Mountaineer Challenge Academy

We received a letter in December asking for dates to come and hold a service at the Mountaineer Challenge Academy. For those of you who may not have heard of MCA, it's about ten miles from us and it's basically a boot camp for troubled teens. They have the option of going into Boot Camp following their completion of the six-month course. We have been asked once before to come and hold a service, but that was about three years ago. At that time, we saw around 30-40 young people come--this is a voluntary thing, remember--and 11 of them raised their hands to ask for someone to show them how to be saved. We jumped at the chance to get in on the opportunity this time. We see the great need for young people to be exposed to the Gospel, sound preaching, and the right kind of music. When we arrived at the chapel, the building was locked and there were no lights on. We knew we were in the right spot, but wondered where everyone one was...had we heard the wrong date, or had they forgotten? Dad walked around trying to find someone who could help while the rest of us waited in the van. We had brought our P.A. system, but it didn't look like we would have time to set any of that up. We finally retrieved a key and were able to get into the building with about 15 minutes to spare. We had just finished tuning up (no time for the P.A.) when a group of about 50 recruits showed up. They were attentive to Dad, and especially were excited when he brought out his banjo. Responsive, they were fun to sing to and preach at. Dad gave a clear message and there was a show of 5 or 6 hands of those who said they had prayed the sinner's prayer. We passed out tracts to each one at the door, and only one young man refused a tract. Since moving to West Virginia, God has given us many unique opportunities to reach out to the lost or saved in our area. It's exciting to see what He has for us in the future!