What Exactly Are You Doing?

I checked into my dorm at Canyon Village here in Yellowstone. I have the room to myself at the moment (I don’t see this luxury lasting forever), and it’s nice to get unpacked and settled in before work, ministry, and time become consumed. I want to make this post about what I’m doing this summer. Some questions have been raised, so I hope to make it clearer in this blog.

I’ll make a list to help visualize and compartmentalize the different summer activities.

1) A Christian Ministry in the National Park—My primary focus in coming out here is to work with this ministry. Yellowstone is actually the founding site. Basically, we lead public worship services within the national parks. (And, although we receive the finest cooperation from the national park services, we take no funds or in no way are associated with the national park—I always have to say this). The primary activity is Sunday worship services. In Canyon, we have 3 to lead every Sunday (9, 10:30, and 7pm) and in Norris at 9am. These are for employees, visitors, and anyone else who is curious to come and worship. The organization is distinctly interdenominational, so the various liturgical backgrounds are impressive. In Yellowstone this summer, of 20 people there are 13 different denominations. They do a great job of accommodating for all the traditions. We have a great team in Canyon, and we’re hoping to start services on Sunday. Please pray, check out the link (www.acmnp.com), and get a feel for what we do out here.
2) Working for Xanterra—What’s great about this ministry is the intentional bi-vocational format for the summer. It’s nice because I don’t have to ask you for money, and can actually work (my dad would be proud of this fact). I work a 40-hour a week job through the concessions program. While the details are sketchy at the moment, it looks like I’m working as a server assistant or server in the Canyon Lodge. While the pay won’t be astronomical, part of the ministry is working hard and working well as an employee. I live in the employee dorms here, and have an opportunity to meet the different seasonal employees in this area. Today alone, I’ve met all sorts of people from all over the country working here for all sorts of reasons. Some of the stories are broken, others hopeful, others—unsure. I suppose I even fall in that last category because it’s hard to decipher the proper response. And yet, Scripture commands love—however that may look.
3) MLP Credit—I am getting internship credit out here, so there is an academic focus for this as field education. I’ve already written one paper on field education and have my goals approaching shortly. I’ll try to post my goals once they’re officially set for the summer so you can keep me accountable!
4) Christian Community in Montana—Meeting the people out here helps gives a real sense of local support from amazing Christians. So many stories begin as, ‘I moved out here 20 years ago and never left’. Bill and Debbie Young are the primary leaders in this Christian community, working here for over 20 years. The people really love their ministry here and they work hard to make it available to all. We’ve also learned some of the history here. I might post a blog about it, but one Episcopalian Minister named ‘Whiskey Isle (sp?)’ claimed he wasn’t a good preacher unless he was ‘full of the spirits’ (hilarious and probably true). Yet, every weekend he took a 30 mile train, rode horseback for a few more miles into Yellowstone, and baptized, preached, and ministered to workers up here—amazing life. The rich history towers above me as I hope to work within the park.
5) Living in Yellowstone—I won’t lie, the prospect of living out West and in one of the most scenic parts of the country lured me into making the leap. While other places would be great, I’m young, single, and fortunate enough to have support and the means to make this a reality. So far, it’s been incredible and have loved the life out here.

I hope this helps clarify my work out here and to give you specific prayer requests. I do miss those far away, but I ask for your support during my brief tenure out West. On some occasions, it seems clear this is where I need to be at the moment. Please pray.

With Love,

Trey