Just Go - A Reflection by Curtis Clarke on his MTOP experience

“You just have to go and experience it for yourself” Those were the words my pastor told me about Mountain T.O.P. Similar advice was reinforced by other members of my church who had spent a week on the mountain; “I can’t explain it to you, just go”.

It was 2008 and my wife and I had been working with the youth at our church since the previous fall. I had been on a mission trip in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina a few years earlier and was excited about “getting blisters for Jesus” again. We had done all the fundraising and training needed for the trip and as I said goodbye to my family and friends for a week, I had no idea what I was doing or how my life would be forever changed by my time on the mountain.

During the course of the week, I soon discovered that time on the mountain is more than just a mission trip; it’s more than just swinging a hammer or running a saw. It’s an immersion in a culture and it’s the building of a community. My first week at Mountain T.O.P. taught me that each and every one of us has a gift and talent that can and needs to be used in the service of others. It restored my hope that there is a generation that is willing to sacrifice and commit to be the hands and feet of Jesus. It also brought about a stirring in my spirit that led me to answer God’s call on my life and go into pastoral ministry full time, and for that I am forever thankful.

The joy I have now as a pastor is being able to introduce others to this ministry and to be able to see the change in them after a week on the mountain, both spiritually and emotionally. I often tell people, “time on the mountain doesn’t change you; it reveals who you really are”. When someone asks me what a week in camp is like, then only thing I can tell them is; “You just have to experience it for yourself”.

In His grip,

Rev. Curtis Clarke

Pastor, Armada UMC & West Berlin UMC

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NYWC

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the National Youth Workers Convention in Nashville.  Along with seeing some regular Mountain T.O.P. attendees, I had the chance to meet some former Summer Staffers from the late 80s/early 90s, some that had gone as youth for 8 or 9 years, and a few that claimed that had been to every site Mountain T.O.P. had ever run a camp out of.  It was cool to hear about all the different experiences from so many different stages in Mountain T.O.P.'s history.  People asked about their favorite cabin, or staffer, or how much they loved the food.

But one person that visited my table had a unique connection to the Mountain T.O.P. family.  As she timidly approached the table she smiled and asked if this was the Mountain T.O.P. in Tennessee that did home repair.  I could feel my eyes bug out as I practically shouted "IT IS!" at her.  She walked up and began to tell me how she knew about Mountain T.O.P.  She told me about her grandmother that lived in South Pittsburg and how we had come many summers to work with her at her house.  She smiled as she talked about how much her grandmother enjoyed the groups that had come to her house.  She then looked at our different programs to see how she could get her youth group involved.

Although this conversation was short it really started my Thanksgiving week off on the right foot.  It reminded me of how big the Mountain T.O.P. family is.  It is not just the people we work with this year.  It is not just the campers that came through our gates in 2013, but it is the 38 years of people working to bring God's Kingdom to Earth. I see the numbers after each program of how many people participated and how many families we worked with and it amazes me.  But to add all the work that was done the 37 years leading up to this one is truly incredible.

This girl that came up to me at the conference has been a part of this family longer than I have, and has seen the beauty of the experiences on the worksites from a perspective I have never experienced. How incredible is it that the experience she had with a group on a worksite years ago affected her, then her experience and story affected me and my view of Mountain T.O.P.  It is an amazing cycle of hope and compassion.  And it is that hope and compassion that I am thankful for.