Catching Up | Early morning outings deepened friendships between project members, who often drew parallels between fishing for trout and walking with God.

Wayne Wilkins led his men down a steep, rocky slope to the White River. Fishing rods in hand, the five waded through 54-degree waters to a small island. A few hundred yards upstream loomed the Table Rock dam, which controlled the water level in what has been called one of the best trout lakes in America.

But as they flicked gray jigs into the swirling waters, a horn sounded to signal that the dam would soon open the gates and let more water out. The small band of fishermen didn't notice--not until Matt Enos, from Louisiana State University, noted his feet getting wet. "The water's rising," he said, alarmed. "We're in trouble!"

Quickly the small group scrambled toward shore. The sand bar they'd first crossed was gone. The water rose to waist deep, then chest deep. On 5-foot-6-inch Gabriel Calderon, from New Mexico State, it reached his neck. Matt came last, carrying a brand-new pair of sneakers on his head and going barefoot in the icy water.

Wayne and his men had just begun their days at the Ozark Lakes summer project--a "summer that lasts forever," as project director David English puts it. This project, located in Branson, MO, changes the lives of students and staff members through authenticity and adventure.

Authenticity begins early in the summer. Each person shares his or her life story with a small "growth team," going as deeply into past problems as they feel comfortable. This experience, called "the cradle," opens the door to deep friendships, provides community and meets the needs of today's students, who often come from dysfunctional homes. For example, many confide for the first time ever the pain they felt when their parents divorced.

"Every college student longs for the opportunity to be real," says Katherine Dunleavy, staff member at the University of Georgia. "The cradle plays a huge part in this. It helps take the masks off and sets the stage for the summer."

David leads the way in authenticity. One day, while talking about a summer project he'd led some 20 years earlier, he began weeping as he described how he'd felt like a failure. "It was incredible that a man could stand up in front of his staff team and be so real," says Katherine. "Yet he looked so strong because he was willing to let us see that side of him."

David also leads by example in his love for the lost. When a man refilled propane tanks for the barbecue grills, David explained the gospel to him. "This means a lot," says Wayne, who during the school year directs Campus Crusade at Florida State University. "A lot of times I wonder, Is this person really doing it, or are they just telling us to do it? But David English took the time to share his faith, even when he didn't have to."

A summer project reflects its leader. David, a one-time Eagle Scout, likes the outdoors, and his enthusiasm spills over to everybody at Ozark Lakes. "David is like a little kid," says Wayne. "He gets so excited about things, like catching a fish. That appeals to the kid in me. Yet he's also very mission-oriented."

	Climbing Higher | "This really humbled me," says Keri Betsch (above), a senior at St. Cloud State in Minnesota. "I had never rock-climbed, and had no idea how to do it." More experienced climbers, like Jason Hynson, helped her. "The most important thing is not the rock-climbing," Jason later admonished. "If you don't have the group time afterward to discuss what you learned, it's hardly been worth being here."

David believes students come to a project, in part, for friendships and adventure. Four years ago he found a way to link that desire with spiritual growth. Every Friday is set aside as "Adventure Day." All 56 members of the project go on an adventure such as rock-climbing, canoeing or caving. Afterward, the growth teams divide up to eat lunch and draw spiritual applications.

After rock-climbing, David Wills of the University of Louisville compared his exhausting climb to faith in Christ. "I learned things aren't always going to be easy," he says. "I have to keep my eye on the goal, and that's eternity, and bringing other people to Christ. In the end we are going to get a reward that's unimaginable."

Katherine Dunleavy would agree. When she first came to the Ozarks project two years ago as a student, the rock-climbing totally changed her life. While clinging to the side of a 50-foot-high cliff, Katherine faced her fear of failing, of not getting to the top, and, of course, her fear of heights. The moment she reached the top of the rock, however, everything changed.

"I realized that just as the ropes would hold me if I fell, so God would hold me," she says. "I was safe, I was secure. I didn't have that fear of failing anymore." When Katherine went home, her mother even commented on her new-found confidence.

Such changes take place because the point is not adventure itself, but rather dealing with issues in one's life. As a result, students gain a deeper intimacy with God and others, setting the stage for a lifetime of ministry.

"These kids consistently walk the talk," says Peter Herschend, owner of a group of local theme parks. "Branson is better off because they are here."

Other community leaders agree. "I've been pleased not only with [the project's] involvement in the local church," says Jay Scribner, pastor of First Baptist Church of Branson, "but also with their attempt to assimilate new believers into the churches."

These new believers result from project members--many of whom have only known Christ six months to a year--explaining the gospel to summer-school students at College of the Ozarks and to fellow employees at places like McDonald's or the Outback Roadhouse and Motel.

Project members live in the White River Hotel, a 1920s-era building that feels more fishing lodge than hotel. David and his wife, Beth, live in a cramped room at the end of one hall, giving them plenty of opportunity to get to know the students.

Base Camp | The White River Hotel (above), bought by a Campus Crusade alumnus for the exlusive use of the Ozark Lakes project, provides an ideal base.

After 29 years of campus ministry, David has concluded that young people today must deal with a fundamental issue before they can step into a lifetime of ministry. They must understand what it truly means to be a man or woman, and must commit to the adventure of being one.

Too often men in our society have never really grown up, David believes, and as a result he leads the men in a study of Quest for Authentic Manhood, by Robert Lewis. They finish the course with a fishing trip, during which they participate in a ceremony--complete with campfire and tiki torches--designed to help them leave adolescence behind and move forward into true Christian manhood.

Meanwhile, the women examine Lady in Waiting, by Debbie Jones. They end with a retreat that includes a visit from the author and a challenge to be the women God wants them to be.

"These girls are placed as college students for such a time as this," says Libby Crafton, associate director of the project. "We're in a time of broken families, and high-school shootings, and more abortions than ever, yet we have opportunities to reach the world like never before. God has called them, as college students and as women, to be a part of that."

About the time she explained this, Libby went fishing with David and five other staff members. Katherine went along, determined to become the second woman ever to join the Royal Order of the Rainbow Trout (a coveted honor for any project member who catches their limit). Libby just wanted to catch something.

But she didn't. As David and the others filled their stringers in the early morning mist, Libby grew frustrated. "You probably feel like you're failing," said David gently, "because everybody else is catching them. But you're not. It's really God's sovereignty, putting fish to hook."

"I was amazed that David saw it as more than a time to fish," said Libby later, "but a time to develop."

And that's what the Ozark Lakes project is all about. "We want these students to be people who can plug in back on campus and give spiritual leadership," says David earnestly, as he sits beneath a 22-inch rainbow trout he caught and mounted over the fireplace of the White River Hotel.

"Students need to see that the window of time they have in college is unique," says Libby. "It's a great time to be molded by the Lord, and [to learn] principles they can apply for the rest of their lives."

The Ozark Lakes summer project, through authentic relationships and adventure, intensifies that molding, and the lessons learned can go on forever.