M-Fuge 2007 : Nashville Day 3

June 13, 2007 @ 11:50 pm by Pressed

Disappointment.  That is probably the most accurate word to describe what I’ve been feeling the last couple days of M-Fuge.  I feel disappointed because of all the sudden changes.  I find it a bit ironic that one of the themed messages this week was on abandonment.  It is as if M-Fuge has abandoned those of us that have been regulars to their camps.  With no preparation, things suddenly change, sending people who have been to Fuge before into a spiraling pit of despair with no way to really deal with it.  What should I feel about all of this?  Why do I let it distract me?  I know that I should be focused on ministry, missions, and what God is doing in our group.  Unfortunately I’ve been so frustrated with M-Fuge policies and difficult staffers and changes that I lose all focus on what is really important.  What has always been a carefree trip for me has turned into a hassle.  Now we are bound by strict rules, fees, and disorganized, poor communication that brings more negative focus to Fuge camps than positive.  Maybe the new direction of M-Fuge has rendered it no longer capable of reaching our church group.  I don’t know what reason these changes came to pass, but I do know that they don’t work for us.  Maybe it is time for us to move on.  My goal now is to make it through this week.  I want to focus on Jesus.  I want to follow Christ.  I want that for my teens as well.

Now I guess you can look at me and say, “now here is a person who doesn’t get it.  Fuge is about Jesus, and he’s missing the point.”  I’ve already admitted my distraction, but I think those who are responsible for the way M-Fuge runs should also take a moment to realize that the same could be said for them.  If it was really only about Jesus I don’t think I would have had all the issues I’ve had to deal with this week.  There wouldn’t be needless charges and strict violations of a churches right to film their own students.  It would actually be what Fuge has always been for us.  Unfortunately that has all changed.

The funny thing is, I haven’t expressed any of this to my students.  I don’t complain in front of them, I don’t tell them my woes of dealing with all this junk.  I don’t share with them my opinions about any of it.  I want them to have the best week possible without me making any negative comments towards the camp and the way things are done.  Still, I’ve had students coming up to me, upset about some of the same things I am frustrated about.  None of them like the way the schedule is now.  The schedule has us running all the time with no free time at all.  We are all more tired than normal and it’s only been three days but it feels like it has been two weeks.  For the first time in 7 years I’ve had students actually say to me that they wouldn’t mind trying a different type of mission trip next year.  It’s interesting to me that even our students notice that something is just not right.   Fuge has gone in a direction that isn’t really working for our church group anymore.  That really is a shame.

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On another note.  The site that I go to in Nashville is called Preston Taylor Ministries. Preston Taylor Ministries (PTM) was founded to confront the many problems that children in the Preston Taylor public housing area faced, including drug use, gang involvement, teen pregnancy, illiteracy and poor school performance.  I’m in the computer room.  We have different sets of kids that come into the computer lab all day long every 20 minutes.  Using reading programs, we help the students work on their reading.  During the afternoon hours we let them come back in to play games on the internet.  Their favorite sites to go to are nick.com and the disneychannel.com.  They love to play SpongeBob racing games on the net.

At Preston Taylor we are helping the kids to learn Reading, Math, and other skills such as respect for each other and for “the church”.  They call PTM the church and ask the students to show respect.  My favorite saying at PTM is when the main lady gets up and says “The quietest time of the day…” and all the kids shout “is when we pray!”  Then they all bow their heads, get silent, and she prays.  It’s cool!

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