I imagined an unspoilt wilderness filled with crystal clear lakes, waterfalls, and streams teaming with fish, wildlife, and fauna to dazzle the senses. No McDonalds or Pizza Hut in sight, or Krispy Kreme donut shops, in fact no stores, no roads, no cars, no bicycles, no shelters, no toilets, no showers, no hot water. 

But I am not an extreme sports enthusiast nor am I inclined to attempt survival exercises in remote jungles, deserts, and wilderness parks. What was I getting myself into? How did I talk myself into joining a canoe camping trip in a remote nature preserve with 15 teenage girls and several adults? 

I didn't exactly volunteer for this wilderness excursion. My husband and I were invited to come along as helpers on a Sword of the Spirit junior high school girls trip to the Boundary Waters Wilderness Canoe area in Minnesota. The Boundary Waters, located on the USA boundary with Canada, are a pristine, protected park with hundreds of lakes. Visitors must carry in (and out) everything to camp with, ideally leaving no trace of their visit. 

Our friends and fellow community members Rick and Yvonne Comstock had organized the first trip several years ago. Rick had been taking junior-high-aged boys to the Rocky Mountains for a summer challenge excursion, and his wife thought a similar trip for the same aged girls would be good. They had done two Boundary Waters trips already when, in the planning stages of the third trip, one of the leader couples had to cancel. 

Since it was rather last minute, they asked Dave and me to accompany them on the ten-day trip, since we could get the time off work fairly easily. The park only allows nine people in any one campsite, and Rick and Yvonne like to have four adults or experienced young adults per group, with each group having at least one man. So we were part of the third group with five teenage girls.

At first, Dave and I said “no”, but then, after hearing a word from the Lord at a prayer meeting and both my husband and I getting the same message from the Lord independently to say “yes”, we signed on.