OWLS Coastal Island Adventure with Sandy Springs Mission

The Outdoor Wisdom Leadership School owes thanks to quite a number of individual people willing to share their blessings so that the Spring Break retreat provided to the middle school and high school youth of the Sandy Springs Mission might be the effective, thoughtful, and fun time that it was. First of all Chip Drury and his family for making their unique properties available for our use, to Chuck Stutsman and the boys of Scout Troop 40 in Mountain City for lending OWLS their cargo trailer so I could round up all our remaining mountain bikes, to Buz Stone and the other members of the Lake Rabun Foundation for purchasing that trailer for the Scouts and then letting me know of its availability, to Mike Timma who volunteered to pull that trailer back to Atlanta from the coast and, even though that eventually became unnecessary since nobody volunteered to pull it down, still drove over from Jacksonville to fellowship with us and spend time discussing some key spiritual matters with the kids. Esther and Elsa came along to chaperone and mentor the girls. Then there are the faithful ministry partners whose regular monetary contributions help keep the OWLS ministry going by providing the funding we use to provide these learning experiences. I'm sure others will come to light as I write this entry into the blog and the greatest thanks of all goes to our Lord, our Creator, and our loving Savior who allows OWLS to be used for His glory and to show others how to spread the Light of the World wherever they go.

This is what "Jed Clampet" Simms looked like April 9, 2008 as I finally headed out Wednesday afternoon for Laurel Island after working for a couple of days, disassembling the bikes so they would fit in the bottom of the canoe trailer, packing tents, food and other gear all the way to the roof inside the car and then putting the kayaks on the roof. I got lots of incredulous looks on the way down but miraculously didn't lose anything.

Pastor Felix Lora drove the bus down Thursday morning with all the kids aboard, making a stop on nearby Jekyll Island so everyone could stretch their legs on the wide beaches and cool off in the sea. Felix later told me that some of the kids had expressed surprise at the saltiness of the sea water. This demonstrated once again how experience truly completes the education that is only started in a typical classroom. I took that time to unload the boats (with help from Jim on the last few), reassemble the bikes and check their operation, unload and spray down the bike helmets, hang up all the PFDs and paddles, begin setting up tents, do some litter collection, run to the store for some of the food and fish bait that wouldn't fit in the car on the way down, lay a few logs in the fire pit, and start preparing the chicken, rice, and vegetable casserole and the beef stew I brought for everyone's dinner.

About 6:30, April 10th, the bus pulled into our campsite at the end of Laurel Island and out stepped Felix, shortly followed by Johnny, Natalia, Pamela, Esther, Jesus ("Chucho"), Leonel ("Chuchito"), Jiselle, Esteban, Alvaro, Jenny, "The Siamese Twins" Damali and Tito, Rubi, Jose R., Ednand, Elsa, Bryan, Antonio, Emanuel, Juliana, AJ, Jose, Enmanuel, Evelyn, and Luis. The boys jumped into helping complete setting up the camp and the girls surveyed the area and lined up for the blessing and dinner, followed shortly thereafter by the boys. It always amazes me how these kids can eat and the complements they give my cooking. After allowing seconds in an orderly fashion, I opened up the leftovers for anyone who wanted them and hardly had to clean the pots afterward. I also realized right away that keeping them hydrated might be an issue on this outing since they couldn't seem to make themselves drink the strong smelling coastal well water, even when mixed with PowerAide or lemonade mix. I must confess my disappointment when I think about the money needlessly wasted on bottled water due to finicky taste buds.

After dinner, a number of us went over to get the fire started and, in keeping with Felix's stated theme for the retreat of "Being an Influencer," discussed how the various pieces of wood would share the heat they had with others around them, influencing them to also burst into flame and spread the warmth to that many more. They indicated they saw the application of how the influence they had on those around them would eventually spread to many more people and how much more beneficial it would be if that influence was warm and loving rather than cold and cruel.

Felix took the last bit of afterglow to try his hand at fishing and soon had his first of many fish on the hook.

Here is a picture of Felix showing off his first fish in front of the Laurel Lady, a beautiful Chris Craft reportedly built in the 1920's.

