out this summer we had and developed some strategic goals for our time. One goal that we felt was important, was to let the joy of our marriage be a light of hope to the people that we worked with.
Our main goal in camp ministry this year was; to bring kids into a new or deeper understanding of Gods love and desire to be their Father/brother/friend/ and especially savior. To bring them Joy, challenge them and equip them with tools to further develop their relationship with Christ. Although it is easy to get caught up in the hype and excitement of the camp atmosphere we wanted our campers to leave with something more than just having had fun. I didn’t realize just how well we had accomplished that goal until I received some letters from some campers who took the time to write Hannah and I and let us know what specifically changed in their lives from their time at camp. The response I will share is from a student that we worked with in the ECHO program at Kidder Creek which is designed to be the next step at camp for teens who were willing to not only have fun, but to also serve and grow deeper in relationship with God. I believe that this student’s response is clearly and accurately speaks to the amazing opportunity we had in letting God use us this summer to transform the lives of young people.
This letter below is a direct inscription of a students ability to reflect on his/her experience at camp.
“Camp has not been nearly as hilarious and monster ninja without you guys but has continued to be and incredible experience. I have been thinking about the whole molting process and growing/maturing as spiritual beings, (a message that Paul gave based on a vision of a bald eagles transformation process from adolescence to adulthood) and it has been something I have been wrestling with for a while now, but I finally feel like I‘ve discovered what has been holding me back. All this time I have been searching for what I needed to fix about myself or how I could make myself better. Finally I have come to the realization that all this weight I feel pulling me down is not the imperfect things about me I must remove, but my baggage has been my inability to accept that imperfection. Because I wanted to be perfect so bad and have been relying on my own strength, all my humanly imperfections have been amplified and prevented me from effectively doing God’s will. Hopefully now I can move on to what God has planned for me to the best of my ability and accept that it is not my place to be perfect, but Gods. I don’t believe I would have come to this place if it was not for you and I thank you and God so much for that.” – Anonymous.
Another key goal that we felt called to accomplish was; to be an encouragement and support for the counselors and staff that we worked with. Being a veteran of camp ministry Paul knows many of the challenges it provides and together we felt led to be more than co-workers with the young adults at the camps but also take them aside in times of need and support them.
Personally found great joy when we were able to pull a young man aside one day when he was at a breaking point in his personal life and let God use us to speak strength and hope into his life. Specifically, Paul felt led while praying for him to step behind him and prophetically pull out the spiritual “arrows” that were stuck in his back. Although he felt ridiculous at fist for doing this, while he was making this gesture, with her eyes closed, Hannah began to tell the young man that God had equipped him with armor to protect his heart from the arrows of the enemy! Simultaneously the other leader that was praying with us got a vision, also with her eyes closed, of him running into battle as a soldier in full armor. Not only was this experience a supernatural breakthrough for the young man, but it left us all with jaws slacked in awe of how God still, today, uses His people to speak His truth in love.
No comments:
Post a Comment