This reflection was written by Senior High leader Ryan Gregory, who participated in the Senior High WorkCamp to New Orleans. He delivered this at our WorkCamp Vespers worship service in August. What a great testament to years of service through Fourth Church Youth!Arizona
Mexico
Memphis
Virginia
New Mexico
Birmingham, Alabama
Nogales, AZ and Mexico
Seattle
Hazard, Kentucky
New Orleans
These are the 10 sr. high workcamps I've been privileged to be a part of. Each workcamp has its own spirit and memories.
Memories from this New Orleans trip include quality time in the kitchen with my meal crew; cutting, installing, spackling and sanding baseboards for Ms. Sophie's apartment; the crawfish eating contest between John and Amber; wandering through the French Quarter with 24 high school students; and of course, the 37-hour train/bus ride back home.
One of my favorite memories from this trip was the day we took a driving tour through New Orleans to see some of the areas hardest-hit by Katrina. Jackie Valentine is a former member of the sr. high group. She graduated in 2005, and for the past year she's been in New Orleans working with Habitat for Humanity. Our caravan of 6 SUVs was following Jackie in her Jeep. I was driving directly behind her and thought to myself "how cool is this?" This young woman, who I've known since she was a freshman in high school, is showing us this city which we only knew from news reports on tv. When she was in high school, I was one of her leaders. In New Orleans, she was now leading me, and the rest of our group.
This excursion was a clear reminder to me what great kids we have in this sr. high group. These young men and women are going to do great things. Heck, they already are doing great things. We have amazing actors, musicians, athletes, scholars, writers, artists, future church leaders in our midst.
As I said, I've been on 10 of these trips, and unfortunately this will likely be my last. My wife Jessica has accepted a call to become the associate pastor at Northminster Presbyterian Church in Evanston, and I will be joining her in worship there.
I'll miss this group terribly, and I will continue to read my collection of care cards every once in awhile.
I didn't know what I was getting myself into 10 years ago. And as the memories of all those trips begin to blur together over time, what will remain clear in my mind is how much fun I've had spending time with these kids and getting to know all the leaders.
The one constant through all these years of workcamps, retreats and lock-ins has been Mark Nelson (except in 2006 when he skipped the Seattle trip to get married). It's been a pleasure serving beside Mark, and apparently we're long-lost twins because most of the kids and many of the leaders (including John) got us mixed up on more than one occasion. At least once every day on this trip I was called Mark, and Mark was called Ryan. I suppose that would bother me if I didn't like the guy so much.
So to my twin Mark, John, all the other leaders and all the kids, I thank you for making my last sr. high workcamp so special.
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