Kids Day

On Saturday, July 14th, StoneBridge will be sponsoring a booth at Kids Day, a Main Street Morgantown sponsored event. We're going to do some cool stuff for kids such as crafts, face painting, inflatables, etc. We're also going to have the chance to promote our Sports Camp coming in late July.

If you have any good ideas that we can implement at Kids Day, let me know.

Inwood

Traveled to Inwood WV with Jason and David to visit our sending church Sunday night. These trips are always a shot in the arm for us because the people there are so encouraging. Trips to Inwood are nostalgic for me since I lived there from 1975-88.

Seen on the trip...on a billboard in front of an Independent Baptist Church in Martinsburg..."One of America's Most Exciting Churches". Wow. Don't get me started on that one.

New Website Almost Ready!

David is putting the final touches on the new stonebridgebaptist.com, which should be up and running by July 1st! I am pumped about our new look, which I think will more accurately portray who we are and why we are doing what we do in Morgantown.

Check out the progress here and let me know what you think.

Pray for Calvary Baptist in Jonesboro

Just found out that the group from Calvary in Jonesboro had a tire blow out 20 miles from home coming back from CityReach. Their van and trailer flipped several times on the interstate. There were no deaths, but I know of one lady who has a broken pelvic bone and there are other injuries. Please lift them up in your prayer time.

CityReach is Over

We had a fantastic week at CR07! Got home last night at 8:00 pm after a full day of travel. Remind me never to fly in and out of Baltimore again. The traffic is horrible. Jason and I left BWI at 3:15 pm and had stop and go traffic until we got through Hagerstown, MD. Aarrgh! I think I would rather jump off of Seneca Rocks than fight that DC/Baltimore/No. Virginia traffic every day.

CR07 was a huge success, despite some technical and logistical difficulties earlier in the week. 198 students and adults converged on Loveland, CO from 17 churches across the country. Over 6,000 contacts were made in Loveland and Fort Collins through these ministry tracks: COPS (Christian Opinion Polls), Sports Camp, VBS, PIT (Project Impact Teams), RAK (Random Acts of Kindness), and Absolutely Free Car Wash.

We know of 51 people who became Christ-followers through the efforts of CityReachers. Six students answered the call to ministry. People all over the city talked about all of the "people in the green shirts". The key to the success of CityReach each year is combining the gospel message with good works. When people experience the love of Christ through good works, they are more open and receptive to hear the good news of Jesus Christ! Too often, Christian people want to cram the message Jesus down people's throats without sharing the love of Christ through good works or acts of kindness.

Most likely CR08 will take place in Loveland, CO again and there is a slight possibility that a 2nd location could be added in the Eastern US. For more detailed recaps of CityReach, check out these blogs: Jason Sheffstall, Jonathan Johnson, John Yoho, and Kevin McCauley.

Colorado or Bust

Tonight I'm busy packing to leave for CityReach in Loveland CO. Tomorrow morning Jason adn I will be heading east to Baltimore Washington Int'l Airport for our nonstop flight to Denver. Over the next week I'll be leading the Project Impact Team, a team of about 30-40 high school students who will be engaged in servant evangelism projects across the city. Pray hard for life change.

Vacation Recap -- Kumbrabow State Forest

The first two nights of our mini vacation were spent at beautiful Kumbrabow State Forest, 45 minutes south of Elkins near Huttonsville. Kumbrabow has a small, rustic campground (13 sites) that sits beside a beautiful native brook trout stream, Mill Creek. There are great hiking trails, rustic cabins if tent camping isn't your thing, and nice waterfalls to explore. Also nearby in the tiny village of Helvetia is a world class Swiss restaurant. Swiss immigrants settled and started the town of Helvetia in the late 1800's and their descendants live there today. On Saturday evening the four of us journeyed to Helvetia and engorged ourselves at the Hutte' Restaurant. Here are some pics.

Vacation Recap - North Fork Mountain

After getting rained out Saturday night and Sunday morning, we packed up our gear and headed for Seneca Rocks to seek out a dry place to hang out for a couple of days. I found the perfect cabin on North Fork mountain, but when I called the owner said she wouldn't be able to rent it because she sent her housecleaner home after the weekend. I coaxed her into letting us stay and do the cleaning ourself (there wasn't much to do) and we got the cabin for $50 per night (1/3 of the cost).

This cabin was four tenths of a mile from the Redman Run trailhead which leads to the summit of North Fork mountain. I've been wanting to hike North Fork mtn for a couple of years now. Outside Magazine ranks the North Fork mtn trail as the "best in the east". Backpacker magazine also ranks the trail as the best in West Virginia. This mountain is the driest mountain in the Appalachains, and has unique plant and animal life. The summit is covered with twisted Virginia pine, and the mountain is home to black bear, turkey, whitetail
deer, and many birds of prey, including bald eagles, peregrine falcons, hawks, etc. The air currents flowing over the mountain from the Allegheny Front provide perfect conditions for these birds to cruise. On the eastern side of the mountain lies the famous Smoke Hole canyon and the South Branch of the Potomac. The "Smoke Hole" gets its name from the mist lying between the mountains that looks like smoke.

On Monday, we hit the trail and hiked a 4.5 miles round tripper. Janna made the entire trip on her own two feet, which was a huge win! Here are some pics. Can you find Belinda in the cliffs?

Back From Vacation

I'm back from our family's long weekend vacation camping and hiking in Kumbrabow State Forest and North Fork Mountain near Seneca Rocks. It's been a whirlwind three weeks...more updates coming soon.