The Wilkes Team

“Everybody up! You have 3 minutes to be in PT gear and in the hallway. Let’s move!” Sunday morning of week 2 started with a surprise wake-up. Once in the hallway, everyone knocked out a few push-ups & flutter kicks before positioning ourselves in the flaming chariot position with hands straight out, palms up. Moments later, ATL Freeman & ALC McClary came around the corner with an unexpected breakfast of homemade cinnamon buns and hot chocolate. Needless to say, Mrs. Ritchie became an instant favorite of our team .

An objective of Life Focus is for each student to center his life around Christ while developing a focus on the needs of others. Countless opportunities are provided over the course of the program unto this end.

Week two of Focus revolved around IBLP’s annual Counseling Seminar. Tuesday evening an army of mighty young people & parents gathered in ITC’s auditorium for the opening session.

Powerful Moment #1

Each member of our team walked away with life changing insights & motivating principles. Team meetings throughout the week provided opportunities to give testimony of how God was working. A meaningful moment was Wednesday evening when each team member prayed a beautiful blessing over their Dad. Asking God to bless them with love and the power to communicate.

Powerful Moment #2

While the students have been diligently working these past two weeks, others have been watching. One recent day, the owner of several local McDonalds in Indianapolis stopped by the training center. Looking out the window, he eyed the wholehearted work of the students and was so impressed by their servant’s hearts that he invited the team down to one of his McDonalds for a full meal at no cost. This left a powerful reminder that when we wholeheartedly serve with no thought of gain, God takes joy in abundantly blessing!

Powerful Moment #3

Mr. Gross, the Chef here at ITC, encouraged our team to engage in a team building project: singing! We had our first practice Wednesday afternoon and quickly realized it would require some work for our team to harmonize. Mr. Gross had requested that our team sing a song after the final dinner (Friday) of the Seminar. But at this moment, the probability of doing so was low. Friday morning, the team hustled up the stairs to floor 13 for another practice session. Rather unexpectedly, the team began to harmonize together. One of the students, Jonathan, has a gift of singing and provided key tips for helping us blend. The result was a beautiful rendition of “Be Thou My Vision.” Mr. Gross’s word in due season provided a meaningful project that drew us together, revealed the power of team work, & manifested the mighty hand of God.

Highlights of the week:

Jennifer quickly became another blessing to our team after she helped Mrs. Ritchie cook up a delicious batch of Apple Dumplings. Not too long after the students went to bed Friday evening, we woke them up & ran up to the 13th floor kitchen for apple dumplings & milk. Good work Blue Team. Way to serve the Counseling Seminar attendees! There is joy in serving others and abundant when Christ is central.

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                                 Wednesday morning, 6:00am, the Green team of FOCUS XVI began a road trip across the country. The final destination being Eagle Springs Training Center of Oklahoma; a 765 acre property, with woods covering most it’s surface. On the acreage a commodious lodge and 5 to 7 log homes are situated in various scattered positions.

The purposese of the trip was to help Mr. Toedt, the director of the Training Center, and his wife, in the care taking of the property. Not to many years ago a devastating ice storm wrecked havoc and destruction on the vast forests of this property. The plan was to have us, burn these fallen trees and branches and clean up the forests. This is exactly what we did…                                                      

… yet our work variety didn’t end here… In addition to brush fires there was fence clearing, tearing down old fence, digging rocks out of a field, rebuilding a dam for a pond, and last but not least – good old PT (physical training).

We’d wake up in the morning have personal devotions, then eat breakfast. After breakfast it was off to work wherever Mr. Toedt desired us to go. Lunch would bring a nice refreshing break but then it was back again to good wholesome exertion. Dinner was always a highlight. Especially when Mrs. Toedt would put together an incredibly good wholesome meal.

For five of the evenings, while there, Director Ritchie had the students listen to a DVD series on the topic of guarding our hearts because out of it come the issues of life. The preacher exhorted all of us and I was deeply encourage by the action the students took from the prompting’s the Holy Spirit gave through the preaching of the Word.

