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A Story of Friendship by Mark Goode, Mike Lee and Braheem Wilson

Friday, February 26th, 2010

mark1

Mark, Mike and Braheem shared thier heartwarming story of friendship at the UrbanPromise Banquet.

Mark:

I’m Mark.  I’ve been around Urban Promise for about 14 years.  Through the after school programs, summer camps. I was a street leader and Urban Trekker.  I graduated from Urban Promise Academy in 2009.  I’ve been a part of just about everything there is to be a part of at Urban Promise.  Currently, I’m a student at Rutger’s New Brunswick - taking a semester off to work and pay for school


Mike:

I’m Mike.  I’ve been with Urban Promise since 2nd grade.  My cousin would bring me up here when I was little…and I guess I just stayed.  Here I always had someone to talk to, someone to hang out with, to help me if I had problems.  And as it’s turned out, I still do.


Mark:

I’ve known Mike since the 3rd grade. We met at school but then over and over again we’d meet up - we had a lot of other encounters.  Like once we were in this spelling bee.  Mike came in first place, I came in second.


Mike:

I guess I was good at spelling. I mean, I wasn’t really interested in it but they said I should try and I was so nervous - but somehow I guess the words just came to me…


Mark:

If you can believe it, I lost on the word black.  B-L-A-C-K, black.  I never entered again.


Mike:

Me and Mark have done a lot of things together…from thinking we were ninjas, to climbing trees and trying to build a tree house to letting my brother convince us to do some pretty stupid things.


Mark:

In 5th grade we ended up coming to the same camp here at Urban Promise.  And that’s when we became best friends.  We’ve done everything together.  We did Urban Trekkers together, we were in the same class at Urban Promise Academy, we even lived on the same street…


Mike:

Urban Promise Academy was tough but it was fun - it was tough because our teachers expected more from us, and they wanted more for us - they knew that our true potential was more than just squeezing by with average grades.  And so they pushed us. And I was part of a pretty incredible freshman class.  We just stick together.  If we had a problem, we’d find a way to settle it together.  It really was like on big family.


Braheem:

My 8th grade year I was looking for a high school and my aunt found Urban Promise Academy.  And so I started as a freshman.  For the first couple weeks I didn’t’ really say much cause I didn’t’ know anybody - but there were three of us that just stayed in the back in homeroom.   The three of us have common interests like movies and cars and technology and video games and stuff…


Mike:

At first me and mark really stood together, we were best friends - inseparable really. But when Braheem came in - we realized that he’s not so bad - don’t tell him I said so, but he’s actually kind of cool - We would talk about music and movies - he turned us onto a band called Maroon 5


Braheem:

I had always listened to different kinds of music. As a little kid, my mom wouldn’t let me listen to rap…so it was just oldies and stuff like that.  And so I guess I developed an ear for different kinds of sounds.  Eventually, when I could listen to rap, it got kind of boring - all the mainstream artists were saying the same thing.  I wanted different melodies and different rhythms - not just the narrow-minded and shallow stuff everybody’s trying to sell to you.


Mark:

We loved Maroon 5 - especially this one song…it became like our theme for freshman year.


Braheem:

I always know little details and facts about movies - sometimes before they even came out.  I’ve always loved movies and by my Junior Year I decided I wanted to be a film-maker.  I now go to Fairly Dickson University and study film.  I’m working props for a short film now, I’ve already written a screenplay and one day I’ll be a director.


Mike:

I just started Camden community college.  I’m studying criminal justice and one day I’d like to join the police force.  I want to be a police officer b/c growing up our family had a lot of problems and the cops were always there and helped do make things okay.  I always knew I wanted to the kind of man who was around to make things okay.


Mark:

At the end of our senior year, there was group of five of us - Braheem, Mike and I and two others.  We’d all been Urban Trekkers and we’d all been together since freshman year.  And so to mark that time, we were taken on Rite of Passage camping trip.


Braheem:

It was one of the best experiences of my life…although the mountain climbing was pretty rough - I cramped up at the end.


