Feeling at home, not homesick
Liam
Although Liam had been coming to Youth Camp at the A/U Ranches for the previous four years, he felt homesick last summer. “I was just missing home a lot the first week,” he says. “I was crying a lot and – I don’t know why – I just missed my family a lot.”
One of his camp counselors was helpful in sharing ideas about Christian Science from the weekly Bible Lesson. On a day that was especially hard for Liam, they went to the camp practitioner for help.
“She talked about the idea of home, and how it’s not just one specific place,” Liam recalls. “It’s all around where God is, and God’s everywhere.”
Still struggling, Liam went to Highview (the building for Christian Science nursing at the A/U Ranches). He read the Bible Lesson and spoke with the Highview staff about Christian Science.
“One of the things in the lesson that stuck out to me was talking about how mortal mind and the material mind controls the body when you’re focusing on the material,” he says. The idea from the following statement (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 399) of opposing mortal mind to correct the human issue clicked for him:
Our Master asked: “How can one enter into a strong man’s house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man?” In other words: How can I heal the body, without beginning with so-called mortal mind, which directly controls the body?
“When I turned to God, immediately there was a healing,” Liam recalls. “That’s one of many healings I’ve had recently just thinking and talking about that line from the lesson.”
Liam loves the atmosphere at the A/U Ranches that brings about healings like this one. “There’s something about being at [camp] with a community of Christian Scientists when no one else [friends back home] is around you who’s a Christian Scientist,” he says. “The Christian thought around you can help support [as well as] asking your friends for help and … praying.
“I love [the] A/U [Ranches],” he continues. “It’s such a beautiful place, and I feel like that’s a perfect place to have these healings because it really just shows how much you trust in God and how much God can do.”
Healings like this one happen all the time at the A/U Ranches. You can support this spiritual growth with a gift today.
Liam (left)
About the A/U Ranches
The A/U Ranches, located in Buena Vista, Colorado, are a cornerstone of Adventure Unlimited’s programming. The supportive and inspiring atmosphere cultivates confidence and develops moral courage for Christian Science youth, adults and families. Activities are offered year-round, including a secular community outreach program, 100 Elk, which serves diverse schools and groups.