The pictures tell the tale. Thanks to the advancement of technology, I am able to blog to you this week from inside Yosemite Bible Camp. YBC is easily the most picturesque setting for a church camp I have ever experienced, nestled in the Sierra Nevadas just south of the main entrance to Yosemite National Park.Perhaps you've heard of the array of forest fires throughout the Sierra Nevadas as a result of an Arkansas summer-like lightning and thunder display Saturday afternoon. The MSN.com homepage on Sunday evening said some 500 different fires were burning in the mountains. We had a fire about six miles from camp that burned some 3300 acres, but it was 100% contained late Sunday afternoon. Aside from a few soot-y noses, all is well.
This year's edition of YBC is off to a fantastic start! According to resident historian and Co-Director, Mike Avedikian, this is Woodward Park's largest-ever YBC with nearly 240 enjoying the week in God's nature, among God's people, feasting on God's Word. I have the blessing of teaching the high school'ers for an hour-and-a-half each morning. This year's group numbers 68 strong and I'm anxious to get our class kicked off Monday morning!
Thus far, two of our youngsters from Woodward Park who participated in First Principles Day Camp last week have been baptized. On Saturday evening, Keionna Tucker, granddaughter of Linda Fass and great-granddaughter of Russell and Billie Tucker, was immersed into Jesus. On Sunday evening, Nick Gerard was baptized into Christ by his dad, Eddie.
I plan to blog each evening before bed so you can follow the adventures of camp through the lens of Erin Cliff and the words I capture here. God has blessed us with a fantastic beginning and I have no doubt that the blessing of the beginning are just a harbinger of the rest of the week.
----------------------
Simply inconceivable.
There's no other way to put this amazing run of the Fresno State Bulldogs, from UnderDog to WonderDog. This evening, as All 4 Him sang for the camp, several of us sat under the porch at the Mess Hall, listening to their songs and watching the final outs from Omaha, Nebraska on CSTV's Gametracker.
Yeah, I know we go to camp to get away from it all, but I don't want to get away from what Fresno's Bulldogs are doing. This improbable run has brought them to the doorstep of a National Title. Monday afternoon at 4:00 PST (for those of you so lucky as to be near a television you can catch it on ESPN), Fresno's Dogs and Georgia's Dawgs meet in game one of a best-of-three series to decide the National Champion.
The odds were against them in Long Beach. And Tempe. And thus far in Omaha. With some tired arms, the pundits say the run's about over.
I wouldn't count them out.
Simply amazing.
