I spent the day helping my friend, Denise, who is a middle school teacher, chaperone 17 eighth graders on a field trip to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. A quick history lesson of Harpers Ferry includes the town’s significance in the Civil War.
In 1796, President George Washington established a federal armory and arsenal in Harpers Ferry. Forty-six years later, John Brown believed he could free the slaves, and he selected Harpers Ferry as his starting point. In October 1859, Brown attempted to seize the 100,000 rifles and muskets stored here as a first step in his revolutionary scheme to rid the nation of slavery. The plan failed when local militia and a contingent of marines under the command of Robert E. Lee seized Brown and killed or captured nearly all of his raiders. Brown holed up in the “fort” (really just a small armory), but was eventually captured, tried for treason and subsequently hanged in Charlestown, Virginia (later to become West Virginia).
The Civil War, which Brown’s raid helped to bring about, trapped Harpers Ferry on the border between North and South. After Virginia forces seized the armory in April 1861, “Stonewall” Jackson dismantled the weapons-producing machinery and shipped it south to produce arms for the Confederacy. He returned to Harpers Ferry in mid-September 1862, during Lee’s first invasion of the North, and conducted a brilliant siege from the mountains that forced the surrender of both the town and the Federal troops stationed there – the largest surrender of U.S. troops during the Civil War.
During our visit to Harpers Ferry, we visited the John Brown museum, where we learned all about Brown’s unsuccessful raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859. We then participated in a program with the National Park Service, whereby the students divided into 5 groups, and each group constituted a real family that was living in Harpers Ferry during Brown’s raid. Each group received background information on their family, and then they had to decide if they were going to remain in Harpers Ferry during the Civil War or leave Harpers Ferry. We then went to each family’s “home” and the respective group of students told what their decision was and why. The park ranger, Meredith, then told us what the “real” family did, in fact, do. It was really fascinating to learn so much about the actual residents of the town; it brought the time period and raid to life.
We all had ice cream before heading to the Visitor Center for the drive back home. It was a long day, but a lot of fun and educational, too!
Yes, these are real, live dogs on the roof of this porch!
I got home in time for a quick nap before heading out again for the first week of this session’s “Introducing God” course conducted by (and at) my church, Covenant Life Church. IG is an 8-week evangelistic outreach course that looks at who God – and Jesus – is. For non-believers, as well as those who want to build their faith or just learn more about Christianity, the course uses the bible to explore why God created man, how man alienated himself from God by declaring his own autonomy, what God did to redeem man through Jesus, and what this means to us. I help host a group of about 15 folks: 4 of us church members and the others are guests. Each week we start out with dinner, then we hear a 45-minute presentation on the night’s topic, followed by group discussion.This is the third IG course I have been involved in (before IG, I was involved in Alpha), and I have been witness to the God-changing effect it has had on many people’s lives. Non-believers have given their life to the Lord and secured their places in Heaven. People weak in their faith have grown in the knowledge and love for God. Even strong believers have benefited greatly from the course through the weekly messages. I am so blessed and humbled to be a part of this ministry and experience first-hand the awesomeness of God at work in peoples’ lives, including my own. I have made so many new friends in Christ through this ministry… people whom I would never have known before, but whom I now cherish. I give unending thanks and praise to God for giving me this opportunity to serve His people and to honor Him in this capacity for His glory and for the sake of His Kingdom.
