Be Prepared to Go for a Hike
By Megan McMaster, Program Director
Our summer leadership team received a text saying, “Tomorrow, please be prepared to go for a hike.”
The next day, we filled our water bottles, grabbed our backpacks, drove to Ibberson Conservation Area, read the entire Sermon on the Mount, and hiked the 5 miles back to camp. As our day finished, our summer leadership team was told, “Tomorrow, please be prepared to go for a hike.”
The next day, we filled our water bottles, grabbed our backpacks, drove to Ibberson Conservation Area, read an excerpt from Henri Nouwen’s Life of the Beloved, and hiked the 5 miles back to camp. As our day finished, our summer leadership team was told, “Tomorrow, please be prepared to go for a hike.”
The next day, we filled our water bottles, grabbed our backpacks, drove to Ibberson Conservation Area, read the entire Sermon on the Mount, and hiked the 5 miles back to camp. As our day finished, our summer leadership team was told…
Are you still reading?
This simple experience—hiking 5 miles, 3 days in a row—was significant for our team. We journeyed as a group, with partners, and solo for a time. We discussed our daily readings and enjoyed casual conversation. We leaned into authenticity and community. We found joy in intricately formed spider’s webs and in the consistent rain on our second day of hiking. We wrestled through some physical fatigue and the monotony of hiking the same 5 miles, 3 days in a row. We recognized the parallels of our 3-day experience and our upcoming summer of ministry.
Summer at Camp Hebron is full of life, energy, and laughter. However, it’s also full of dirty dishes, clogged toilets, sitting with people in hard places, another theme song dance, and a lot of walkie-talkie chatter. Some days feel tedious and unending. Yet, it’s still so good and life-changing ministry happens.
Consider Jesus and his disciples. The Gospels are full of incredible stories of miracles, healings, and transformative teachings. However, we don’t read every detail of every day of three years of ministry. Certainly, Jesus and his disciples were familiar with the mundane—waking and sleeping, walking and cooking, resting and playing. We can imagine there were dull, monotonous days. Yet, we know that the transformative work of the Gospel was spreading. The same is true for us.
What work has the Lord set before you? What boring, never-ending task seems difficult to pursue faithfully? Colossians 3:23-24 encourages, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (NIV). We are called to pursue our work with faithfulness and diligence, no matter how simple, meaningless, or dull it may seem. Our work can bring kingdom-building transformation to our communities. So I ask, “Tomorrow, will you be prepared to go for your hike?”