Last week I took 7 youth to youth
camp. The week was filled with lots of things- basketball, tubing down the
river, swimming, singing, and late night games of capture the flag and
counselor hunt. We all had a great week and plenty of laughter and fun without
much sleep. But what made the week so amazing was how the youth encountered God
during their time at camp.
The youth
heard a speaker talk about waking up to God’s presence in their lives. They
were challenged to stop throwing bricks of hurtful words to others and to stop
building walls that separate them from others and instead to take the path of
forgiveness. They were challenged to surrender their anger, hurt, and worry to
God. Through God’s word being spoken during the chapel times and the other
breakout sessions, small groups, and quiet times, many of the students’ lives
were being changed. Three of them made commitments to surrender their life to
Jesus. One student who struggles with self-worth, depression, and hopelessness
is now beginning to understand God’s love for him, and the power of God to
bring hope and healing into his life. He was so excited that at camp he read
the Bible for the first time!
One of the
high school girls that came to camp wrote this in response to one of the
breakout sessions about God and justice:
America is a rich man’s dream,
But a poor man’s prison.
Everyone isn’t free. Everything isn’t equal.
We don’t have justice. We have injustice.
Most people only want materialistic things.
Many people dream to have materialistic things.
And many people don’t care about them.
Most people lose their purpose of being on this earth.
Maybe they’ve forgot what they were living for.
Maybe they’ve forgot who died for us.
Because they are caught up in everything except our Creator.
But I’ll make it my purpose to help out as much as I can all
over the universe,
To show God he still has children that cares.
LOVE
L is for the loyalty
O is for all the opportunities you gave us.
V is for the victory you gave us.
E is for the eternal love you have for us.
God is at
work in these students, and I am excited to see them continue on their journeys
of following Jesus. To those of you who prayed and supported us on this week at
camp, thank you. And I ask that you continue to pray for these students to
continue to grow in love, grace, and in the knowledge of their Creator.
