Hi.

That’s called a hook. You just got hooked. Now you’re gonna read this. 

Colorado

Colorado was amazing. Just the drive up from Montrose to the YWAM base was mindblowingly beautiful. Not to mention the weather. We had overnight lows in the forties and highs in the seventies! The first day we were there, they had us help out at the food bank in Montrose until lunch. When we got back, we ate and then got to work stacking wood. We would fill up crates with split wood and then load them on a trailer and stack them at peoples houses. As you might have expected this got old pretty quick, ESPECIALLY when it started raining. It rained on Thursday and Friday off and on all day. Stacking wood became repetitive, and it showed in the way we acted. We would do things like yell randomly, and to any bystanders at the base, we probably looked crazy. Saturday we worked through the morning, but we got off for the afternoon. We visited Black Canyon state park, and the views were stunning. It began to hail while we were there, and the sight of the sheets of hail flowing through the canyon was incredible to say the least. Sunday we went to church and then from there we ate at Culvers and then went on a short hike to see a little more of the mountains. Monday is when we did our big hike, where we hiked up a 12,000 ft elevation mountain. For reference, CMTS Ministries is about 500 ft above sea level, so at the top of the mountain we were about two miles above what we were used to. Overall, Colorado was an uplifting experience spiritually and physically.

Vocations

I started out the program in Maintenance. In maintenance we do all sorts of things to kind of just keep the mission running. I began with Ray Pete. He is an all around handy man so we did things like paint and install trim, some plumbing, and we laid flooring in the new offices. Ray went on a mission trip to Honduras so I switched over to working with Leam Nicholaides. He’s an electrician so I got to learn a lot about how to run conduit and wire. But more importantly Leam was sure to make sure I understood what I was learning, and so now I’m a professional electricity master. I also was able to work with Mike Miller, who helps raise money by utilizing scrap metal. He put me on the skid steer, and I learned a lot working with him.

From maintenance, I moved on to the Auto Shop. Nick VanWert runs those streets. He’s also very good at making sure I’m learning something. So far we’ve pulled two engines, done a few inspections, and things like that. Currently, we’re working on replacing the valves in the cylinder head of a Subaru which had its timing belt snapped.

The Dorm

Dorm life is definitely a change of pace from the life I’m used to. Charles and Malakai are my roommates. It’s been interesting adjusting to living with people my age. Obviously you run into issues with cleaning and dishes and things like that, but it hasn’t really gotten any deeper than surface level. I’m finding it easier as the days go by to find things to do when I’m not being entertained by my phone. After almost two months of being all alone in the cruel world of Pennsylvania, I’m definitely beginning to get a little homesick, but I’m also beginning to regard this place as my home.

I am still trying to raise support for the Equip Program. Please consider supporting my journey.

-Robbie