Kids always enjoy poking sticks at a campfire. It is such a relief when the campfire is surrounded by sand and we don't have to be concerned about starting a wildfire with all those sparks. How I love beach and sandbar camping!

We all woke up to a very foggy Friday morning. Visibility was realistically only about 30 feet! Right after a breakfast of French toast and bacon, Felix led everyone in a time of Bible Study and devotional discussing what it means to be an "influencer" and the importance of keeping with our God-given purpose of being the "Salt of the Earth."

After the devotional, we divided up the group and traded turns at paddling and biking. The wide waters of the coastal rivers might have been intimidating but the weather was beautiful and the wind was rather mild. We did have a few of the guys discover firsthand what can happen to a boater when he paddles the shallows on a falling tide but they were shortly back afloat and the mud will eventually wash off. Thank goodness the way they influenced others was to demonstrate the sticky, uncomfortable, messy situations that result from taking the wrong path with the result that the others stayed in deeper water. The tandem canoes also gave each of them chances to feel the influence of the other paddlers, the wind, and the current on the boats. These feelings created conversations (and some slight arguments) over the positive or negative influence each was having and also comparisons of what happens to people who just go wherever the winds or currents of society make travel easier for a time, in contrast to those who have specific goals and take the appropriate strokes (or actions) needed to efficiently reach those goals.

Felix and the girls take a break on the main road through the island during their time on the bikes. Some of the many issues we always have to deal with when biking can also be the source of parables expressing the importance of our part as members of a team or the Body of Christ. So many little parts seem so insignificant and yet, when removed from the whole, the body cannot function properly. Take a tube out of a tire, a bolt from a clamp, or a link from a chain and the negative influence of that missing "insignificant part" is felt immediately. Conversely, when replaced, the bike (and likewise the body) can function as was intended.

Everyone seemed to enjoy fishing! Even when I was too tired to take another step, I could look toward the dock or the edge of the island bluffs and find scenes like this of the kids and Felix pulling in fish and crabs.

Sometimes the crabs took some retaliatory action as proven by the blood you can see on Felix's thumb in this photo.

Friday night, with the aid of Don Drury's gas burner and Mark Drury's extra large pot, along with some helpful reassurance from Cicero, I did my part to get everyone in the proper coastal mood by cooking a low country shrimp boil. As everyone scooped up the spicy shrimp, corn, potatoes, carrots, celery, crawfish, and even Felix's crab, I was pleased to hear more praise for the cooking and the God who made it all possible.

Mike Timma who I met through our Paddlers for Christ group arrived just in time to enjoy dinner with us and then spend some real quality time with Alvaro talking about our assurance of heaven, what part God plays in that, and just how much of a difference our efforts and hard work play in the process. Without realizing it, Mike did a wonderful job of introducing Felix's devotional the next day which included the fact that we are all sinners and yet we can, through God's grace, continue to be the Salt of the Earth.

Saturday morning, after a quick breakfast and hurriedly packing all our gear (with lots of much appreciated help from Mike), we headed over to Jekyll Island to hitch a ride on the Miss Lillie Carol for our ride across St. Andrews sound to the island where we would spend the rest of the day and the night. The photo above is of the first half of our group waving to the others as they made the trip to Raccoon Key. Some of them told me that this was the first time they had been "on a boat out in the ocean."

Raccoon Key was a private hunting and fishing preserve for many years and its attraction for wildlife is quite evident today. With a combination of fresh and salt water ponds, reeds, grasses, wildflowers, and even a few trees, it is home to entire flocks of Blue Heron, White Heron, Egret, Ibis, Cormorants, Hawks, Red Winged Blackbirds, Anhingas, Mallards, Coots, Black Ducks, and the usual Seagulls, Sand Pipers, Pelicans, and other birds commonly found along the coast. Four legged animals we noticed were numerous relatively small lizards, Alligators, Raccoons, rats, and mice.

Looking carefully at this picture you will notice one of the rare times Tito was able to be found apart from Damali, although I'm sure she was nearby on the shore waiting for his return. In the background is the famous Cumberland Island.