Many other great events took place with those mentioned above, from a “Soaking Exhilaration” led by Director Ritchie, to a Scavenger hunt for the students. It truly was a blessed time. Mr. and Mrs. Toedt blessed us so much from both their abundant generosity and their dynamic gratefulness to God, while God poured his blessings of protection, teamwork and diligence. Praise the Lord for his goodness; Praise him, Praise him forevermore.

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For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from

our birth
Over and around us lies.

Refrain:

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale,

and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

For For the joy of ear and eye,     
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.

For Thy Church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love.

For each perfect gift

of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.

What a beautiful hymn! This song came to mind as I was reviewing the pictures I had taken. What a stunning world we live in. And to think that it happened all by chance?? To have such color and variety of plants there had to be a Creator!

Praise the Lord that we can know our Creator!! We can have a personal relationship with the very one that created both us and the world we live in. May we never forget that to whom much is given much is required! Luke 12:48

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Shirts were ironed, pants neatly pressed, hair was combed, and name tags evenly affixed to each shirt – the leadership team was ready.  Following dinner, Patrick (known as Director Ritchie during FOCUS) & Matthew (known as Logistic Chief Wilkes) accompanied the 11 students on what Director Ritchie declared as ‘your last ride on the elevator.’ Students and parents gathered in a class room on the 13th floor of the building for orientation. The prevailing message given to the students was the need for men to stand in the gap (Ez. 22:30).

Following this challenge, a Life Focus XV graduate, Ernesto, lead the students down all 13 flights of stairs, around the training center parking lot, & back up the 13 flights in a brisk run. Final good-byes were given and the parents departed. After a brief introduction to the leadership team, the students were divided between the Blue (my team) & Green (lead by Staddon) team before running down to the 3rd floor where everyone will be sleeping these next several weeks. The next couple hours were spent checking baggage, moving in, & preparing. One who stands in the gap must have a proper foundation (1Cor. 3:11).

Day one was full of motivational PT, cleaning bathrooms, washing dishes, and sweeping the ITC parking lot. Some of you may wonder what we mean by ‘motivational’ PT. In a nutshell, this is PT given to one who is in need of motivation. Forgetfulness, foolishness, slacking off, and other similar maladies are wondrously treated through this exhilarating remedy . For one who stands in the gap must be motivated (2Tim. 4:5-8).

5:30 the next morning, Green Team silently pushed off from the Training Center for a cross country tip to the wilderness of Oklahoma where they would spend 10 days working at IBLP’s Eagle Spring Training Center. One who stands in the gap must be always ready (1Pet. 3:15).

Blue Team would now embark upon a full 5 days of much work. Opportunities to serve abounded. Painting the trim along the exterior of the 13th floor, ripping out termite eaten wood inside ITC’s Log Cabin, thoroughly cleaning 8 utility rooms, washing bathrooms, scrubbing dishes, etc – discovering gaps and seeking to fill them. A gap stander must be on the look out for gaps to fill (Matt. 25:34-40).

Friday night was a highlight of the week. After the first night, all students were on voice lock down meaning communication was limited only to leadership or those outside Focus who initiated a conversation. This was a challenge for several, but the point was made how little we ought to talk, especially as those standing in the gap (James 1:19). Friday night after sending the students to bed, the three of us (McClary, Freeman, & I) with the help of the leaders’ dear Mom away from home, Mrs. Ritchie, put together a surprise party complete with root beer, ice cream, pop corn, nutri-grain bars, & home made sugar cookies (thank you Mrs. Ritchie).

An alarm clock was secretly placed within the students’ rooms, set to go off in the middle of the night. A note lying near the alarm told the students to, without talking, dress in PT gear and gather in the elevator lobby. ATL Freeman was there waiting in Push-up position with the next clue. From there they ran to the cabin which told them to run across the parking lot up the cement stairs to the auditorium entrance, and from there back inside, up 13 levels where they finally ended near the kitchen. Here they were commended for demonstrating self-control and informed that the team had earned the privilege of communicating with each other. They were then lead into the kitchenette for a tasty ice cream party! Way to go Blue Team!

One who will stand in the gap must be willing to lay aside the pleasures of the world and limit his behavior (Rom. 14:13; Heb. 12:1-2).

 In so doing, the light of Christ will shine through!

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