What We Can Learn from Scouting

At Trinity United Methodist Church today, we observed Scout Sunday." Scout Sunday coincides with every February 8th which is considered the anniversary the Scouting movement was started in the U.S.

Scoutmaster Wes Polly gave us an overview of how U.S. Businessman William D. Boyce was in London on business and lost his way in a thick fog. A small boy who identified himself as a scout offered to help him. The businessman took the young man up on his offer. Once they had found the address the businessman was seeking, he attempted to provide the scout a tip, which he refused stating his desire as a scout to do "a good turn." This episode so impressed Mr. Boyce that he insisted on learning more about the movement and brought it back to the U.S. with him where he started the movement here.

Isn't it a wonderful example of how a small boy on a foggy street in London can be the impetus for a movement now numbering nearly 3 million?

I tell this story because isn't that what The Gap Partnership is all about, doing a good turn for our neighbor? We are neighbors helping neighbors, and in the end, the good turns will expand exponentially and help move Big Stone Gap from Good to Great!