T.C. of an O.J.

While most high-school students look towards the summer as a time to relax, earn money, and get a tan, a small group of students from Stow, Ohio started their summer very differently: They paid money and sacrificed part of their own vacations to go to Buffalo (of all places) and serve others.

Through an old friend, Jim Swearingen, who is currently the acting Executive Director at the Buffalo Christian Center (BCC), the students learned of the missions trip opportunity at the summer camp currently being held at the center. The BCC is an impressive facility, complete with a huge theater, roller skating rink, swimming pool, Christian bookstore, putt-putt course, and basketball court. The impact the facility could potentially have on the city of Buffalo for Christ is enough to keep the Christians who want to use the center up at night thinking about it.

This week, the students had the opportunity to work as camp counselors at the BCC. They stayed at “The Mans” while they prepared bible teachings for the children, who ranged from kindergarten through sixth grade, and heard Jim teach on poverty and God’s call to help those less fortunate. During the camp, they helped out in the kitchen, with recreation and swimming, arts and crafts, and drama.

For some, the real spiritual experience was the pilgrimage to the birthplace of the buffalo wing

Hanging out with the kids attending the BCC’s summer camp was a blast! Although I was only able to stay in Buffalo for two days, I met many kids, like Sterling, Ahmad, and Karmella, that I’ll remember for a long time. I’ll even remember Morgan, but only because she rolled her eyes at me more times than I could count. While the kids in kindergarten through second grade were eager to play games and learn, the fourth graders had already developed “too cool for school” syndrome. I can’t help but wonder what all of these kids will grow up to be like and more importantly, will they know Christ?

The trip did start out with a bang (or a pop), as yours truly changed a tire on the side of the road in New York, but it was well worth it. As a reluctantly drove home Tuesday night leaving the group to stay until the camp’s conclusion on Thursday, I wished I could stay longer. On the trip home, my stomach was full of buffalo wings from the Anchor Bar, better known as the birthplace of buffalo wings (yes, they’re called buffalo wings because they were invented in Buffalo).

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Blogroll, Christianity, WORD related. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.