Dear Praying Friends,
Thank you all for your sincere payers for us this past
week here at Camp Alandale. We are grateful to see how God has used you here at
camp through your commitment to lift up our campers, JCs, counselors, and
staff. During this past week, June 18-22, God’s power could not have been more
evident.
The first week of camp always feels like riding a bike
after having taken a yearlong break. You’re unsure how to make the pedals go or
how to stay upright, and you’re confused about which direction to turn in order
to reach your destination. This week’s fourth through sixth grade camp wasn’t
much different from that, yet all the while
God kept us upright even when we felt we might fall.
I had two
beautiful girl campers, while my husband, Jeremy, had two adventurous boys.
Together we made up the yellow team. We were the smallest team, but that
allowed us to grow closer. At first the campers weren’t too sure of each other,
but by mid week we were acting like a little family. I was so impressed by
their love for one another; they even liked spending time together when we
weren’t doing team activities. One thing in particular that warmed my heart,
when it was time to load the bus to go on the Thursday hike, and our whole team
decided to sit together in the back of the bus. Teaching kids about what it
means to be adopted into God’s family is a powerful part of what camp does, and
we had the privilege of seeing the joy that teaching brought to our small team.
During a final one on one time Jeremy was able to share with his camper Angel
about being adopted into God’s family. When Angel finally realized that
although he longed for the prospect of being adopted into a physical earthly
family, he was already adopted into God’s spiritual and earthly family of
believers, you could see the excitement on his face.
From the way my camper, Skylah, kept her turtle stuffed
animal close at hand I could tell that she was a bit unsure and nervous. She
was timid, but it didn’t take long for her to warm up to camp life. Soon she
was acting as if she had been coming to camp for years. From her confidence on
the ropes course, to strutting her stuff at the tea party, joy exuded from her
beautiful face. On the second night she even boldly volunteered to give her
testimony for the first time. Her story was jumbled and unclear and during our
one-on-one times the story grew longer. Like a rope wound up too tight that was
finally released, her story unraveled.
Her life seemed like a revolving door of people, with a mom who was
trying her hardest to just stay off the streets. As the week progressed I
worried that she was checking out. I suspected that the dazed look on her face
was due to her being overwhelmed by the depth of her own vulnerability and the
realization that her home’s environment was unstable compared to camp’s. I
thank God for your prayers, which I believe enabled her to stay engaged and
grow through the rest of camp. She continued to ask the hard questions even up
until our last day. Please continue praying for Skylah’s situation, and that
God would help her to come to know him personally as her Savior as well as
bring healing to her heart and mind.
As you can tell, God worked in mighty ways this week at
camp, and this is just the beginning of it. There were so many more campers and
counselors that you all prayed for that were touched by God. We thank God for
the eternal blessings that are happening every day at camp, and for your part
in that!
Sincerely in Christ,
Amy Allen, Staff/Counselor
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