Intense Dependence
A few months ago, while at camp, I got a call from one of our in-town support staff telling me that the brakes went out on one of our new-to-us vehicles, a Chevy Tahoe. Thankfully, they were able to park it safely and get a ride home. However, the Tahoe was parked down by Twin Lakes, which is about eight and a half miles from our in-town mechanic shop in Auke Bay. Because of the risk of vandalism, I wasn’t willing to let it sit there overnight, but it was high tide at Echo Cove, meaning the road into camp was underwater and there was no way to get a trailer from camp into town to pick it up. Thankfully, I was scheduled to run into town for a load of fuel anyways, so I grabbed some tools, and Thane (volunteer mechanic) and I got a boat ride out of camp to see what we could do.
Usually when a brake line blows, there’s a little bit of braking capability left, and I was thinking we could crimp or plug the line on the Tahoe and drive it back to our in-town shop to work on it. Long story short, the initial plan to crimp the line failed. After a couple hours and a run for parts, we got the brake line removed and plugged, but as we were pumping up the brakes, a second rusty brake line gave way. I had never called a tow truck before in my life, but it was getting dark and our options were limited, so I eventually accepted that I needed to make that call. My attempt to be independent in this situation had failed along with the second brake line.
While I was frustrated, I realized that I still had much to be thankful for. I wasn’t doing it alone; Thane is great to work with, and we had prayed over the situation before heading into town. I believe that helped us retain our joy and keep things in perspective as we worked. When the tow truck arrived, I was surprised that it cost much less than I had anticipated. I also got to have a good conversation with the tow truck driver after we got back to the camp office. Tide was still high and by now it was dark, so Thane and I couldn’t take the fuel truck back out. A few of our staff ladies made an evening out of it and brought a mini van in from the end of the road to pick us up in town. We got frozen yogurt and hung out until tide was low enough for us all to drive back into camp.
I share that story to point out, first, that Thane and I were blessed in the midst of what could have been a stressful situation, and second, that we were reminded of our dependence on other people. Ultimately we depend on Christ, but we also need those He has placed around us, both within the church and without. Independence has been an intensely American sentiment from the beginnings of our society, and while I think there is tremendous value in the work ethic and responsibility that comes from this, as believers we have professed and must continually be reminded that we are intensely dependent – dependent on Christ for salvation, and dependent on God’s provision through His body, the Church. We do not grow well alone. Sometimes we have few other options, but we are meant for community, and iron cannot sharpen iron if there is only one iron.
Though prayer has always been a central part of the ministry in my years with Echo Ranch, I have noticed more of a corporate focus on prayer within the organization these past few years, and time and again we have seen the fruits of that conscious dependence on God. Staffing and financial needs that we lifted up week after week have been met in just the right ways. Campers whose names we pray over at the beginning of each week have come to know the Lord after battling through painful circumstances and unbelieving families and friends. Ultimately, the ministry of Echo Ranch has continued, completing 60 years of summer camps in 2024. Every year has brought with it countless opportunities to trust God, and while things don’t always turn out as we hope or expect, God is good and we have seen Him prove faithful over and over again.
The desire to be independent has been with us since the Fall, and I am certainly no exception to that. I often try doing as much as I can by myself; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. However, I have been learning more and more over the past five years how dependent I truly am, no matter what I can or cannot do. God created me, and He created every person reading this, and He wants a relationship with each of us, through Christ. That will not happen if we persist with a mindset that we can do it all ourselves, and the ministries and jobs we are involved in will not be healthy either. As you start 2025, I would encourage you to ask God to remind you of your dependence on Him. Joy comes easier as we realize that His yoke truly is easy, and His burden is light.