Taking Puyallup Youth Investment Center kids to the Montana Back country and beyond

On June 19th Kelly Culver (TYFC staff) took 9 youth from The Puyallup Youth Investment Center to Lions Ridge Christian Adventure Education camp in Bozeman MT. We had many adventures along the way that helped us to bond and grow in depth of relationships. The team learned how to use a compass as well as a read topographical maps. We then spent the next three days backpacking in the back country of Montana. Wow, what an amazing display of God’s beauty and the majesty! The kids and leaders began to get a glimpse of God through this experience. We all then got the chance to use our compass and map skills to find our way back to the Lodge. After our three days in the back country we headed to Yellowstone National Park where the kids got to experience the wonders of the park: Old Faithful, Bison, Deer, Elk, Prong Horn Sheep, and various other amazing sites. While at Old Faithful, one of our youth called home to share his Yellowstone experience with his parent who has never had the chance to see it firsthand. When he got off the phone, he said it was one of the best conversations he had ever had with dad.

Once we were back at the Lodge and cleaned up we ate dinner and talked about what we learned while in the mountains. That evening Renne’ (one of our leaders) led worship and I (Kelly) talked on I Cor. 13 and what God’s love in these verses meant to me. We had the kids share what they had learned about each other and what as a leadership team they could do to make a change in their schools and in the center. We then headed out for our last Montana experience of the week, White Water rafting on the Gallatin River. We had two kids that were really scared for this part of the week so before we left the lodge we prayed with them that God would take away their fear they were experiencing. After we were done praying them, they both experienced the peace of God and began to overcome this fear and had an amazing time as we tackled class 2 and 3 rapids. This concluded our trip where the youth learned how to work better as a team and how to problem solve and trust one another.

A week like this is the culmination of many months of relational and spiritual investment into the lives of youth from Puyallup who have never experienced real love. It was amazing to watch them overcome their fears with the help of Christ and to experience his creation in a powerful way. This trip has opened the door for deeper relationships with each of the kids who were a part of the trip. Trips like these could not be possible without the support of our many partners and friends of Tacoma Youth for Christ.