HAPPY NEW YEAR, YOUTH AFLAME!!! A little late but sincere.
19 months until "YA CONNECTION 2012"!! The date is Sept. 14-16, 2012. That's plenty of time to save your pennies and find good air line tickets from near and the far corners of the world.
Although we're in the very early stages of planning, we're wanting more just "us" time - more time for sharing, singing, praying, future planning, and lots of hugging.
We are trying to give most of the time to interacting and sharing our lives and activities together. We want to have lots of little information booths so we can share our ministries and
businesses with one another. We hope to have the hotel fix a buffet each night so we can eat together around the tables. Sheila is working on details (what else is new), and will keep us
informed.
It's been decided to not meet in Dallas this year, but to have our planning for the future
at the "CONNECTION" SO THAT MORE OF YOU COULD PARTICIPATE!! THIS TIME WE NEED TO TRY TO GET 100% ATTENDANCE.
Dottie and I pray for you every day at breakfast and we enjoy hearing from some one of you
all everyday. We love every one of you and cannot wait until our next time together. Still feeling the thrill of the last reunion as I know you have.
We are heading to the mountain today for a Junior High Snow Camp this
weekend. Just added a new staff member. He and his wife are second generation YA kids. If you can get to Redding any time this summer, you are welcome as our guests and, oh yes,
grand kids eat free!
Below is an article (from Nelson Keener) and an email (from Pennie Knutson Hatcher) that I wanted to share with you. They both capture and portray the heart of our last time together and it's always a blessing to read them. (More can be found on the YA Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=144430643517)
The Steamroller keeps chugging along even though a LITTLE SLOWER...
DR. GORDON LUFF (of course that is an unearned degree)
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Our Common Bond: A Reflection on the Youth Aflame Reunion
by Nelson H Keener on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at 11:23pm
September, 10 – 13, 2009, Liberty University, Lynchburg, VA
My wife, Jeannie, and I had no idea what to expect on Thursday afternoon when we walked into the Liberty YA alumni reception at the Kirkland Hotel. Would it be awkward with superficial pleasantries or guarded conversations?
It was none of the above.
Bam! (Thank you, Emeril.) It was more like spontaneous combustion; ignited by seeing the faces of fellow classmates and co-workers who shared common experiences more than 30 years ago through our involvement with Youth Aflame, Treasure Island, ScareMare, LBC Choral, All God’s Children, I Love America rallies, and more.
At Friday’s luncheon in the beautiful and cozy SnowPlex Lodge and again Friday evening at the banquet I knew this reunion was going to be much more than a warm-fuzzy get-together. The energy level of the conversations at each event was consistently enthusiastic. Our common bond was palpable.
I was intrigued. What was going on here? I mean, we’re talkin’ 35 years later. (Excuse the pun.)
When Dr. Falwell died in May 2007, I wrote an op-ed for the local newspaper (see my Facebook “Notes”) about my experience working with him for eight years. I wrote it as much for myself as to publish it.
What astonished me while writing the column was how ardently I still felt about my experience with Jerry and Liberty University; even 22 years after I moved away from Lynchburg.
Did our shared experiences with Jerry Falwell and LBC in those early years make an indelible impression on us? Most definitely. We had the privilege and opportunity—possibly beyond our full comprehension—to be involved in launching what is now a strategic Christian University. It was an experience, an era, which will never recur; something to which most LU students since the ‘80s can not relate.
College freshman don’t usually go off to college expecting to have to build their own dorm rooms. Nonetheless, we laid carpet, hauled in bunk beds, set up kitchens, took long bus trips to Pittsburgh, performed school assemblies, and staged Jerry Falwell rallies and banquets across the country. Not to mention giving college students a vision for ministering to youth.
In retrospect, I believe the work we did was both critical and significant during those first five years under Gordon’s leadership (including Dean of Students) that laid a foundation and gave shape to the College. I know it shaped us as alumni.
It is obvious that as students we all shared a common call and a common mission. But I believe it was this working together—putting our shoulders to the wheel—that confirmed the call and mobilized the mission. It was “doing what had to be done” whether we/Gordon had permission or not (LOL) that created a bond between and among us.
My sense is that this sentiment was the root of the excitement and energy we felt and expressed when we came together for the reunion. Thank you Gordon for your vision to do this. And thank you Sheila for making it happen.
P.S. Is it true that Gordon planned for the Friday banquet to run past midnight? I heard he really wanted to go to Texas Tavern at 2:00am for “...a western and a bowl.”
Nelson H. Keener (C ’76)
September 27, 2009
Pennie's email:
It was beyond my expectations. We were given the chance to express corporately what Gordon and the other YA staff have meant in our lives. We could see the fruit of each life of dedication and obedience to God in our classmates and ministry teammates who have persisted over the long term. We learned life lessons as we observed the godly sorrow of some who have made choices that took them far from the Lord, and I hope we could comfort and encourage one another to come back or keep on keeping on, whichever the case. We laughed ourselves silly with our old girlfriends and buddies with whom we shared many miles and smiles. We cried because of the love that we have one for another, and the heart for God that we all have in common. We rejoiced to hear what God is doing all around the world in His Kingdom work, and the work He is doing in each one's life. I, personally was able to right a wrong with a dear sister and friend who I had been separated from by time and distance. I had needed to ask her forgiveness for all these years, and this reunion made that possible. Only time will tell all the many other blessings that will come from having been together - reconnecting, discovering strengths where we need help, building up and encouraging one another.
