Tuesday, August 21, 2007

World Scout Jamboree



World Scout Jamboree, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.
Earlier today, my buddy Ricky Beamer sent me a link to a newspaper article he was in back in his home town. You should definitely check it out.

Ricky is an Eagle Scout, in Order of the Arrow, and currently serves as assistant scoutmaster for his troop when he is in Wytheville. He is also a fourth year Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering major. He has been involved with our college ministry in Morgantown since his freshman year, does sound and tech work for us, and also works with one of our canvas groups. He's an amazing guy.

And earlier this summer, he had the privilege of attending the World Scout Jamboree in England. Over 40,000 scouts from several countries converged in England for 3 weeks. Everybody got along. Nobody fought. They cleaned up after themselves. They helped each other. They took care of their environment. For three weeks, Ricky and his fellow scouts gave the world a picture of what life could be like. But I wonder how many people noticed.

If ricky and his friends from all over the world can get along for three weeks, what about the rest of us. Couldn't we at least start to make a change? I know that Ricky is extremely excited about the possibilities in our world as a result of the combination of his time in England, and what God has been teaching him through scriptures.

As you read this, I want to challenge you to begin to imagine together with me how God could use ordinary people like you and I to change the world. If the scouts can do some thing like this (and they are a great group), just imagine what the church could do if we began to find our satisfaction in Him and not walk around in fear, insecurity, and isolation.

3 comments:

Jeff Moss said...

Billy, thanks for these encouraging thoughts (and also for your comment on my blog :-).

Some friends of mine have served as missionaries on round-the-world missionary ships Doulos and Logos Hope. These ships gather Christians from dozens of different countries as "staff," and go all over the place presenting cultural and evangelistic programs in different ports. After one of these stops, somebody commented to them, "You're like a floating United Nations--except that you're united!"

May Christians be the model of goodness and grace that all the rest of the world looks to!

Anonymous said...

Brother of Mine,
The Scoutmaster (John) for Nick's troop was there, as well. About a year to 18 months ago, the scouts could have opted to particpate, but none did. John spoke highly of the event, as well. He gave a presentation to the troop upon his return. He's a very devoted scout leader. Kind of cool how all of this connects to Nick. Thanks for the post.

Unknown said...

hey,

You know what really stinks, I meant to have a link to the article, but I messed up the link. It's now available. Chuck, I hope you make your way back to this entry!