On the first night of camp I was totally defeated by the time I crawled into bed. Things had honestly just gone pretty horrible to say the least. Registration was said to be bizarre, with more upset parents than maybe ever before… room assignments had somehow gotten all mixed up and campers were ending up in all the wrong rooms without their requested roommates. Some campers didn’t want to stay at camp and were practically forced to stay in the room with their counselors. On the last night of camp I am actually forgetting what else went wrong on night one, but that just goes to show that the week got so much better as it went on.
On Wednesday morning we discussed in our girls
staff meeting that the night before had maybe been one of the most “hellish”
check-ins we’ve had for youth camps in the last 13 years or so. I think we were
still just feeling all around defeated as a staff, but not to over spiritualize
things, like one staff member said, but if you think about it, we thought that
maybe the devil had been overly prevalent during check-in because he knew the
week coming up was going to be a beyond awesome one for God and for all
those involved with the two youth camps.
At the time this idea was mentioned, I honestly
doubted… doubted God I guess. Who was I to doubt the God of the universe… and
boy was I wrong. This week was full of God! Wednesday night when the gospel was
presented to the Young Teens, the teens were very hesitant to come forward. I
was feeling a little defeated and began thinking that maybe no one would respond
to the message. Finally one boy went forward and then another and then a few
girls from another cabin. It just takes one to get things going.
Skip over to Thursday night… I hear that the gospel
was presented to the Explorer campers. I also hear that not one explorer camper
stepped forward or stayed after in response to the gospel. As you would
imagine, many people were once again feeling defeated… but not for long.
Afterwards at the evening snack I hear from one of the explorer guy counselors
that after the speaker presented the message and after the counselor and his
guys were back in their cabin, the ENTIRE cabin of guys wanted to accept Jesus
into their hearts! I believe there were ten boys in this cabin! What an awesome
thing to hear!
Not long after I hear this, a camper from the teen
camp runs up to me during his snack and excitedly tells me that he had given
his life to the Lord that night after chapel time. His cabin had been in their
small group time when this camper decided he was ready. The counselor had all
the boys gather around this camper and lay hands on him while he accepted Jesus
into his heart! What an awesome thing to have the support from his entire
cabin! They were all SO excited for the camper and the excitement was contagious!
Friday morning at chapel the speaker had this
particular camper come forward and tell his story, and the entire teen camp
cheered on this guy and his new found relationship with Christ! For me, this
was such an awesome thing to see!... not something I normally see in camps
honestly. The excitement from the camp as a whole just seemed to light a fire
for God!
Friday night chapel was where I truly felt God the
most. The message was great, but what happened post-message was the even cooler
part to experience. The speaker had the chapel band play a song and said that
if any campers were feeling lead to come forward during this, feel free to do
so. The speaker prayed and then the band began playing and singing. Right away
two boys went forward. I hurried down to lay hands on them and before I knew
it, the ENTIRE teen camp had come forward. The song was beyond moving and the
hands being laid were amazing. Tears were most definitely shed… a few even
coming from me. When the song got to the part where it said, “I stand with arms
high and heart abandoned,” everyone’s hands were raised up to God… God was in
the Friday night chapel and God was in the Young Teen and Explorer Camps. Even with the
things the devil had been trying to do to stop this fire, the devil could not
stop the movement this time. It’s so awesome that we also know that this is
exactly how the spiritual battle really will end. Even with the foothold the
devil tries to have in this world, God will ultimately come out on top and
defeat satan once and for all! I cannot be more thankful for everyone who was a
part of this week of camps at Somerset Beach Campground. I am the most thankful
to God for all He did this week! YAY GOD!
