Montana has been a very interesting and overall very good experience for me.  First of all, this place is gorgeous.  I will miss the terrain of Big Sky Country.  However, in the midst of living in one the prettiest places in the U.S., I lived with troubled teens from a very wide variety of backgrounds, supervising and counseling them.  These young men (indeed that is the goal, and the majority of our students are almost adults) have been a handful.  I hope that by the things I have taught them about Christ, forgiveness, being the first to make things right, and that by insisting steadily and gently on truth life is much better for them.  I have shown them how to take a few steps, and when I leave Missoula on August 12 or 13th, will leave contact info but hand them over to the Lord to help them stay on  “the path of the righteous [which] is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day”(Prov. 4:8).

I know that I am best suited for ministry within a church, and that is what I think about most often. Volunteering at Shec‘s  youth ministry has been tons of fun, and it made me miss being in the student ministry game terribly. That combined with CCC having such great students, volunteers, parents, supportive members, and fellow staff members(this is such a quality team!) made the choice to go back pretty easy.  I am extremely grateful for Shec and the good people I have met there.  They have welcomed the strangest stranger

I will be leaving Missoula early on the 13th of August for the beginning of my seminary studies at George Fox Evangelical Seminary in Portland, OR and my cousin’s wedding.  From there, I am embarking on a road trip (yes, another cross country drive in a VW!) and visiting friends along the way.  I will post a predicted itinerary soon.

Montana, farewell.

Indiana, get ready.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

To be continued…

May the Lord’s Will be done,

CWillZ

Mom and I next to my VW Vanagon Syncro

Before leaving my friends, family, students, and church in Columbus, I purchased a VW Vanagon Syncro.  My mom accompanied me on the trip across country.  We were in the middle of the third full day of driving when my mom made the first special request to stop for anything the entire trip.  We got off the interstate in rural eastern Montana and found a restaurant/bar where she could use the restroom.  From the looks of things I thought there may have been 500 people in the town.

We pulled out of the parking lot to get back on the intestate and the engine cut out.  We happened to be at the top of a long hill, and there was hope for a gas station at the bottom so we coasted down hill and barely pulled into the local gas station.  I did some tinkering and concluded that the problem was my fuel pump.

My Syncro with its family members in Worden, MT

A local offered to give me a ride to the mechanic in the town.  When we arrived I was told that the mechanic would not be available until late that afternoon.  Drat.  Plan B was the mechanic at the gas station in the neighboring town (which was about a half mile away across the highway).  After about 20 minutes of phone calls and talking, one of the townspeople remembered that there was a guy in town that only worked on Volkswagens.  Really??

Randy of Randy's Bugworks

So we called him and got directions.  He ended up having the exact part I needed.  What were the odds? As we pulled up, we could see the sea of VWs this guy had.  I thought I was in VW heaven.  This is the man who lives the dream, Randy of Randy’s Bugworks:

I am getting settled out here but am really missing everyone back home. Especially my students.  I love you guys. Please keep praying for me as I start something new. I’ll be sure to keep in touch as this adventure called life continues to unfold.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