Fall Camping Trip – Learning Cowboy and God Spirit
ISI Dallas/Fort Worth(See all pictures) Yee Ha!!! Such was the call as international students from all over the DFW area enjoyed the hospitality of George DeVries at his Ranch together with many others from Grace Fellowship church and Stephenville, TX. They were able to… camp out in tents overnight under the beautiful Texas night sky, watch a incredible trick riding demonstration, ride horses, fish in George’s fishing pond, see George’s dairy cow milking operation and baby calves just learning to walk, learn to skeet shoot, attend a “cowboy church” service at the local “opry hall” , play volleyball, horseshoes, and an experience and incredible evening bonfire complete with skits and singing.
Over 90 students, volunteers, friends, etc. from 17 different countries from TCU, SMU, UTD, UNT, and UTA had a terrific time together learning about this part of Texas culture. These students came from countries like China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Nepal, Mexico, Malaysia, Poland, Serbia, S. Korea, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, USA, and Vietnam; a very diverse group. In addition, there were so many first by so many students. They even saw a baby calf being born (I have a video if you want to see it.) The students had a great time. One of our Italian students from UTA wrote one of our staff the following words regarding the campout…
“I liked the trip from the beginning to the end. The ranch experience lead us in contact not only with nature, but also with God. I especially liked the simple and [sincero] cowboy spirit, which is exemplified by the Christian service as well. That was also a great opportunity to meet people from the Dallas/Fort Worth area which share the same [pensieri=thoughts] as ours. I hope there’ll be other occasions of this kind. Looking forward to meet you again.”
God was clearly there and the students were able to see him both in word, spirit and deeds. What an experience!