobilized, large boxcar train. This was a problem. After driving around Cumberland for a good 20 minutes, we found our way across the tracks at a place where they were unblocked HOWEVER, the one way streets of cumberland, combined with the “walking-only” streets (which for the record I never knew existed until then) made our adventure a little longer than we would have hoped. When we had finally parked and taken a few deep breaths, we watched in slight amusement as the train that had blocked our way ..began moving.

The event in Maryland was a blast. We got to lead worship and share our dramas and dance on the street of an otherwise completely secular event. People came with their lawn chairs and sat listening, watching, and talking with us for the 3 hours we were there. It was an experience I had never had before: ministering on the corner of a street for a lengthy period of time to people who may or may not know Jesus. It was truly beautiful to be able to worship in a context like that and pray the words and life of God over a somewhat broken and hurting urban area. I am thankful that our team had the immense opportunity to share at an event like this and I hope we will do so again in the future.

3. Preparing for a Showdown- Battleball 2010 is approaching and we’ve got all hands on deck. A showdown of this magnitude needs to involve refs, musicians, technicians, chefs, and of course…a patient and just scoreboard keeper. We are working tirelessly to make this an incredible event, as it has been in years past. But even now, as discussions and dreams of victory loom on the horizon in the hearts of youth and youth leaders alike…I would like to quote a conversation I overhead last year between a youth and youth leader. Amidst the chaos of the battleball tournament last year, a young man glanced disparagingly at the scoreboard and sighed to his leader, “We’ve lost 4 games and only won ONCE! There’s no way we can win the tournament now!”

The youth leader placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder and looked confidently into the middle-distance saying, “YES. BUT we will RISE like the PHOENIX.” The boy glanced at him oddly, shrugged his shoulders and walked away. But I hope that mentality LIVES ON in the brave souls of our battleball competitors this year…despite wins or losses or ties or hard circumstances.. RISE LIKE THE PHOENIX.

Keep bein Salt ‘n Light friends.

“Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Matthew 4:4

~Christie