Washing my hands after a short trip to the long drop outhouse, I heard the first screech of the resident tree hyraxes. I smiled to myself as I finally processed what had happened during our tour of the new campsite. The guide had been talking about something as I had joined just in time to watch one of our more off-the-wall students lift his chin and scream loudly to the canopy of trees above. The guide had laughed, said something and the tour had continued. About 10 yards from the campsite was a little cabin that he showed us to where we could keep our luggage since the tents were quite small.

As the chorus began, I connected the dots to that tour; that student had been imitating the bone chilling sound that comes from a nocturnal animal the size of a guinea pig. I smiled as hyrax after hyrax joined the chorus, distracted only when my phone vibrated violently in my pocket, indicating someone was trying to call me. “Hello?” I answered tentatively, assuming it must be a student. I was met with frantic sounds I could hear in my phone, but also emanating only a few yards away from the cabin.

“We’re trapped!”

“Someone is being murdered!”

“We don’t know what to do!!!”

Panic stricken, two of the ladies on my trip had apparently never interacted with this sound and truly believed they were in grave danger. Unfortunately for them, this was the perfect opportunity for me. “Miss Galloway???” They asked tentatively, assuming I’d been almost a five minute walk away at the multi-purpose building with everyone else, not just outside their cabin. Saying nothing, I crossed the few remaining yards to the cabin and let out as loud of a scream as I could muster.

Doubled over in laughter, I opened the door and found them in a puddle in the middle of the cabin, tears streaming down their faces. I felt the tiniest bit of remorse as I comforted them and assured them of their safety. The screeching was a small animal, the shadow they’d seen, just the night guard out there to protect them. There was no danger, and I was there to walk with them back to the common area.

This is one of my favorite moments from the trip I’ve just chaperoned with another leader and 14 students. We left RVA early on a Thursday morning on a trip dubbed “Extreme Kenya.” Each March, our 11th and 12th grade students embark on trips of all kinds. While a lot of work to plan, I will never choose to opt out of these incredible adventures.

Our devotions each day were short and sweet, presented by the students on assigned scripture readings around the theme, “Out of your comfort zone.” Each day, we engaged in something different that brought us just a little further out of our comfort zones.

Archery: We did this twice! The second time, our students had gained confidence and found themselves hitting the targets just a little more often. As a rainbow flooded the sky, we began shooting at balloons instead of the stagnant targets. They were very difficult to hit. Some of our students began chatting about how they felt like they were in Lord of the Rings when suddenly a balloon popped as an arrow hit home and someone yelled to the shooter, “YOU’RE A SEXY ELF!!!”

Paddle Boarding: Before embarking on our journey up river, we practiced balancing, and even had a chance at some running leaps into the river. A couple of our students aren’t swimmers, and to see them trying this leap of faith was neat. What was neater, was hearing one student say, “Oh, he’s not a great swimmer.” and run and jump into the river right after him to make sure his friend was able to dog paddle himself to the shore. This was one of my favorite activities as it felt reminiscent of my many river trips growing up. As we began to paddle it felt just like a midwest river… until we rounded the bend to giant palm fronds, women washing their laundry, a wire suspension bridge with a grandma being helped slowly across, a herd of cows coming over the ridge until we were paddling around them, and shouts of my teenage guys yelling, “Turn around! There’s a man showering up here!!!!”

Duckies: Inflatable canoes navigated with a kayak paddle, this replaced our agenda item of “white water rafting” because the water levels were so low. An adventure all the same we practiced different strokes in a wide slow-moving part of the river. “Jump out, climb back in! Stand, trade places!” The instructors worked to get our kiddos comfortable before we hit the rapids a little further down river. Swapping boats with a student, we practiced hitting our backflips together off the bow of the boat. When we came to a 10 ft waterfall, one by one we took our boats over the top. My co-leader and I went first so we could watch all our students scream. I face planted when running across the rocks when I tried to jump in the water to help a student who’d fallen out of her boat and gotten stuck in the churn at the base of the falls. She ended up popping up just fine after a few more seconds, but I never did live down my tumble on the rocks. After portaging to the bottom of the next waterfall, we muscled our way towards the base, only to be shoved away by the rushing currents. Finally, we approached from the side, grabbed the rock face and pulled ourselves through the gushing waters.

Rock Climbing: Belaying each other up a sheer rock face, encouragement and guidance abounded as students walked each other through where their hands and feet should be placed next. Stunning views of rocky waters and sweeping valleys were the reward for making it to the top.

Cliff Jumping/Abseiling: Though we couldn’t go through the big canyon due to rains and flash flooding, we still had a blast gearing up in wetsuits, harnesses, and helmets for a plunge or two into icy waters below. Our morning ended with rappelling down a waterfall and across the base of the river.

Go Kart Racing: After our first round, the students were shocked when none other than their very own chemistry teacher had the best time of all of them. Unfortunately, we couldn’t leave it there and I got beat out for the top spot, but not without first just a little bit of gloating to wide eyes in the faces of 18 year old guys.

Bungee Jumping: Eight of our fourteen students prepped themselves for a 60-meter climb to the top of a crane where their ankles were wrapped tightly and attached to a giant rubber band. Hilariously enough, the greater fear for many of the students was that their peers would see the weight that had been scrawled on the back of their hand before beginning their ascent. Screams echoed through the air, arms flailed uncontrollably, eyes widened to the size of saucers, and smiles plastered on faces as they fell from the sky.

Paint Ball: I’d bragged too much. Last time I’d paintballed, it had been so fun, I’d talked just a little bit too much smack talk, and when we were all suited up, nobody wanted to be on my team because they all wanted to shoot me instead. I found myself taking a defensive role, positioned behind a stack of tires, looking for my targets across the playing field. By staying hidden, I was protected from the bruising that would come with being shot, but I was also shielding myself from the real goal- to go get the flag. The greatest moments involved my paintball splattering across the face of a students protective gear, and the echoing words “I can’t go there! Galloway is covering that line!”

Mountain Biking: One of our students does not bike often and is very uncomfortable with her level of inexperience. “Try going a little faster!” I heard our guide tell her. “It’s easier to balance.” “OOOOOOOO!” I heard her say, “You’re right! But it’s so scary!!!” Sometimes, things in life are scary. Following Jesus might feel like the right thing to do, only if I can go slow and do it in a way that I think is safe. But I don’t think this is the way it is- I think it’s more like the student riding a bike- it takes embracing the scary, and going full speed ahead. Only when we trust Jesus fully do we experience the greatest joy that comes with being his child.

High Ropes Course: After one of the senior guys had to be lowered in the middle of one of the obstacles, a dangerous bet was made. If I didn’t make it through all seven, my student got to teach one class period of AP Chem. If I did make it through all seven, he comes for three 8th periods to clean the chem lab. Looks like my classroom will be extra clean next term 😉

After devotions, evenings were met with smores, popcorn, chill time on phones, or even the big book of questions. There was one particular night I pulled out this book and went through the students asking them to choose a number. As students wandered off to stargaze, shower, or find charge for their phone, there were about four guys to stayed behind to chat. We spent time talking about the difference between trained debaters and apologetics and how that plays out in actual evangelism and sharing the gospel. We talked about assurance of salvation, and what it means to share your faith.

While we had many moments of students being pulled out of their comfort zone physically, my prayer is that as they grow in their faith, they will be willing to step out of their comfort zone to follow Jesus each and every day.

Prayer Points:

• Welp- that last line pretty much sums it up 🙂
• Students have all left for a four week break with their families- so pray for rest for all (staff+students) and that the time home for the students would bring them much needed time with their families.