River of Lost Souls

When the Spanish came to this area, they named the river they found (obviously not in late August) El Rio De Las Animas Perdidas En Pergatorio--the river of lost souls in purgatory.

This summer, the Animas (as we call it now) earned it's name. At the peak of the season, on a higher than normal water flow, there was a horrible accident on the upper section of our river and a woman died. It was a terrible day for us at the shop and, of course, for our guides and clients on the trip. One of the girls who works in the office had her parents on the trip which made things excrutiating as we waited for news of what happened and who was hurt. Fortunately for my friend, her mother was safe--unfortunately for another family, their mom was gone. In the end, there was nothing that could have been done differently on the trip. There were two EMTs, a nurse, two combat veteran Marines, and an ER doctor on the trip who, collectively, were not able to save her.

While the accident was terrible and it had a profound effect on our entire company and the family involved, it was a moment that I will forever point to as indicative of why I am doing what I am doing in Durango and how I long for CTK to develop and be characterized. Here's why:

1. I was at the shop when we heard that someone had died. No one, in the whole process, who works for that company would have ever thought of calling a church and asking if a pastor would be willing to hang out with them and help them cope with what was happenning. I was there. I was already part of the community. There was a level of trust already established.

2. When the clients and guests finally got back to Durango I was asked to go to the train station to meet with everyone and help people find a place to stay and cope with the immediate realities of what had happened. In the words of one of my co-workers, "If that happened to me I would want pastor Chip to be there"!

3. I was there when my friend (who's mother was on the trip) came down from everything and just needed someone to hug her and tell her it was ok to be relieved her mother was safe even though it meant someone else was grieving a horrible loss.

4. I had dinner with the rest of the clients that night and was able to pray for them and offer help.

5. The Sheriff's office asked me to be their representative in helping the raft company staff deal with the tragedy because of my background as a pastor and the fact that I work for the company and know everyone.

6. Over the next couple weeks following the accident, I had almost every single person involved in the accident as well as the other guides at the shop approach me and ask to talk or bring up questions they had about the whole ordeal. I was asked several times if I would pray for people.

7. When I had a difficult time digesting what had happened I was able to commiserate with my co-workers who understood what I was going through and appreciated the fact that these things affect "preachers" too!

Not one of these things would have happened if I was sitting in my church office that day writing a sermon. Even if someone had called me as a "pastor" to come and help, I would not have had the inroads or time to be able to really connect with any of those kids. I grieve the loss from that accident. I also look to that experience as evidence that, while God doesn't always stop bad things from happenning, he is in the business of redemption. God redeemed the moment by having me in that place at that time in authentic relationship with those people.

If anyone ever asks me why I believe in bi-vocational ministry...if anyone ever asks me why I believe in relational evangelism, this is why.