Camp Alandale Prayer Update

Session 5, July 18-22, 2011

Hello, prayer warriors! Thank you so much for your invaluable faithfulness in lifting up this ministry as you have! Here are some events from the week of July 18-22.

I had the immense pleasure of getting to know a sweet girl named Jackie, who was in a lot of pain. It was her first time at camp, and she was withdrawn and scared of just about everything, it seemed. However, she quickly became attached to a boy and held onto him the entire week. At times I felt slightly helpless when all she would want to talk about was this boy; however I tried to continuously give it up to God. On the very last night of camp we finally began to talk about God and the more serious matters in her life. Before we talked we prayed and she said that the only thing she wanted to ask God for was a real family. She was abandoned at birth and was very hurt by this. She had anger and so much anxiety inside of her. When we were at the last campfire, she had her head down and was crying uncontrollably. I asked her if she wanted to pray, and she said yes. We prayed to ask Jesus in her heart that night and the tears finally stopped. However mine did not. To see this beautiful girl come into the presence of God after all that she had been through so humbled me to the point of tears. Not of sadness, but tears of gratitude and of peace that God had indeed used me and the knowledge that He would be faithful to complete the good work He started in Jackie.

Kyle was stubborn. As soon as he saw who his teammates were, he said, "There is no way I'm going on that team." Apparently Kyle had lived with some of the campers from the yellow team and they hadn't gotten along at all. Additionally, Kyle had gotten into an altercation with one of his soon-to-be teammates on the bus coming up the hill, which prompted that teammate to warn his counselor that if Kyle got out of line any more, there would most certainly be a fight. His counselor prayed that the boys would get along, and though they did have a few more tiffs that day, for the rest of the week, Kyle was able to get along with the boys he previously feared. Another breakthrough with Kyle was that though he struggled with his anger for most of the week, he confessed on one of the last days that he didn't want to be angry any more. He prayed not to be, and during one of the last activities of camp called Victory Circle, he let everyone know that his time at camp had inspired him to live more of a godly life.

This year was Kyllis' second camp, but his attitude was, "I don't believe in God anymore." He stated vaguely that he'd been through some things that made it impossible for him to believe, and so he held onto his newfound identity as an atheist. He did, however, seem to enjoy camp activities, including amphitheatre time. In his testimony he went into detail about how his mother, who was a drug addict, would sell him sexually to men to get money for drugs. He and I had had a few conversations and I told him that though I'd never been through what he had, I could relate to some degree because of my being molested as a child, and that I found it difficult to understand why until I saw how God used it to help me reach others. It was the final evening of testimonies after some of the campers had shared their own very moving stories, Kyllis came up to me and said, "Hey, Jonny… I asked Christ into my heart." I hugged him and cried, as I was reminded once again of the incredible healing power of God.

Thank you again for your prayer support and your love for this ministry. God bless you!

Jonny & Hannah Summer Staff 2011