Mike:

It was a great trip. We all got so much tighter hiking and talking - getting to know each other better…but then that dreadful day came when we were each put on our own small island to spend the night alone.


Braheem:

We each got one tent,


Mike:

one gallon of water,


Mark:

a mess kit that had a bowl, a spork, a canister of gas for cooking, and enough food to last one day


Mike:

and a whistle for emergencies.


Mark:

We got there and it was beautiful day - I was the first person on my island - it was a great island with a lot of trees.


Mike:

But this would turn out to be the one night of the trip that it would storm -


Braheem:

We laugh about it now but that day…but we were really scared.


Mark:

The sky got dark, and then the wind came and the rain - fortunately I was safe, I knew I was - but I could hear some of the other guys yelling - and the storm just got worse and worse.


Mike:

It got so bad that it broke my tent broke!  During the storm the rods of my tent completely snapped - I was soaked and didn’t know what to do… I was whistling and whistling for help…


Braheem:

The worst part I think was not knowing how the others were doing.


Mark:

and I knew none of the guys could swim, so there I was thinking I might have to leave my completely safe little island and swim across - I didn’t know what to do.


Mike:

Finally, Mr. C came by on the boat, surveyed the situation, and then just tossed me a roll of duct tape.  “I thought it was an emergency” he said “…you’ll survive”  And, off he went.  Well…I guess in the long run he was right.  But at the time all I wanted was to get off that stupid island.


Mark:

­­­­­­­­­­­It was a rite of passage and transformation from being a high school student to being a high school graduate.  But more importantly it was our transformation from adolesance into becoming men.


Mike:

I put together the rods and pitched my tent between 2 trees and used string to make a teepee sort of thing.  I poured out the water and climbed in and went to sleep.


Mark:

Later we got to talk about what we’d been through…that night on the island and even more so about our past.  We got to talk about a lot of things that we’d never knew about each other.  We reflected back on high school and other times we’d seen each other change and grow.  We talked about our friendship. We were growing up right before each other’s eyes.


Braheem:

Everybody was given a chance to talk about whatever.  We talked about things that we know are there that other people don’t see.  And it felt okay.  It felt easy to open up to the people that were in front of me. I talked about how I don’t really know my father.  We could say anything and we could do anything…but we knew we were still cool.  By the time our senior year came we were all pretty tight.  But as close as we were - this trip made us brothers forever.


Mark:

While we were on the island, we had assignments too…


Mike:

We had to write about the past four years and our friends and something about creation -


Braheem:

We each had to take a name out of a hat and we had to find something on our island that represented that person.  I got Mike.  I chose a pine cone because while all the little pieces are different and there are lots of pieces, they all lead to the top.  That’s Mike.  The guy that chose me found a piece of metal on his island.  He said he chose it because it stood out.  I mean, I guess I stand out.  I guess I’m different - but in a good way - just not like everyone else - it’s not something I try to do it’s just the way it works.  I’m not the most social person -so I don’t always want to try and fit in with everyone. In a big crowd I just go the other way- but with my friends I can be who I am.


Mike:

The greatest gift I got from Urban Promise is trust. I gained more trust in people - growing up I didn’t’ really trust the people around me.  I don’t have a dad and no grandfather.  And so it was good to Urban Promise.  My teachers at UPA, I look at them like father figures - I trust them and know they are not going to do me wrong.


Braheem:

The best kind of movie is when on the surface it’s compelling, but not that complex - yet if you look closer there is so much depth and so many layers.  That’s the kind of filmmaker I want to be.


Mike:

In Camden there are a lot of people that need help.  I want to help people.  I want to do something for my community.  Sometimes people put us down for being from Camden - but Urban Promise tells us that we can do better - I want to help people from Camden be better. I want to be known as somebody who helps other people - and the funny little Asian kid that was always around Urban Promise.


