Junior high youth groups from three Mennonite congregations in Hesston and North Newton, Kansas, returned safely on Tuesday, Jan. 23, after their bus crashed on icy roads in Colorado on Sunday on the way to snow camp. They spent two extra nights in Colorado, waiting for the roads to clear. Only the bus driver was seriously injured.

On Friday, Jan. 26, the groups, consisting of 53 youth and adult leaders from Bethel College Mennonite Church in North Newton, Hesston Mennonite Church and Whitestone Mennonite Church in Hesston, traveled to Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp near Divide, Colorado, for the annual weekend event. Snow Camp at Rocky Mountain is a weekend full of worship, fellowship and outdoor play.

The bus left Sunday morning, according to a release from the churches. Outside Stratton, Colorado, the bus came upon a semi that had jackknifed in the right lane of Interstate 70. The bus was not able to avoid impact and slid to a stop.

Emergency services arrived and took the bus driver to the hospital. The passengers boarded school buses and went to nearby Burlington. They stayed at a hotel for two nights, waiting for the blizzard to pass. On Monday, they connected with Burlington United Methodist Church, who provided a ride to pick up lunch and arranged a home-cooked supper.

In a Jan. 24 email, Isaac Landis, associate pastor of youth and young adults at Whitestone Mennonite Church, expressed gratitude “for gifted and committed volunteer leaders. The leaders from all the groups used their gifts throughout the event to make it as good as a situation as possible.” He said he was also grateful “for youth who were understanding and patient with us” and “for the generosity of strangers.”

He noted that the theme for the weekend at snow camp was “Be the Gospel You Want to See in the World,” led by John Murray from Mennonite Mission Network. “We got to experience that [theme] in a different way, as others were the gospel to us,” Landis wrote.

In a Jan. 24 interview, John Tyson, associate pastor for faith formation at Bethel College Mennonite Church, said he was not on the trip but was among those who greeted the nine youth from his congregation when they returned on Tuesday afternoon. “It was a scary situation [for them],” he said, “but they are grateful they’re OK. They are concerned about the bus driver, who sustained two broken legs and is still in the hospital.”

Tyson added that “as a church community, we’re really grateful for the youth sponsors and how they cared for the kids in these difficult circumstances.”

According to a KWCH-TV report, “[The parents] and the kids credit the bus driver with preventing any serious injuries, and many of the kids wrote letters to the driver thanking him and wishing him a speedy recovery.”