Thursday, May 31, 2007


This week, as we have done for a number of years, Impact will take a group of High School students from inner-city Houston out to the wilderness of Colorado to hike, repel, and reach the summit of a mountain as a group. Below is a speech given by one of last year's group and a recent Impact graduate, Edgar Gallegos, at a Fundraising Dinner this Spring:

Wilderness Trek was one of the most wonderful experiences I had the opportunity to be a part of my life. Getting to do something such as climbing a 14,000 ft mountain with our church’s youth group is something you don’t do everyday. Trek is a good way to see God’s world in a different view than were used to. It’s an opportunity to look at life in a different prospective and to see what he made for us to enjoy and call home.

During this trip the Lord taught our youth group many things. He helped us work together as one to reach our goal, which was making it to the summit of the mountain. All the time that we spent on the mountain God taught us the most important thing you needed on the trip; which was patience. During the climb patience was the last thing we had with our guides and ourselves. They would tell us “keep on walking, we are almost there” but we would just get mad at them and stop to take our own little breaks. The reason we couldn’t take lots of breaks was because we had only a certain amount of sunlight and we needed to get to our campsite so we could set up our tent in with light instead of in the dark. After the whole day of fussing and wishing that we have never should of gone, we took the time to actually think about what we had accomplished in reaching the summit and enjoy ourselves on top of a mountain were we’ve never been before. God helped us reach the mentality that with His awesome power we could do anything as one.

Going to Colorado and getting to climb a mountain is a once in a lifetime opportunity. This trip alone has made me realize that nothing is impossible and experiences like this one made me grow into stronger Christian. In this trip, I was one of the two leaders to help encourage every one to give it all they had and to make sure no one was left behind. Even though the whole group, including myself thought the goal of making it to the top of the mountain was unachievable we kept on encouraging each other to do our best and to keep on going. Seeing everyone helping out each other made me realize that everyone was a leader in some way. The trip also made me feel more comfortable being with the group. I have been in the youth group through my four years in high school and this trip made me feel more confident with myself and being with the group. Before this trip I felt left out from the group, I felt like I was not wanted but this experience made realize that were all in this together and what life throws us at us we have to challenge it together as a family.

The point of the whole trip is to show our youth group that with faith and with a lot of patience we could do what seems impossible like climbing a 14,000 ft mountain in 3 days. This experience has made our youth group become intact with each other. Wilderness Trek is a perfect opportunity to prepare you for real life. It also shows you that with the Lord by your side, anything is possible.

~ Edgar Gallegos

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