Mark:

I want to be known for being a caring person and a person that gives a lot - I don’t know where I’d be without Urban Promise helping me through my past struggles and even helping me with my struggles now.  Throughout my life, whenever I needed something or someone to talk to, someone is there.  So I want to be remembered for my service and what I’ve given back and given to other people and how I’ve inspired others


Braheem:

I feel like you can put anything you can think of on screen.  I want to be like the best director ever.  I want to make the best movie ever and hope it inspires someone to go out and make an even better movie.  That’s what you do…you put out an idea and hope it sparks an idea from someone else and it goes on like that.


Mike:

Through this place and these friends, I’ve learned that no matter what they’ll be there for you - I’ve met the people that can walk you thru- so that you can see and make the right decisions in your own life.  I think that our friendship will go far.  In fact we just talked about this on the trip - about who would be in our wedding…I’m looking forward to it.

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UrbanPromise youth build dog sleds & learn to mush

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

For the last four months six students who attend UrbanPromise after school program in South
Camden along with four mentors having been building two, full scale replicas of the sleds used by
North Polo explorers Matthew Henson and Robert Perry to reach the North Pole.

Students meet every Tuesday & Thursday afternoon with their mentors in the basement of the Camden
Seaport and Maritime Museum on Broadway in South Camden.   As the sleds take shape, the students are learning about power tools like saws, drill, jigs, steam boxes, and materials like dowels, wood glue, oak, hickory and steel.  (There is a statue of Matthew Henson in front of the museum because part of the church fellowship hall was built with ballast stones from the Kite one of the ships used by Henson and Perry to sail to Baffin Bay off the coast of Greenland to make their assault on the North Pole.)

In early March, the students and mentors will join an experienced sled dog owner and musher, to hitch a team of 7 dogs to the sleds and run them across the snow.  Who could imagine that young people of South Camden would be engaged in such a courageous adventure enjoy this journey, not to the North Pole but to a place of learning, understanding, mutual encouragement and great fun.

Students will be meeting on Tuesday & Thursday afternoons from 3:30-5:30pm throughout February to complete the building of the sleds.






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UrbanTrekkers ‘Civil War Travelers’ Spring Break 2009

Thursday, May 14th, 2009
Gotta love the wetsuits!



The UrbanTrekkers took spring break 2009 to become history detectives, as they explored civil war battlefields from Gettysburg, PA to New Market, VA.

We began the week with a visit to Gettysburg College, where we spoke with college admissions staff, and then spent the afternoon exploring the Gettysburg battlefield.

We were fortunate to have our Trekker friend, Bob Lehman, or ‘Bobby’ as the Trekkers called him, share his knowledge of the battlefield and his experiences as an undergrad at Gettysburg College. Our first two nights were spend at the Harper’s Ferry Hostel, which is a great location to explore the story of John Brown the abolitionist, and his raid on the munitions armory in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.

We spent Tuesday whitewater rafting on and in the frigid Shenandoah River. It was an awesome outdoor adventure. We also visited Antietam battlefield in Maryland, which was the bloodiest single day of battle in American history, and historic downtown Harpers Ferry.

From there we headed south into Virginia and the beautiful Shenandoah valley, visiting the New Market Battlefield, where cadets from the Virginia Military Institute defeated the Union troops led by Major General Franz Sigel. That afternoon we toured Luray Caverns, outside of Harrisonburg Virginia.
We were hosted by our good friend, Katherine Johnson, from Grace Covenant Church in Harrisonburg, who graciously housed us at her parents home for three nights, as we toured the valley.

We were able to hike the Blue Ridge Mountains along a small portion of the Appalachian Trail, take a ten mile bicycling loop through an old order Mennonite farming community, visit a Mennonite dairy and poultry farm, where we milked cows, chased chickens, and jumped into the feed pile from the barn rafters. We further explored history by going to Charlottesville, Virginia and Monticello, the family home of Thomas Jefferson. As detectives, we looked at some of Jefferson’s writings and saw the contradictions in his own life, with his relationship to the issue of slavery, as well as his affair with Sally Hemings, one of his slaves, who bore a number of his children.

