.....The summer had been long and tiresome. Farm work was hard and the once soft Kentucky soil was dry and cracked, as though a tremor had shook the area. After a hard working day, I would often stay outside until the moon climbed high and the stars shyly sparkled. Sometimes I lay on the bank of our pond, watching the wonders beyond our world, while my dogs, Lassie and King, would playfully tug at my jeans. Some nights we'd wrestle, and others we would just sit in a big heap of fur and flesh - gazing at distant worlds.

My routine was a simple one - hard work during the day, calm and peaceful rest at night - but I knew it wouldn't last long. The previous year I had signed up for a six-day church camp in mid-summer called Mission Fuge. My anticipation began to build as the week of M-Fuge neared because I would finally undergo less work and more play. Or would I?

.....The first night of M-Fuge was introduced to us with music so loud, our eardrums hurt until the next morning. We learned the focus would be on physically helping others, witnessing, sharing, and displaying a Christian example while we worked. Everyone there was enthused about the work to come. I was amazed that there could be so many "Jesus Freaks" in one place, and quickly realized what the week's clever theme, "face to ecaf." was all about. We were surrounded by an atmosphere, a mission, a way of life away from home that would help us come "face to ecaf" with Jesus. Yes, life under the focus of Mission Fuge had begun.

The days would wake up "kickin'" with Morning Celebration. Everyone would go crazy - jumping, shouting, and singing "Jesus" tunes to loud music. I was nervous when I first walked into Morning Celebration and wasn't sure how to react. But this feeling soon left as I found myself turn loose and let go of all fears I had. And I too began to sing, jump, and shout. In this moment of triumph, something unexpected happened. Wham! Out of nowhere came a beach ball and socked me in the head. I wanted to turn around and yell at the person who did it, but no one seemed to care because they were having too good a time to let it bother them. That's when I began to realize it - this place wasn't about stress relief and it wasn't about anger management - it was about yourself. It was to help you forget the typical reactions we radiate everyday, such as anger and envy, and instead shine with a positive brightness towards others. Wow! Everything was starting to make sense. All of a sudden the music seemed a noise in the distance, the people transformed into a blur, I shed a silent tear. God's Wonder had surrounded me at that moment, and as I looked up, not a single person had a dry eye.

....."Emotional" would be the first word I would use to describe M-Fuge. My Mission group became my "week-long-family" and we shared our problems and solutions with each other. We sometimes cried on each other's shoulders, but the majority of our time was spent working as a team to get our project done. My team's project-building a wheel-chair ramp for a nursing home with the materials provided-was difficult, since no one had built a wheel-chair ramp before and it had to stretch over concrete steps. Nevertheless, we quickly set to work and began building an extraordinary-looking frame for the ramp. Feverishly we worked each day in the 100 degree-plus weather, and the nursing home workers were amazed at our fire to finish our project before week's end. They constantly praised us and, in turn, we shared the gospel with them and some elderly women.

.....The power felt at our mission site was amazing, but the power felt at nightly worship was truly eye-opening. The messages were ones that changed lives. They weren't boring Sunday sermons, but rather, they involved stories we could relate to. The stories all tied into Biblical accounts of Jesus, and one in particular seemed to rip my soul apart. The young preacher was standing up at the front when he said, "...he walked to the front of the boat and shouted, 'I'm the king of the WORLD!!' Two thousand years before that line captivated audiences in the movie, Titanic, there was a real man-a man who was literally the King. He too walked to the front of a boat, and spoke "Peace, be still," and the winds calmed and the sea died down instantly. Yet how did we treat him? With respect? With adoration? Or with hate and rejection?

The motivation hit me hard as I realized how so many of us claim to be Christians, yet we don't stand up for our faith and try to make a difference. This motivated me and my youth group to make a difference in others' lives by starting a missions program and guiding each other in the right direction. I shed so many tears that night I thought I would be dehydrated. After the tears dried though, a determination set in, one that has stayed with me ever since. Now every month, sometimes every week, I try to give of myself to those in need. I feel like I've set in motion a habit that will stay with me forever-helping those who may not find help elsewhere. That's why I say M-Fuge is the one single event that has most affected me the past four years.

.....I look back on that week that impacted my life. I think of the people I met...the fun I had...the lives I touched. I can't relive it, but I can make a difference by taking a stand for others. I have made a difference. And, I WILL make a difference by continuing to stand up for my faith and lending a helping hand to those in need.