August is back to school month. This makes me think of a trip I did with my high school youth group in Colorado Springs back in 1990. I remember taking them on a weekend trip to the Fulford Cave in White River National Forest near Eagle Colorado. This is not a cave like Mercer Caverns where you get a guided tour down a grand staircase. It is a cave that gets checked every three days by the forest service to make sure no one get lost inside. As I took this group of 16 high school students on the adventure of there lives God taught me a thing or two about sharing my faith. I brought Wayne with me because he knew the cave well. We followed Wayne up the side of a mountain at 11,300 feet. As we got close to the cave I thought I saw the entrance. It looked like a nice wide archway. I was wrong. Two very distressed girls came to me and said they were not going into the cave. They were crying. Robin and I thought they were being a little too dramatic so Robin walked to the front of the group to see the entrance. When Robin got back to me she was crying and said, “Morri, there is no way I am going into that cave.” I knew this would be a challenge for all of us but the lessons we would learn would last for a lifetime. The entrance was a small man-hole with a plastic cover. (See Pictures Below) I lifted the lid and felt the cold black darkness hit me in the face. This hole went right into the side of the mountain and then almost straight down for about 90 feet. I knew this would be a challenge for all of us but the lessons we would learn would last for a lifetime. It took about an hour to get all of us into the cave. Wayne took us all over the cave. Finally we ended up in the Cathedral Room. This was a large room with a 3-story drop off on one side down to a river that ran through the bottom of the cave. Wayne had us all sit well away from the ledge and at least two arms length away from each other. He had us put our flashlight away and take out our candles. (Candles are essential when spelunking) Wayne was the only one with light at this point. He then talked to us about the importance of sharing our faith with our friends. He asked, “Do the other students at your high school know that you are a Christian?” “When was the last time you shared your faith with someone at your school?” Then he said “I want you to imagine for one minute what is would be like to be lost in this cave.” He counted to three and blew out his candle. There we sat alone in pitch-black darkness. Before the minute was up about half the students were in tears. Finally Wayne lit his candle. What a relief! The light was so powerful. Then he said, “What if I took my light and left you in this cave?” “You would be here in darkness because I refused to share my light with you.” Then Wayne made his point. He said, “Your school is like this cave. There are people who are lost in total darkness and you have the light. Many of you have refused to share your light in the past. I hope in the future you will think of this cave and share the light of Jesus Christ with your school.
It was one of the most powerful moments of ministry I have ever experienced. What about you? Are there people around you every day that are walking in darkness. Are you ready to share the light of Jesus Christ with the people you come in contact with? Let’s do it. Let’s go share the life changing message of Jesus Christ with our world!

Shinning His Light
Pastor Morri
  Yes this is Robin in the cave.