The first two weeks started out with a lot of excited campers and staff. This was the first year where we had a half week of training with the staff before the beginning of camp and we were pleasantly surprised how much our team was able to bond and get geared up before camp in those short few days. God put together the exact team we needed this summer to grow and work to the best of our abilities and that is such an incredible thing to see!
The both weeks we had around sixty 3rd-6th graders. It is so exciting to me how many different kids we have the opportunity of reaching with the gospel every week! It is also obvious that Satan does not want us to reach these children. Despite everything from running out of propane right before breakfast to a fight between a couple campers and the constant threat of wildfires in the area we know that the message of Jesus was continually proclaimed and received. Both weeks we had at least one or two children receive Christ for the first time and many more made commitments to love their families more, treat others with respect, or read their Bible's and pray more. Now, I remember going to camp when I was younger and making commitments like these. I know I wasn't always able to follow them exactly or sometimes I would even forget them all together. At the same time I look back on those many camp experiences and see God's hands at work in my life shaping and molding me into the woman I am today. It is a beautiful thing to witness the Lord's work in these young lives. That is why we are here...and to actually see lives change is incredible!
-Jenni
p.s. I have come to realize this is a lot of what we are responsible to do at camp...plant those seeds. Sometimes we get to water them...and even see the plants come up. But even if we never see the fruition of our work, we still are responsible to keep planting the seeds...
Be encouraged! God asks us to plant the seeds! He alone is the one that will draw people to Himself.
For the rest of you, I understand that you have had a summer...
For myself, it feels like yesterday I woke up and was ready to go for the start of camp, and this morning I woke up and it was over...but what an incredible summer it was!
Because I went through some sort of time warp...;)...I was not great about letting everyone know what was going on this summer. This is about to be rectified. In the next few days I will be posting about each week of camp, and the incredible things we saw God do week to week. We saw Him provide food, we saw him bring water, we saw children saved and lives changed...not to mention a LOT of fun in between.
I can't wait to tell you all about it, but for now I will just say, thank you to all who shot up a prayer or two on our behalf this summer, and also to all of you who so graciously served with or for the camp this summer...we couldn't have done it without you!