Trips like this allow us to include all the elements of an UrbanTrekker expedition, and make it something special. It’s the travel, the learning, and the adventure, but most important of all, the relationships that are created and strengthened as our students explore the world beyond the streets of Camden that make them UrbanTrekkers.

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The UrbanPromise Academy “Journeys” Class to Mexico

Friday, March 6th, 2009

Six students from UrbanPromise Academy traveled to Transvolcanic Mountains of Michoacán Mexico this past February.  The students had the opportunity to do field research on pre-selected subjects and to meet with rural Mexican school students who are also studying the Monarch Butterfly and its migration north. Here are a few pictures of our travels.  




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UrbanTrekker Trip to Washington D.C.

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009


The cold, relentless wind whipped across the Potomac river, rifling down Pennsylvania Avenue, scattering leaves and papers as it came. It was a late-December Washington afternoon.   

Leading a pack of scarf bundled teenagers was our UrbanTrekker director, Jim Cummings—Mr. C. to the kids. Annually Jim loads a group of 18 or so UrbanPromise teens into our bus and heads to the nation’s capital for three days of intensive history and museum visiting.

“We were walking down the ramp towards the Vietnam Memorial,” reported Jim when they returned. “There was an aging vet wearing a thread-bare army coat and a fatigued beret propped up against the wall.”

“‘How’s it going?’ I asked too cheerily.”

“‘Not so good,’ replied the disheveled Vet.”

From that too chipper greeting the conversation evolved and the students became mesmerized. The vet’s name was O’Donnell Parker. He had fought in Vietnam; after his discharge he said that he struggled to assimilate back into civilian life but encountered unusual difficulty getting jobs over the years. “I have been recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, he added plainly.”

“And who are you kids?” called out O’Donnell, as he watched the teens reading the names of those memorialized servicemen and women who had lost their lives on the battle field. As spokesman, Jim identified that they were young people from Camden in New Jersey, and were a part of a ministry called UrbanPromise.

“Do ya think they might want to learn a little about Vietnam?” said O’Donnell with a glint of hope in his eyes.

The intrigued teens formed a circle around the weary veteran. He quickly created a stunning, terrible picture of what it was like to fight in Vietnam, what it was like to have friends die in his arms, what it was like to return home to find that our country had turned against the war. He showed the kids his amputated fingers—lost when machine gun fire ripped across his body. He was honest about his struggles and the mistakes he had made. Then he challenged the kids to use their lives to make a difference.

Tears rolled down the faces of our teens. History had come to life, their history lessons were now personified in an aging veteran.

“Mr. C,” one of the students quietly asked, after O’Donnell had finished his poignant story, “Can we pray for O’Donnell?”

There was really no need to ask the question. Within seconds the students spontaneously circled their new friend, who was crouched by the black marble memorial. They held hands and offered prayers for Donald’s safety and his circumstances.

“Mr. C,” Jose movingly whispered as the final prayer was uttered, “Let’s take an offering.” With that, the UrbanTrekkers, our impressive teenagers, were digging in their pockets pulling out quarters, dimes and a dollar bill. When the money was carefully counted there was $32. That was a spontaneous worship service at the always deeply moving Vietnam Memorial.

Back home when the students were asked about their most meaningful moment on the Trekker Trip to Washington, it was not the Air and Space Museum, nor the Smithsonian–although they were good—they wistfully said that it was when they were at the Vietnam Memorial listening to the real life story told by their veteran friend, Donald.

It’s because of your special gifts that UrbanPromise is able to create these life-defining moments for our young people in our programs.

 

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UrbanPromise Academy “Journeys” Class prepares to travel to Mexico for Monarch Butterfly field research.

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

“Hey Mr. C., Miss Julie, look I got my passport in the mail yesterday.” Shahad was beaming as he thrust the official document with its golden imprinted seal on the cover towards us. “I can go anywhere in the world now, right?” “Well, almost”, I replied, realizing the significance the small important looking booklet had for him. Shahad and five of his classmates will be traveling to the Mexican State of Michoacán in February, 2009 to do field research as part of their high school curriculum. 

