Aidan leaned over and whispered, "How'd you like to be the third guy?"
I smiled. The "third guy" stayed put while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left their indelible mark on the lunar landscape. I whispered back, "Yeah . . . but they couldn't have done it without him." Michael Collins was crucial to the success of the mission; he was their ride home.
Really, the story of the lunar landing couldn't have happened without the third guy . . . or the fourth . . . fifth . . . and sixth. As we watched Apollo 11 at OMSI, that was one of the most striking take-aways for me. There were so many people who had precise operations to execute, whether it was before, during, or after man landed on the moon. That "one small step" was preceded by countless other steps taken by thousands of men and women.
The next day, I found myself in 1 Samuel 30. David had just defeated the Amalekites, and his men were ready to divide the spoil. Some of the men had been too weary to fight; the "wicked and worthless men among those who went with David" into battle didn't feel they deserved a share of the loot. Yet David declared, "For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike."
He who stays by the baggage -- he who stays aboard Columbia -- shares in the victory.
In just a couple of weeks, Jamie and I will be taking a team of students to Celje, Slovenia, where we once again have the opportunity to help Johnny and Brooke and their Josiah Venture (JV) team lead an English camp for middle school students. There is much to prepare. Curriculum to review, games to plan, supplies to gather, meetings to schedule . . . and bread to bake.
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| Last year's Middle School English Camp in Celje, Slovenia |
A little while ago, I had the idea to start a "Dough for Slo" project to help raise funds toward our trip. The response was so overwhelming and generous that we have truly been in awe of the many hands who are sending us across the ocean. We may be the ones setting foot in Celje, but we couldn't do it without you: our Columbia, our Third Guy.
I'm up to my elbows in flour. We've ceased eating dinner at the table because it's perpetually covered with bowls, cutting boards, cooling racks, and parchment paper. We time our oven use around the bread schedule. "You'll probably be baking," Jamie assumes. He graciously decides to grill for us. Again. "What's your bread schedule?" Aidan wonders if he will be picked up from work anytime soon, "It's okay." Our house smells like Italy, and I'm okay with that.
In the coming weeks, we are going to need (or is that knead?) all the Third Guys we can get. We covet your prayer as we continue to prepare, as we grow in team unity (there are seven of us going), as we anticipate connecting with Johnny and Brooke and their team, and as we think of the students with whom we will be working -- students who have likely never heard of Jesus' deep love for them.
Will you be our Third Guy? I plan to post updates in the coming days via Facebook and Instagram. You can follow along and keep up to date on how to be praying for us. If you are local and would like to support us financially through "Dough for Slo," I'd love to make you a yummy, crusty loaf! (Orders placed at this point will make their way to you after our trip. Just in time for fall soup!) I also welcome any and all bread-related puns. It's the yeast I can do.
The theme for the JV camps this year is Home. We are excited to meet these middle school students, to share our language and our hearts with them, to find out what it means to know and be a part of the family of Christ.
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for being our Third Guy. We can't reach Home without you.
