This morning I slept in church. That is to say that I slept in a church last night and woke up this morning sleeping in Martin Luther Lutheran Church in Youngstown, Ohio. I am traveling with our high school students and adult leaders to participate in a mission camp in Scranton, Pennsylvania this week. We left Carmel yesterday and we will arrive at the place we will call home for the week early this afternoon.

I woke up before dawn this morning as I often do. I moved downstairs and sat in the sanctuary in the complete darkness. It was amazing to watch the dawn from this vantage point as the light began to make the stained glass windows in the beautiful 1930s sanctuary come alive.

In many ways this was a metaphor for what we hope happens this week in the lives of not only the campers but also the adults who work and share this adventure. It is our prayer that the light of Jesus shines through and people’s lives are changed. I look forward to sharing this week. I look forward to getting some useful work done that will help people have a better life. But most importantly, I pray that the light of Jesus will shine in and through our team as we try to be agents of God’s love and grace.