Grygla kids go on LYO trip to Luther Crest Bible Camp

Written and submitted by Jamie Aune

A group of Grygla middle school students joined others their age at the 2018 NWMN ELCA Synod Middle School Youth Gathering Saturday, November 17th, and Sunday, November 18th. The gathering was held at Luther Crest Bible Camp in Alexandria, MN. Those attending were Addison Severts, Anna Sundberg, Ava Sorvig, Kinsley Oslund, Allie Sundberg, Gavin Aune, Reece Sundberg, Brody Saurdiff and Sheldin Sundberg. Chris and Jamie Aune chaperoned.  

Those attending were there less than 24 hours, but those 24 hours were packed full of fun activities, speakers, music and the opportunity to walk away with a stronger connection to God. This year’s these theme was “Justice League.” Super heroes are popular now, but in Jesus we have the greatest “super hero” of all. But we, too, can be super heroes. We can all make a difference and work toward the justice that is expressed in the guiding verse of the weekend, Amos 5:24 “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteous like and ever-flowing stream.”           

On Saturday, it started with a little play time in the gym before all headed to the dining hall for dinner. After dinner, everyone headed to the chapel to listen to the first keynote speaker, Pastor Sue Koesterman, Executive Director for Churches United for the Homeless in Moorhead, MN. She gave an insight to the very real problem of homelessness in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Bishop Larry Wohlrabe also spoke and taught everyone how to say two words in Hebrew. The first word was “mishpat,” which means “justice,” and the second word was “tzedakah,” which means “righteousness.” The last to speak was the Chaplain and Theme Weaver for the weekend, Pastor Elizabeth C McHan. She is the campus pastor at Concordia College in Moorhead.  During this assembly, fun games were also played and worship music was led by members of Red River Worship. Following the assembly, it was time for “Night Life!” This included a dance, open gym, a movie, board games and a chance to meet some really neat animals! There was a python and hedgehog that were available to be held (Jamie held the python and Addison held the hedgehog), and there were other critters, bugs, and neat facts about lots of different wildlife.  

The next morning started out with a huge breakfast and then everyone headed to the chapel again for the next assembly. Here, the second keynote speaker was Pastor Jake Anderson who is the Associate Pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls, MN. He shared information about his congregation’s Deacons Fund. This is an emergency assistance ministry to help people with food, gas, utilities, a hotel room to give people a night or two off the streets. Pastor Jake believes that just as God gave himself as a blessing for us, we are called to offer our lives as God’s blessings to each other. After this assembly, the students broke out into 3 different groups and went through 3 different rotations. The first rotation was a simulation. This gave students a chance to think about real world problems (for example our resources), and how we can preserve them. The second rotation included some fun team building games in the gym, and the last rotation had the students put together donated items to make “blessing bags” for the homeless. Lunch was served in between, and the day ended with the last assembly, which included more music, games, communion and a worship service.  

On the way home, the students agreed that the weekend was a blast, and they would definitely attend again.