Church Camp Part 1

I call it Part 1 because there is no way I can possibly get all of it into one post.

Counselors go down on Sunday night for our own worship service to get more in the spirit for the campers arriving on Monday. Later after the service, I walked into our senior high worship area and found a man walking around and praying over all the area and over all the youth to come. Already, I am hooked as prayer is my strength and sustanance.

Monday morning is always hectic with the arrival of the campers, meeting our cabin people, and getting everyone settled. We met with our directors and discovered that this senior high camp was going to be a lot different than ones in the past. I am all for changes but was a little skeptical about some of them.

We met with the youth and broke out into our small groups. These are our families for the week....talk about dysfunctional.....ours definitely was. :) We started out getting to know each other with giving our names and an animal that starts with the same sound. Now my phone has all these new names followed by animals! LOL! Our group definitely did not "gel" at the beginning. Our worship service started with an amazing band. The lead singer fully praising God in all that he did. and then came our speaker....Pierre Moranza....This is truly a man about God. His message on Monday night, although I will admit that I could not tell you exactly what it was about, was very powerful. It began with an introduction as to who he was and what he had witnessed in his international ministry. He spoke of things that occur in other countries on a "regular" basis that are considered "unbelieveable" here in the states as we have so much other "junk" that we worry about that we just don't or won't have the faith to believe in them. He spoke of miracles he has witnessed and ones he had only heard of but knows that they are possible! I think the overall, at least what I got from it, was it is up to us to open ourselves up to the possbilities of God rather than limiting ourselves by our own shortcomings and interruptions.

After worship we met with our "family" groups. The kids that came from our own church. Well, let me tell you about my "family" group. I have two ADHD kids who have also been diagnosed with Asbergers. And then I have one who is trying to figure out what she is supposed to do and one who is looking for answers. They don't "gel" in youth......definitely not "gelling" at camp. So, there was another group, who did not even know each other as they were from different churches so our groups got married. I will tell you how that worked out in another post.

My one camper who is looking for answer is a 6'2" teddy bear. He carries himself as one who does not need anyone yet is so open to God it is amazing. He and I basically met last year at camp and through crazy circumstances (a severe case of poison ivy) he came to know he could trust me. He suffered many hardships this past year and he and I only briefly saw each other during the year but he was back at camp with us and what a blessing. On Monday night he was in tears and wanting to believe in God's miracles but still not letting me know what he was struggling with so I was just there for him. If he had been two I would have scooped him up and held him tight and not let anything hurt him again but he is this very tall young man (I am all of 5'2") who I could hug and talk to and that is what I did. I spoke about God being in his heart and that would be where his strength and comfort would have to come from in the harsh world we tend to live in.

Another thing that Pierre really touched on was prayer and the power of prayer and the importance of prayer. I fully believe God gifts each one of us with something to further His kingdom and through much of my Christian life, I have been told that mine is prayer. Well, let's just say that I have fallen short of this gift over the last year. My prayer life has not been where it should be and the more Pierre talked the more I just say "Amen" and hang my head in the shame of a child who has not held up her end of the bargain....I am changing that....I will get into that in another post....