Since September Shahad and his classmates have been part of a new and exciting elective course in our small UrbanPromise high school. The year long course, called “Journeys”, meets twice each week for a total of 3 hours. We’ve been studying the Monarch Butterfly and its migration to winter sanctuaries by using various approaches.

• From a historical and geographic approach, the course takes us into a study of both animal and human migration…we’ve explored topics on the “Great Migration” of African Americans relocating from the south to the northern cities of the United States during the first half of the 20th century. We have looked at issues of illegal immigration and the relationship of the United States and its Mexican neighbor. Our exploration of Mexican history has opened the door to studying pre-Columbian native Aztec and Purepecha cultures. We have also been learning about Mexico’s post-Spanish conquest and contemporary history.

• In the sciences, we studied the life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly while raising, tagging, collecting data and releasing them. We have explored issues of climate change, habitat loss, deforestation, endangered species through field trips to Cape May and the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Students have read, researched and then debated positions centered on environmental conservation/preservation, environmental injustice and economic development.

• In language and visual arts, the Journeys class is learning to observe not only with the eyes of a scientist but also the creative eyes of an artist. They have taken the time to sit quietly in the garden sketching plants and insects alike. They have created poetic verse, learning to wordsmith the myriad of new words and ideas that are revealed through their studies.

Our upcoming trip to the Transvolcanic Mountains of Michoacán will provide our students the opportunity to do field research on pre-selected subjects and to meet with rural Mexican school students who are also studying the Monarch Butterfly and its migration north. Our travels will take us to Mexico City. We will see the art work of Diego Rivera, often described as the greatest Mexican painter of the 20th century. We will visit the ancient ruins of Tzintzuntzan, center of Purepecha culture; Teotihuacan and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon including the Tenochtitlan, the ancient Aztec capital city.

In many ways it is the magnificent and miraculous “Danaus Plexippus” (Monarch Butterfly) that is our passport to learning as six young students from UrbanPromise Academy prepare for the journey of a lifetime. This small yet grand, fragile yet incredibly resilient creature has led us to a world beyond our classroom, a world beyond our small urban garden in Camden, New Jersey.

Peace, Like a Garden in Camden

Jim Cummings

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UrbanPromise Academy Partners with Camden City Farmers Market

Saturday, August 16th, 2008

Harvesting for the Camden City Farmers Market. The carrots looked great and were a big seller, thanks to the UPA biology class who planted them in the garden back in April. The garlic that was also planted by the UPA biology class back in November finally emerged from curing in the shed after being harvested back in June by Nelly and Jorge. A lot of the cherry tomatoes unfortunately had split from being over watered by the rain storms last night. But all in all a good taste of small business management was experienced at the downtown Camden Farmers Market along with learning more about food in the Camden community.

The garden was planted more as an educational garden instead of a production garden, so it will probably be the only time this season UPA students will be showing off their nutritious produce to the Camden community. But hopefully the program will continue and grow…

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Friday, August 15th, 2008


On Friday, August 15, 2008, Chris Williams from Urban Promise Academy will be testing out his entrepreneurial skills at the Camden Farmers Market located across from the Walter Rand Transportation Center at Mickel & Broadway. This is an extension to an experiential learning program started at UPA this past school year involving garden and food based education centered around the schoolyard vegetable garden next to the Trekker House. Come by between 11am - 2pm to show your support!

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UrbanTrekkers: Senior Rite of Passage

Thursday, July 10th, 2008


The trip had been in the planning for over a year; it was the Senior Rite of Passage. We left Camden early in the morning for the seven hour drive to the Adirondack Mountains of New York. The five guys had just finished their final exams that week and would be graduating from the UrbanPromise Academy one week from today. Braheem, Kyrus, Mark, Mike and Terron have been part of the UrbanTrekkers program since they were freshman. During their high school years we have traveled to some incredible places…but this trip was going to be something very special, perhaps the last time we would all travel together.

