An Invasion of Youth!

How we managed to accommodate 13 guests in our home for the weekend is still a bit unclear, but it was a ton of fun. Last month I taught for a week for the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) base in Jacksonville, FL. At the end of my last session I casually mentioned that if any of them were ever in Atlanta, they were more then welcome in our home. The school leader approached me later to ask how serious I was about the invitation. "Why do you ask?", I said. "Well, we're going to be in a conference in Charlotte, NC, and I'm wondering if we can by your place on our way home and stay with you guys for the weekend."

So the 8 students (18-21 years old) and 5 staff for this season's DTS (Discipleship Training School) converged upon us on Friday evening. We had a wonderful time picking up conversations initiated in JAX; drove up to Helen, GA; ate and fellowshipped a lot; and basically enjoyed getting to know each other better. Patrice and I love having guests in our home, so it was great fun. Josiah also enjoyed having the gang around, and didn't seem to mind being crammed into the back seat with a few of the girls.

The event was a great opportunity for us to get a bit of experience regarding what life will be like for us during The Confab, which is scheduled to begin on January 23rd. A few of the staff and students are interested in attending one of our confabs next year, so that was encouraging. The leadership couple, Todd & Sarah Thibault, hope to come back sometime for a visit as well. They are a very cool young couple who think way out of the box, and have a strong call to missions. Nothing thrills me more than the opportunity to positively influence young people who want to work full-time in some aspect of ministry, particularly foreign missions.