Climb-a-thon

Man, lot’s going on with Compass right now! Friday we held our first ever “Climb-a-thon” fundraiser at OKC Rocks. I saw it as a success in that we raised a respectable amount of money, got some of our community involved, and had a great time doing it.

For those of you interested, what we did was climb for one hour straight as many vertical feet as possible, and our wonderful sponsors donated per foot climbed. About 15 minutes in, I started to question how good of an idea it was, as I hit the wall really early on. I settled into a rhythm and ended up climbing 1,448 feet in my allotted hour. Yes, I’m still a little sore!

Andy Chasteen led the pack with 1,568 feet and Randy Banning was the MVP as the individual with the most money raised. Thank you so much to everyone who participated.

Other than that Lance and I have spent much of our time out and about spreading the word about what a great experience we offer through Compass. It is always so refreshing to me to meet with a youth pastor who has never had a group do anything like this and see them get excited about the unique experience that Compass offers to them.

I really get a lot out of simply meeting with the youth pastors. Often when we talk there is, of course, the “sales pitch” of informing them of the service we provide, but it has been a way to develop some friendships with them as well. It constantly reminds me that every one of us needs to be encouraged and that encouraging one another is a big part of this entity we call the Church.
Let me encourage you to invest in people’s lives. Not because it will benefit you, which it may or may not, but because we are called to. Derek Webb says that when we divorce the church from the gospel then it ceases to be the gospel. I think he’s right. We have to build our communities and take a part in encouraging one another to be the best we can be. We are interdependent people. Let’s do everything we can to build the bond of love between one another and spur one another closer to our God.

Steven