Winterbreak Workcrew 2017-18

photo taken by Liv Shin

On January 29th, I decided to devote five days to serving campers at a Younglife Winter Vacation Camp at Crooked Creek Ranch in Frasier, Colorado! I have done WorkCrew before for Younglife in the summer so I knew what I was doing, but this camp was a little different in that it was during winter break and the campers would be skiing at WinterPark, Colorado for a good chunk of the day. ​Therefore, as college students on Workcrew, our job would be to serve breakfast and dinner to the campers; during the middle of the day, we got to go up to WinterPark with the campers and choose to ski, snowboard, or just enjoy the snow and God’s creation!

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I have always wanted to become a Younglife Leader. My Younglife leaders, Nicole Copko and Lindsey Olson showed me how to make my faith my own at the end of sophomore year at a Younglife Camp in Malibu, B.C. and they have impacted my life tremendously to this day. The cool thing about being a leader is that you are not just changing a person; you are changing their life for eternity- that’s a really long time! High School can be rough, and Younglife leaders have the opportunity to become immersed in these students’ lives and encounter their obstacles, struggles, and pain WITH them just like how God is in ours everyday. God didn’t have to forgive us of our sins. God didn’t have to send his one and only son down to Earth and take on the pain for OUR sins. And God doesn’t have to love us-he does not owe us anything. But that’s the thing-we live life as if we are the center of the Earth often, and we demand God to bless us, give us our desires, and create a perfect life for us. Here’s a revelation that shocked me this trip-it’s not all about me.

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People who have experienced WorkCrew at a Younglife Camp talk about how it is the time of their lives, and how it is the best thing that has every happened to them. Don’t get me wrong-it is. But, they never talk about how hard it is- how you have to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to get ready to serve breakfast, or how it feels as if you are setting the 2 billionth fork on a camper’s placemat, and the day never ends. It’s exhausting. One thing that I had to question while at Crooked Creek Ranch (CCR) was if I was really being intentional about what I was doing here. I was serving campers. I was helping high schoolers experience Jesus, and I don’t think I realized how that fork on that placemat was contributing to a shared meal between a camper and community that he/she never experienced at home. I always had meals with my family, and I think I took that for granted when I realized that many people don’t get that. My heart wasn’t in the right place for the first few days because my intentions to serve were not really in the right place.

One day, I sat on a wooden ledge to speak to God. The view was insane- the mountains, the skies, the trees…but it didn’t seem to create that wonder it usually does within me. I kinda just looked at it as if it was something I saw all the time. Then, I asked God for intentionality. I asked him to spark my heart with awe and help me realize how crucial this time is for some high schoolers. I asked him to help me serve at this camp with intentionality instead of simply going through the motions.

Then I went to the camp store to look for a souvenir to take home with me, and came across my favorite book written by my favorite dude, Bob Goff called “Love Does.” I’ve only read it 2 billion times, and found myself reading the back of the book once again. Then I looked below and found a book called “Crazy Love.” The format of the book was very similar to Bob’s so I picked it up and began to read the back. Now, I’m not a huge reader or a book buyer, but once I read the back, I felt a sense of urgency to buy it. Francis, the author, hooked me when he wrote “There’s something wrong here.” He talks about how us Christians and churches have turned this religion into a routine-your pray, you go to church, and you read the Bible. How we tear away the authenticity of our faith when we focus on the checklist rather than the relationship at hand. It’s one thing to know God, and another thing to love God. Of course, you need to get to know someone to develop a relationship with them, but some people only get to the knowing part and not the loving part. I completely related to that. I know God sent his only son to die for my sins, but did I truly ingest it and believe it in a way where it produced the awestruck wonder and love for this big guy up there that made me want to give everything to him? If I were being honest with myself, that would be answered with a flat out “No.” So I took the book and walked out $16.99 less in my bank account, but with a desire to open a book (which doesn’t happen often).
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The book has links embedded in the paragraphs once in a while that encourages you to go online to Francis Chan’s website and watch short videos. The chapter that stood out to me talked about the idea of stopping and thinking. It then took me to the video I pulled up on my phone, where Francis began to talk about how small we are in comparison to the population, the Earth, the universe., and all the galaxies. It was a little depressing to be honest when I realized how small I was…and then even more sad when I came to the fact that I make myself so much bigger than I actually am. Then Francis talked about how our creator made all of it. The thousands and thousands of species of trees, animals, etc. just for us. That God was even bigger than the galaxies, and he loved us so much to give us a life when he had every right to not. When I tried to think too much about it, my mind just blanked because He’s just so big to even comprehend or wrap my head around it. Then I asked God for humility. 4 syllables, one word, but oh so difficult to put into practice sometimes. We are all prideful at times, but when I read that chapter, I received humility.

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Looking back at my time at Crooked Creek, I’d say it was definitely a learning experience (but isn’t everything?). I’m not going to say I am completely changed because of these days, but instead, that this session was very humbling for me. God showed me that I’m a work in progress when I realized how much I can improve on about myself. But even more, God revealed to me once again his unconditional, incomprehensible, and radical love when I came across the truth that he still loves me the same despite my sin. He knows. He knows all of me more than I know myself. Yet he still loves,, and that is what we should for others! Intentionality. Authenticity. Just a few more New Year’s Resolutions I can add to the list. Thanks God for inspiring, encouraging, and showing me how I can glorify you in every aspect of my life. 2018, let’s do this!