Arkansas, the Natural State!

I know you can't really see, but that's Jen and I sitting at the end of that rock. This is us at Hawksbill Crag.

Hawksbill Crag & Lost Valley Part 2

We tried before, and it didn't work. We planned a day trip to see some natural sites of Arkansas, the Natural State, and we were rained out. We tried again, this time planning a camping trip with our SBS class. It was perfect. A little cold at night, but it was beautiful. The fall colors had nearly reached perfection. We saw a cliff face that stretched up 200 feet above us, and created a ceiling over our heads that reached back a couple hundred feet as well. We climbed into a cave, known as Eden Falls Cave, following the stream that ran through it until we reached a dark room with a waterfall inside. Then we drove and hiked to Hawksbill Crag, where we walked out on a rock edge that truly looks like the beak of a bird, and had a commanding view of an orange, red, and green Ozark National Forest. Once again I was overwhelmed with the awe, wonder, beauty, and power of God's creation, and I am thankful that he placed me where I can enjoy it.

If he only knew...

This past week in church, we had a guest speaker, a man living in Texas but originally from India. He serves as a missionary. He was very passionate, and his message was of the "kick-in-the-pants" sort. He conveyed the point that most American Christians are not familiar enough with the Bible, that we don't make reading it a priority. And I would agree with him, especially among the younger generation. He asked the congregation a question at this point. "How many of you can honestly say you read the Bible over and over again?"

I was so proud! Little did he know, that six students from our School of Biblical Studies were there with me. They had just finished studying Mark, and after church they had to return home and begin their next assignment, which included reading Matthew 3 times through before Monday night! He was preaching to the choir. No one raised hands, but we all looked around at one another, with knowing smiles on our faces.

EARS???

YWAM Ozarks now has a second school running on our campus. It's called EARS. What's that mean, you ask? It stands for Environment And Resource Stewardship. The school teaches students a Biblical worldview of the environment and creation, and man's role in it. It focuses on training students to teach communities and villages in 3rd world countries how to be self-sustaining, using such topics as pure water, hygiene, and proper farming techniques. There is more to it, but that's what I've gathered so far. They just arrived here after spending 3 weeks camping and canoeing in the Boundary Waters in Minnesota...luckies!

The leader of the school is from South Africa and has served as a missionary in the Amazon Jungle and in Kenya. He and his wife, along with four students are here for 5 weeks , before heading to Costa Rica. Having them here adds a new and exciting element to our campus. I'm looking forward to learning from them while they're here.