They came running across the park to me looking scared. I was in seminary in Northwest Florida and I was a music and Youth pastor at a medium sized country church. We had a Youth group of around twenty kids. It was summer and school was out and we had arranged to take the kids to Miracle Strip Amusement Park on Panama City Beach. Apparently, if you are growing up in the Florida Panhandle, the overwhelming heat doesn't faze you and you like to do outside activities under the blistering sun. I had convinced two of the Moms to go with us as chaperones and off we had gone.

    We got to the park and got the kids inside and then I grouped them together to give them the rules. Not the park rules. Those were posted. No, I gave them my rules. Check in occasionally with Mrs. Bittner and Mrs. Carter, stay away from the Gulf of Mexico and, most importantly, do not bother me unless it is a grave emergency. I showed them the picnic table under the oak tree where I would be reading. Go have fun.

    Mrs. Bittner and Mrs. Carter vanished. They didn't show up until it was time to leave. The kids never did find them. Even so, I wasn't worried about the kids. They were really very smart and by just looking up I could see and hear them.

    So, when the whole crew of kids came running across the hot sand to me looking like they were being chased by something bad, I was concerned. Even put my book down.

    "Pastor, you have to help us!" Think about that for a moment. Twenty kids, all looking alarmed, and they need help. Wonderful. What could this be about? 

    They were all talking at once. The five boys were hanging back from the girls and not saying anything, but they were shifting back and forth from foot to foot. The girls were doing the talking. The problem was, they were all doing the talking all at once. I finally got them to get quiet and picked one girl (the natural leader) to explain.

    Well, they all had a problem. They were all cowards. Miracle Strip Amusement Park finally shut down for good in 2004, but back in the mid-1980s it was a big deal in the panhandle. The big draw was, I believe, the Starliner roller coaster. It was OK, but if you had ever been to Cedar Point it looked more like a kiddie coaster. There were other rides, of course, and food and games of skill. There were a few side attractions. There was a really nice Ferris wheel. There was the beach and the Gulf of Mexico. And that year there was a new fun house. Supposedly the fun house was changed every other week. Sometimes terrifying, sometimes just fun. We got there on a scary week. The kids had grouped together and were going to go into the scary fun house. However, just as they got there another group of kids emerged looking frightened. Our kids asked those kids if it really was scary. Those kids, a couple of whom had tears in their eyes, told our kids not to go in. And then they walked away, not even talking to each other.   

    A couple of the girls tried to inspire the rest. Didn't work. They tried to shame the boys into leading the way. Didn't work. While they stood and argued another group of girls entered. Our kids opted to wait and see if they came out. They did, a few minutes later, all crying. That is when they came to me.

    OK, just go and do something else. No! If we don't do it, we will always hate ourselves! Well, kids, if I leave this shade, I will always hate myself. Pleeeasse Pastor! Actually, I had been watching the whole thing through my sunglasses. What they said was true. I just couldn't believe it was that scary.

    Finally, I got up and we all headed over to the fun house. we paid our entry and I led the group in. Before we got in I felt a hand grip my belt. One girl had my belt in her hand and she had extended her hand back to the next girl, who in turn took the hand of the next. In that way all the kids were hand in hand with the others. In we went.

    I was expecting flashing light and screams and growls and creatures appearing, but the first little way was just black. Good thinking, actually. Get the kids really scared in the dark, and then scare them. But it was just completely dark. My girls were starting to cry and even the boys were sniffling. Soon, any moment, the terror would begin.

    We were three quarters through (although we didn't know that) when I bumped into something with my knees that was soft. Ah, I thought, here it comes. The big scare. But, nothing. Just this little, soft thing. Then I heard a little voice that didn't belong to my group. "Please don't kill me!" It was a little girl, on her knees, crouched down, almost in a fetal position. She was terrified. I crouched down next to her. "Hey, it's OK. We aren't monsters. We are going to get you out." Word went back quickly through the dark. "It's a little girl!" "She's scared to death!" "We have to get her out!" The teen who had been holding my belt and reached down to the child. "Come on, sweetie, we're getting out of here!" She picked the little girl up and held her and we proceeded. It wasn't far and we were at the door. A blast of air hit us from above and there was a pre-recorded scream and we were out. A lady about thirty feet away screamed, "There's my baby!" and came running. Mother and daughter were reunited. As far as my kids, they were mad at themselves for being frightened before they even went in. They walked away grumping about how they really hadn't been scared at all. I bought a Coke and went back to reading.

    Over the last seven years, I have seen Urbana Yoke Parish take several steps forward into the unknown and do things that the Yoke had never done. It is scary. But the Lord has prepared, protected and prevailed. We face another such step. Fear not! Have faith in the Lord. 

    Hebrew 11:1---Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen.

.