Winter Camp Session 3 Update

Dear Amazing Prayer Partners,

This winter camp season has been a struggle.  Mostly just in counselors signing up to come.  In the struggle though we always see God’s hand at work and He always provides exactly what we need.  Sometimes it’s an overabundance of help, and other times it’s just the right amount.  Never have we been in a situation where we didn’t have what we needed.  This weekend was no different.  It was filled with some surprises in how God worked it out, but God is always good and faithful to work it out for us.

This weekend was a smaller camp numbers wise.  8 Campers, 2 JC’s, 5 Counselors and a Staff Person.  Smaller camps always seem more intimate and seem to go to a deeper level.  This camp did just that.  From the discussion times, to the fun game times, it really felt like we were at a family reunion of sorts. 

One of the most surprising aspects of this camp was that my wife Lisa got to be a counselor for two of our girl campers.  Lisa had Kendra and Anna as her campers.  Their times were blessed with deep discussions and prayer.  The campers were so excited about having a director as a counselor.  In fact Anna asked me before we got to camp what counselors were coming for the weekend.  I told her the names and when Lisa’s came up she said, “I hope I get her as my counselor!”  Sure enough as God would see fit she did, and Lisa and her had some amazing times of being open to each other and learning more about Christ.  We pray for both Kendra and Anna because their last camp as campers was this weekend because both of them will be graduating in June.  At the end of the camp we honored them as our Senior campers and prayed over them and their future.  I am praying that we will be able to see them back at camp as JC’s or Counselors sometime in the future.

Gilbert is a camper that has been coming for a while.  He has some speech disabilities, and some would consider him a bit slower in thinking than most.  What we have seen is that Gilbert has a soft heart and is learning a lot as he grows older.  His counselor definitely had some tough times with him at camp this weekend as Gilbert refused to do the bible studies.  Even though he did, his counselor lovingly spent time with him and played games and shared Christ’s love in other tangible ways.  We are still praying for Gilbert’s heart to be changed by Christ.  He has seen some horrific things in his life that have made him continually resistant to God.  That being said though, the reason he keeps coming back to camp is Christ’s love being shown through the counselors, and the fun that he has.  We know God has great things in store for Gilbert and would ask you to continue to pray for God to get a hold of his heart.

One camper that always brings joy to my heart to see is Daniel.  Daniel gave his heart to Christ a few years back at Camp Alandale.  He has grown leaps and bounds since then.  He is plugged into a good church in Riverside and is continually looking for ways to express his faith to people.  One of the biggest changes I have seen that God has done in him is his control over anger.  When he first came he had a problem with getting angry and exploding in anger towards whoever made him angry.  This weekend however I saw a more mature, healed Daniel.  As there was opportunity for anger, he gave it to Jesus and remained calm.  At one point I got angrier than him at a situation and he helped to calm me down.  God is good!

All in all it was another amazing weekend of God’s love being shown to our campers.  Please continue to pray for our campers to run to Jesus with everything!

Blessings in Christ,

Mike Towler,  OC Camp Director

Winter Camp Session 2 Update

Dear Amazing Prayer Warriors,

This last weekend we know that some special Prayer Warriors had to be on their knees for extended times! The High School camp was so powerful, so warm that the campers were swept up into God’s arms. They stole the hearts of their counselors and Directors away. God put together an awesome team of counselors that loved on these campers so fully that at Victory Circle (a end of  the weekend wrap up session) every camper shared their gratitude to their counselor. This has never happened before. Maybe a couple, maybe half the campers share at most! To go with that all but one counselor got emotional and choked up sharing their tributes to their camper - and we had 6 men counselors and 4 women with the 11 campers!

We were warmed seeing children in whom deep waters and sensitive hearts reside were given so much by God through their counselors. Counselors commented that the camp was the best camp at which they ever were able to serve children.

We are grateful to God for all your prayers! We know that your part in reaching these broken hearts was indispensible. You are vital, indispensible and holy! We don’t see these results without you!

The two campers who had not accepted the Lord before at camp (Freddie and Alex), came willingly but after tons of answered questions about theology, about pain in the world and dealing with their pasts, they were just on the edge but were not ready to make a commitment. Please pray that what their counselor told them about how to accept the Lord at home will be sparked by the Holy Spirit.

More freedom and healing was seen in Adrianna and Salina. The rest visibly filled up on the Word and the love of God.

This was Sierra’s last camp since she is graduating out. With tears but a smile, she said camp was her family and she was going to miss us so much. She said she learned all about God at camp and had so many wonderful counselors but her last one, Gina, was the best!

Again, we praise God for your faithful prayers. We see it all the time--the more prayers, the more the victories from the battle over these children.

God Bless You!

Karen Wood,  Founding Director