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 The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into this harvest. - Luke 10:2  

I came back from a week up at Lutherdale with our confirmation students with an interesting observation. Lutherdale this summer hired twelve staff members who were from another country, versus only seven staffers from the United States.  One of the counselors was from the Netherlands, another was from Brazil, one was from Jamaica, and still a few others were from Mexico.   

What a cool experience for our campers!  They got to develop meaningful relationships with young adults from all over the world; they spent time in prayer, Bible study and worship with the international students and learned about their cultures, interests, and perspectives.   

Lutherdale made the intentional decision this year to hire them though, not just because they bring fresh energy and perspective, but partly out of necessity.  This has been a trend the past few years, but this year in particular, recruiting workers for camp has been hard. As Jesus said in the Gospel story this week, “The laborers are few.”   

This labor shortage is happening all across the country – not just in the camp or church sector.  There’s a lot to be done, but who is going to step up and do it all?  

We’ve even found the same thing at church.  There’s a lot to be done, but it’s been hard finding the necessary volunteers.  

Quit looking at your shoes.  It’s not going to help you now.  Yes, that’s right: we need volunteers.   

It’s the never-ending struggle of every church.  There’s always much to be done, and not enough hands to do it.  The only comfort I find, is in knowing that this has been a problem since the dawn of time.  Our Gospel lesson for Sunday confirms as much.  “The harvest is plentiful,” Jesus tells his followers, “but the laborers are few.”  

There’s promise in those words as well.  The harvest is plentiful!  There’s a bounty to be picked.  But we need people to go out and actually do the work.   

So maybe this summer consider how you can help out. Look at the tall bulletin insert on Sunday and let us know where your skills and talents can be used. I promise there is plenty for you to do because there’s a lot to be done here at Bethany.  We just need you in order to make it happen.