My friend Dr. Bob Harris was joining us. Bob knew the guys well and had been a big part of planning for the trip. The Adirondacks region is known for its natural lakes and spectacular mountain scenery. Our itinerary would begin with the hike into Marcy Dam to set up a base camp the night before the twelve mile round trip to the summit of New York’s highest peak, Mount Marcy. The climb up Marcy was grueling; it was hot and we were in the height of black fly season. Since the black flies were feasting on any exposed skin we put on head nets for partial relief. Arriving at the summit gave us all a sense of accomplishment. From our panoramic 360 degree view we scanned the vastness of mountains and lakes below. Standing there I was filled with excitement for what we had just done and there was a sense of mystery for what would unfold.

After the first two days the challenging hike of Mount Marcy was behind us and we were ready to reveal the next challenge. Bob, an expert climber, had hired a professional guide to give us a course in rock climbing 101. After hiking an extremely steep route we arrived at the base of the rock wall. The guys were in awe as they stared up at seventy vertical feet of shear rock before them. Again the black flies were having a feeding frenzy on any exposed skin; the head nets and Deet helped but we were still fresh meat. With the proper equipment and the expert guide the guys soon felt confident as they scaled the rock before them. Climbing is physical but probably even more cerebral…we were pushing them and they were amazing!

The twenty-four hour camp solo is what they’d been planning and anxiously waiting for since last fall…the final piece of the passage. Bob had invited an old friend to join us in our camp. Kirby was a seasoned back country camper and I was looking forward to hearing his stories. It was day four. We had rented a small outboard boat to transport each guy to their own small wilderness island in Lower Saranac Lake. The guys were ready…they each had a tent, sleeping bag, camp stove, small bag of food with water, a journal/pen…oh, and a whistle just in case.  

In preparing for the Rite of Passage and the Solo our conversations were reaching deep within each of the guys. They all grew up in Camden without fathers or even grandfathers in their lives and we wanted to talk about becoming men, husbands and fathers. We wanted to contrast our culture to our Christian faith and to define how that might look for each of them. They had to write a mission statement, something personal for themselves and also write a letter. The letter would be written by their future fifty year old self and give advice to guide them on their life’s journey.

 

I knew a rite of passage ceremony would need its own symbolic sacrifice ritual. The night before the solo we asked each one the guys to share with the group something personal they wanted to leave behind as they passed from adolescence to young adult. It was a poignant experience, they shared parts of themselves they usually kept hidden. Fear of failure, blaming self for a parent’s abandonment, an inability to trust anyone, a lack of faith; holding grudges…the guys were brutally honest. The conversation was very personal, the stories compelling. Each one then drew a name of a fellow classmate and was asked to find an object on their island that could represent what their classmate had chose to leave behind and present it to him on our final night after coming off the island.
The Solo began with perfect conditions. It was noon on Tuesday, 85 dry degrees, blue sky with full pillow like cumulus clouds - couldn’t get much nicer. The first three guys loaded their gear onto the boat and Bob brought them out to the islands. I stayed back with the remaining two waiting for the boat to return for the second run. The guys were quiet and apprehensive. They had talked excitedly in the days preceding the solo but now the full impact was upon them. Lower Saranac Lake can be wonderfully serene and natural; protected from land development there are only wild
erness camp sites on its many small islands and shore line. The islands are beautiful, rocky outcrops rising quickly from the waterline with pines, cedars, birches and maples. On the water you’ll spot fish jumping while Loons and Mergansers pedal about.
It was still early afternoon by the time we had all the guys placed on their islands. Bob, Kirby and I began to set up our own camp on the distant shore. We were camped a quarter to a half mile from the islands. I’d checked the forecast earlier that morning and knew there was a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. I thought a small passing storm could add to their experience and welcomed the possibility. It was getting late in the afternoon, approaching evening and Kirby was beginning to cook diner for Bob and I over an open fire pit. We all noticed the thunderheads starting to roll in from the west and the sound of distant thunder with the occasional flash of lightning. Witnessing a storm close-up and personal has always given me a rush of excitement; this time was no exception, although I did have the guys on my mind.  

