Posted by: Megan Jones, Shannon Lee, and Mr. Hood
We had another great day here at Long View! The day started with a hearty breakfast at 8 AM - egg and sausage sandwiches with cheese or cereal. After breakfast we had a devotional time when sophomores were encouraged to reflect quietly on what the Lord has done for them so far. We were all together in the dining hall or on the porch, but each person was spending time alone with God.
At 9:15 we began to do work projects for Long View Ranch. The first project was for our entire group - to form a line of people passing rocks up to the four-wheeler ATV so as to clear the path of danger. As we passed the rocks, at times people were distracted and not paying attention. As a result, Megan tossed a small rock at Christian Skrepcinski and it hit him on the forehead. Thankfully, he was not seriously injured! The work continued until we cleared a good portion of the rocks. We later learned the rocks were used for other things such as lining pathways and other decorative purposes.
After the group project, we all split up into different sections of the camp. One group painted the posts for the electric fence with a new coat of paint: a bright, bright red. Another group turned a normal, white pickup truck into a camoflagued piece of art. There was another group that was clearing land to add space to the corral. They cut down trees and tossed them onto a fire. A group of guys dug holes and installed posts for a mountain biking course. Yet another group spread piles of mulch onto pathways and created new ones, as well. Our friends at Long View Ranch shared with the group that we did more work for them than they could have done in several months of working.
After work, we had a well-earned lunch of chicken sandwiches, followed by an afternoon of freetime. The main activity of the day was going to be paintballing, but it began to rain heavily and we had to delay it by fifteen minutes. While we waited, we listened to a Vietnam veteran, Bill Wagner, who shared his experience in that the mission we are on does not only last while we are on the trip, but for a lifetime. Afterwards, those who were interested in playing paintball headed to the woods where they had fun doing battle with each other. Those who were not interested had the option to hang around the camp, resting or playing games.
We had dinner at 6 o' clock, followed by group activities. We played games - the first was an altered version of 'Never Have I Ever', where those who were 'it' had to say something that they had experienced and quickly switch chairs with someone as the entire group ran chaotically across the circle of chairs. It was a great time of laughter and getting to know each other. Our ending activity was an opportunity to share positive attributes of each other within small groups. It was wonderful to see how God has made us all differently. We concluded with a time of prayer in a large circle including lifting up our friend Ken Poirer (father-in-law to Bonnie here at camp), who was taken to the hospital today with heart problems and will need to have heart bypass surgery. Please keep him in your thoughts.
Also, please pray for the weather tomorrow! We have a lot of outdoor projects to complete and really need for there not to be rain.
Signing off from Tennessee, and missing everyone back at home! ~The Sophomores
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