The refreshing ocean water was lots of fun and most of the kids apparently preferred swimming to showering in the "smelly" water even though Don had convinced some of them that there was a major shark danger in those waters.

When not swimming or playing in the water, the beach provided a great place to enjoy the sun, build sand castles, and build friendships.

Here's another shot of the sand castle engineers working together. Note that Damali has caught up with Tito on shore again.

We should probably call this photo "With a little help from my friends" since it took several friends to pull him out after breaking through the crust into the muddy ooze below while chasing a ball into the ocean. As the tide continued to run out, it looked as if we could have walked across the sands for a quick visit to Cumberland Island.

Here's Felix during Saturday evening's devotional in the lodge at Raccoon Key. See if you can make out the impressive duck and fish mounts on the wall behind him. Yes, we did do some fishing while at Raccoon Key also.

Here are the few, the strong, the brave who accompanied me to the beach to light our driftwood bonfire so the others could find their way to us. We had many more in our company when we started our hike out to the beach but the masses turned back when they began to notice the quantity of red eyes watching us as we slowly made progress between the ponds.

Once again realizing how the fire demonstrates the influence each of us has on those around us, we pulled up some logs and sat down to see what God might have in store.

As our eyes adjusted to the darkness we saw the clouds moving across the night sky, noticed a shooting star, and then entered a conversation dealing with knowing which way to go, how to find Polaris, the North Star, and how God has, from the beginning of time, provided us with everything we need to make the right decisions and become the people He wants us to be.

We also reflected upon how easy it was to see after we had spent some time in the darkness and how God might want us to realize how unaware we can become of sin if we spend to much time surrounded by it. It is the "Light of the World" which we need to see everything as it truly is.
Here are the rest of the boys and girls, traveling in a tightly packed group with Felix, like a giant centipede, on their tour of the "Red Eye District," searching the darkness with their flashlights for the alligators which are much easier to spot now than during the daylight. With the weather rapidly warming, we probably could not have safely done this in another three weeks or so, as the mature alligators would be nesting and becoming aggressively protective of their territory.

This is what the kids learned to look for in the water as they walked around the island together. More importantly, they learned to look underfoot and nearby for the tire-tread appearance of an alligator basking in the sunlight.

This was taken as we shared stories and fun while our driftwood fire slowly burned down during our last night together on Raccoon Key. Once again we realized that God was providing us with what we needed to stay warm and enjoy His creation. There wasn't anything in this fire that wasn't found washed up on shore or growing on the island.

Our Sunday morning worship included a responsive Bible reading by Pamela, the song "Lord We Lift Your Name On High" accompanied by yours truly on a twelve-string guitar loaned to us by Don, and a message by Felix dealing with patterns, history, habits, and how we don't need to abandon our heritage but do need to break destructive patterns we may have grown up with.

As we waited for our ride back across the sound, some of us sat and talked, others sat or lay down and rested, and others took the time for one last walk on the beach. Continuing the devotional topic somewhat, several of us sat on the dock and discussed our past and how it affects our ability to be a positive "Influencer." As I listened to the boys, I was drawn to pick up one of the many plain, unattractive oyster shells lying nearby. I reminded the young theologians that it isn't the fancy conch shells or even the sand dollars which usually make the most difference. Instead it is the unseemly oyster which often contains the valuable pearls. In the same way, God looks deep within us and sees a far greater worth than can be seen by those just looking at surface things. Furthermore, the pearl is a response to some bit of dirt or irritation entering the life of that oyster. In the same way, our past, even our mistakes and sin, can be transformed by God to make us even more able to glorify Him.
The last of our group approaching the Jekyll Marina safe and sound on the Miss Lillie Carol, at nearly 4 PM, after delays caused by Coast Guard inspections, low engine oil levels, fuel shortages, and the Sunday schedule in general. It was pretty obvious that Felix would not be making his originally planned 7 PM arrival back at the Sandy Springs Mission. I think that makes our record 100% for them returning late from OWLS adventures.
Here is one last shot of most of our group before boarding the Bluebird for the long ride home. I'm sure it was hard to get up the next morning and be excited about going back to school. But then again maybe not - they probably have more to talk about concerning what they did during Spring Break than anyone else.