Tacoma Team - It's a Wrap #2

Hello again,


One of the hardest things about being middle-aged is acknowledging how long it takes to recover from big trips. Here it is my second morning at home, and even after two 8-hour nights of sleep, I'm still a little groggy. Thirty years ago my husband and I could drive the 22 hours to Los Angeles straight through, with a few breaks to eat, and it would take one day to recover our energy. It just doesn't seem fair somehow.

The Little Hike

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip

That started with a hike uphill, and ended with a slip...

Tony had heard of a couple of hiking trails less than an hour away, and he was game to try them on our free Saturday. Joined by his wife Carrie and five teens (Cody, Bryce, Sarah, Jen, and Tyler), he left camp around 9:30, promising to be back in about four hours. Around 5:00 I received a call from Jen, saying they were heading to the emergency room in Smithers because Carrie might have broken her ankle. Another phone call a couple hours later confirmed the diagnosis: a broken fibula, down near the bottom. She was getting a cast and they'd be home soon. Around 8:30 I received a text saying they were finally on the highway headed back to camp.

About the same time, some of our local visitors were saying good-bye and heading home, when one little girl rushed up to Derwin and said, "My dad told me to tell you that the bridge is closed because someone is trying to jump!" The bridge she was referring to was the one-way suspension bridge which spans the Hagwilget Canyon about 300 feet above the Bulkley River. It's the only way into the campground from the highway, and it's been the site of so many suicides that the local kids say they hate that bridge. I quickly called Tony and explained the situation, and he said they were already in the back-up at the bridge, close enough to see the young man standing on the railing.

Around 11:00 Terry, one of our local friends, came back and told us we needed to come up with a Plan B, because the bridge might not open before morning. He and Matt Dressler put their heads together and came up with a family on the other side of the bridge that might take in Tony and his crew. I called Tony, he went to the Johnsons' house and explained the situation, and he was immediately offered a place to stay for the night. Not only did this mean they could get finally get out of the van, but it also meant a bed for Carrie instead of the thin camping pad awaiting her in her tent.

They returned to camp the next morning at 6, just in time to pack up and prepare to leave for home. It was then that we heard about how Bryce, Cody, and Tony had taken turns carrying Carrie down the steep trail, and how all the teens were troupers, enduring the long day without complaint. We clucked over Carrie's PLASTER cast (no pretty fiberglass?) and promised to sign it when we stopped for lunch. We also learned that the young man had been talked down from the bridge, and we all thanked God for that news.

A Tiresome Problem

As we were driving through Seattle, so close to Tacoma we could almost smell it, I received a text from the van behind me, telling me my rear tire was almost flat. Matt was driving at the time, so I had him pull off at Michigan Street to check it out. It appeared we'd picked up a nail, so we inflated the tire, consulted with my GPS about the nearest Les Schwab, and headed off to Southcenter to get it repaired. Matt, Jon, Zach, Aisling, Haley, and I enjoyed the TV, free wi-fi, and newspaper crossword in the waiting room, and soon we were on the road again - with two brand-new tires. It wasn't just a nail - it was a very worn-out tire. We made it back to the Dressler house an hour or so after the rest of the crew, having earned the honor of having the final adventure of the trip.

To sum up, it was one of the best mission trips I've ever been on. There was something special about this group of teens and adults, and we dealt with fewer issues than usual. We shared a lot of love around our campfire and in our villages, and our prayer is that the people whose lives we touched will never forget how much Jesus loves them.

In Christ,

Sue Acuna

I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me. Ps. 6:13