U.M. Army was awesome, but not for the reasons I thought it would be. I thought I would make some amazing spiritual connections while there. That didn’t happen for me. But it did happen for a lot of other people. I feel as though personally I’ve been on a kind of plateau with God for a while now. I’m not really sure why. But just seeing that God is still moving in the lives of people and is still making breakthroughs is enough to keep me happy and to give me cause to rejoice. I feel like I’ve grown in vision; mission trips can make a strong impact even if they’re not evangelical in nature.
I have to say that there were times this week when I was bored. I signed up late so I got a crappy job (I was one of two guys in charge of tools). Because I’m not 21 I couldn’t drive according to U.M. Army rules, so I was stuck at base camp a lot of the time doing odd jobs. So a lot of the time I had to suck it up and just do the work no one else wanted to do.
I make it sound like I had an awful time. That’s not the case at all. I had a great time, mostly because I met a lot of cool people. This kid named Dennis came because Ken Barse had asked him to, not because he really wanted to. I can tell you that this kid’s life has been changed dramatically because he saw God at work throughout the week.
Emily was one of the helpers. She was a color group assistant, which meant that she moved between her team’s work sites and helped out the color group leader in any way that she could. She’s a year younger than me and attended the University of Ohio for a semester before deciding that she didn’t like it. I think it’s cool that she’s taking time off to figure out just what it is that she wants to do. She’s not willing to just settle. Out of everyone there I hope I get to know her more in the future.
The guy who was in charge of tools with me, a guy named Vin, was really awesome to get to know. He’s lived a really exciting life, with trips to Africa that he likes to brag about. His favorite verse is Romans 10:9, so he’s okay in my book.
The worship leader was a guy named Josh, who reminded me so much of Josh Davis back at FSU that it scared me. He provided so much encouragement throughout the week. It’s been a long time since I got to talk to a strong male believer that was near my age that I felt like I had a lot in common with (no offense to you Kenny, I just didn’t see you as much throughout the week). It was a good feeling. I could go on and on about people I met and got to know better. That was beyond a doubt the best part: getting to know people.
Two things surprised me about square dancing (which was the Tuesday night event). First of all, it’s more of a workout than I thought it would be. Second, I kind of like it. 
I hate to admit it, because in general I hate to dance, but it was fun. For most of it I was Emily’s partner, and for the last dance I was partners with this girl named Grace who was a crazy 15-year-old nut of a kid but a real sweetheart. We invited a square dancing club to come in to teach us. They were dang good. And the announcer’s voice sounded like every other square dance announcer voice I’ve ever heard. I don’t know how they do that. Maybe it’s the same guy. In any case, it was one of the few times I have enjoyed dancing because of the dancing and not just because of the girl I was dancing with (though admittedly, dancing with Emily only added to the fun of the evening).
On Wednesday night we had a feet washing ceremony. For those who don’t know the significance, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, which was a job traditionally done by the lowest of servants. Jesus was their master, but He wanted to make it clear that He had come to serve, and that they should serve others in the same way. I’ve had my feet washed twice before at Rez Week the past two years, but this was the first time that I got to wash someone else’s feet in addition to having my feet washed. Vin and I washed each other’s feet. Vin found this act to be particularly powerful, and for the rest of the week we seemed to be much closer.
What work did we do all week? We completed 28 sites when all was said and done. Some of these were small jobs (painting, minor house repairs) and others were large and time consuming (building wheel chair and access ramps). On Thursday we invited all of the clients (the people we did the work for) to dinner with us back at the church we were staying at. One of the cool things about this was that the mayor of Bridgeport himself came out and gave us an official citation. He declared the week to officially be U.M. Army Week in Bridgeport. Maybe that doesn’t sound like much since it’s a small town in the middle of nowhere, but it was awesome to see that what we were doing was being appreciated by people we weren’t even doing the work for. We had a sharing time after dinner, and almost all of the clients stood up and expressed their appreciation.
There’s one last thing I’d like to mention about the week. Saturday morning we had communion for the second time during the program (we had it on Sunday night as well). Pastor Tom got up to bless the sacraments. As he did so he got very emotional. This man, while a passionate preacher, is someone that I have never seen become overcome by emotion. In the grand scheme of things it wasn’t that big of a deal; I think everyone in the camp had gotten teary eyed at least once. But to see that even he had been touched and had no doubt grown from the week told me that it didn’t matter who you were or how close you were to God before you came. When you left you were closer to Him.
So what’s the verdict? Will I go back next year? I hope so. If I’m in Connecticut when it’s going on next summer I will be there. I’m not sure exactly where God’s calling me next summer. It’s still a long way off and I haven’t started to pray about it yet. But I can tell you without a doubt that U.M. Army is well worth a week of your time, no matter who you are. I hope it’s in His plan for me to go be apart of it again.