Quickly the sky blackened, the wind intensified, the thunder was Earth shaking and the rain became sheets of water washing over us. I moved quickly to secure loose items into my tent when suddenly “Crack” and “Crack” two forty foot pines came crashing down between tents and tarp. The lake took on an eerie presence as the whitecaps disappeared and a giant swell of water seemed to be moving up and down in the lake bed. Oh Baby! I thought this is more storm then I had hoped for. How would my guys be holding up, would they be safe? Would they be frightened? It was getting late and I knew we had to get out on the water. The worst of the storm moved through quickly. The rains continued but without the wind the lake no longer looked angry as before. Bob and I got on our raingear and gathered a supply of essentials for first aid and tent repair. The top of one of the fallen pines had landed in our boat and needed to be moved aside before we could go out. I felt like we were running out of time as we motored across the lake.

 

 

Braheem was first; we could see his tent from the shore and it appeared to be intact. I called up to him asking if he was OK. A voice came back from inside the tent all was well, he had weathered the storm. But he said he had heard Mike on the other island blowing his whistle. We were off to check on Mike. Mike heard the motor approach his island and was running frantically along the shore line. We could see from the boat that his tent had partially collapsed. Again, making sure he was physically ok we assessed his situation as one that required duct tape and small branches to shore up the snapped tent pole. We asked Mike to come close to the shore so we could toss him the tape and proceed to check on the other guys. As we pulled away from the rocky coast we heard Mike say, “That’s it - you are leaving me here with duct tape”?

We soon approached the islands with Mark and Kyrus. Mark was in great condition, his island and camp site were well protected from the brunt of the storm. Kyrus had not fared so well. He, like Mike came frantically running towards the shore telling us as his tent had collapsed with the poles snapping in multiple pieces. He was inside the tent when the wind exploded his poles and blew Kyrus and the tent a few feet from where it had been set. Kyrus crawled out and rescued himself and his gear seeking refuge in the outhouse. We made sure he was physically fine and assured him we would be back but had to go and check on Terron who had also been blowing his whistle.

Terron heard us coming as we approached the shore line. The wind blew the rain fly off the tent allowing rain to enter and soak the floor. He too was ready to end his island adventure. “Mr. C I was scared, I’ve been singing camp songs waiting for you guys to come”. Terron is one resilient guy who knows how to survive. Staying on the island wasn’t his first choice but we helped Terron relocate the tent and secure the rain fly. We found his driest clothes and told him to snug up in the sleeping bag and we’d see him in the morning. As we left to get back on the boat Terron told us not to worry about him, he said he would be fine; he had been taking care of himself for a long time.

We got back to Kyrus with duct tape, branches and rope; we resurrected his tent and like Terron wished him a good night and a promise to see him in the morning. That night as Bob and I crossed the lake returning to our camp I felt an overwhelming sense of God’s presence and protection for I knew this night would be long remembered by all of us. It was getting late and darkness was beginning to surround us. A steady rain was falling. I looked at Bob who had one hand on the outboard rudder and water running off his slicker, grinning from ear to ear he said “God how I love this!
” 

We spent our final night at the Keene Valley Hostel…sharing the letters, mission statements and the symbolic letting go ceremony. The significance of the storm was lost on no one. We got home on Thursday and the guys graduated on Saturday. In the tradition of UrbanPromise Academy each one gave a speech sharing sometimes funny and sometimes serious memories of their last four years. In the fall four of the five will be starting college and one will enter the Marine Corps. As I sat in the sanctuary that day and listened to each of them declare their plans for college and careers I kept thinking of the storm while I scratched away feverously at all my black fly bites…I looked over at my friend Bob thinking “God how I love this!”  

Peace, there is joy in the journey!

Jim

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