Where in the world is Pastor Ben this week? Some of you heard a little bit about the summer camp that I am the director of in the announcements last Sunday at Bethel Lutheran Church.

I am the co-director of a camp called Leadership Lab (as in laboratory). It is a one week camp that is over 55 years old. Pastor Dick Hanson started Leadership Lab with 8 students. This year we will have close to 400 students participating. We rent the campus of Augustana College in Rock Island, IL (One our ELCA colleges) and we essentially take over the school.

We accept students beginning at the summer of their 8^th grade year going into their freshman year of high school and it goes all the way through college. There is even an adult level! It is a stair-step model and a student has the opportunity to begin as they enter high school and keep coming back all the way through college. Many have.

I first attended Leadership Lab in 1985 when the camp had about 125 participants. I went all the way through high school and that is when Leadership Lab ended. (We added the college level later.) In 1989 I was asked to be on staff and have been going ever since then. If you didn’t do the math, I have been going for 30 years or 2/3’s of my life. Leadership Lab is one of the most important things ever to happen to my faith life. All my children have attended and I hope one day my grandchildren will go too.

It is a week of learning, faith-building and relationships. We teach students the practical side of leadership and planning and in the process we provide a safe place for life-long Christian friendships to form. Yes, there is faith formation as well. We worship twice a day and the students actually look forward to praising God!

This is my 8^th year as one of the directors and it is a privilege to serve God in this capacity. It is also a blessing to serve Christ’s Church this way as well. As God formed my faith at Leadership Lab, I now ‘pay it forward’ so that other students may learn and grow as I did.

This week will also be a family reunion for me. I have built life-long friendships with many of our staff at Leadership Lab. When we get together, it is like a family (of God) reunion. It is blessing for me to be associated with such great people.

I will be posting pictures this week so that you can get a glimpse of what I do. Keep checking back here or on the Bethel Lutheran Church Facebook page.

For those who call Bethel home. . . I am holding all of you in my heart too.

God bless,

Pr. Ben