Fall 2013 - Prayer Letter

Dear Prayer Warriors,

            I first want to thank you for your continued support of Camp through your prayers. I notice such a difference personally in my life when I have 52 churches praying for me by name. Your faithful prayers make a huge difference in the ability of our campers to walk with Jesus and hear His voice.

            One Camper that is making the right decision to pursue God is named Tim. When Tim came to camp during secession 8 he arrived late. It was his first time at Camp Alandale and he had heard about camp from his foster brother who had come a few weeks earlier. Tim was tired when he arrived and immediately told me he did not want to be here. He had been sent to another camp the previous week and had come straight from there to Camp Alandale, so you can understand why he was so exhausted. I told Tim to just take it easy and try to enjoy camp. He took it easy but did not seem to enjoy his first couple days. One thing Tim did enjoy was complaining, because he did it about everything. He was compliant, but not without a negative opinion and a grumble. That is until he shared his testimony on Wednesday night.

            Tim shared one of the most difficult testimonies I have ever heard from a young man. He shared how he and his siblings were shipped off to Utah to live with an uncle where he was brutally raped on a regular basis by the uncle and his friends. Then Tim shared about a visit he had with his birth mother and how two men broke in and raped his mother in front of him. He shared that had started using drugs and had started to see a particular demon on a daily basis; then he shared about Jesus.

            Tim shared his story of how Jesus had set him free from drugs and from being tormented by this demon. Tim shared how important his relationship with Jesus had become. He told me later that evening in tears how God had touched his heart through the experience of sharing his testimony and how a fire to follow Jesus had been relit in his heart. Tim stopped complaining and stated leading his team. He started praying for his team members and decided he loved Camp Alandale.

            Tim is doing well today and really, really, wants to be part of our Jr. Counselor program. Thank you for your prayers for Tim. It really helped him to make the decision to pursue God and turn for the temptations that had crept back in to his life.

            You have received a set of prayer cards for campers and staff at Camp Alandale. Please hand them out to your prayer team and ask them to pray for the person on the card until our winter camp starts. Thank you for battling for the hearts and souls of our campers in prayer.

  

Love in Christ Jesus,

Matt Pritchett, Camp Director

Summer Camp 2013 - Session 9. August 12-17, 2013 - 10-12th Grade

Dear Prayer Coordinators,

Thank you for joining us for the final week of camp. It was a great week of camp filled with many highlights, but it was not without many difficulties. This camp seemed a little bit different because about half of the campers were new. Typically, high school camps are about 75% returning and 25% new. Although we anticipated a very difficult camp because of the amount of new campers, God’s grace was upon Camp Alandale as the Holy Spirit moved in the hearts of the campers.

The first night of camper testimonies Diana chose to share her testimony. She was new to camp, but chose to jump right in and tell her story. She told it with boldness and tears as she walked through moments of beatings, abuse, rape, and miscarriage. It broke our hearts to see her lay her head back and find the courage to tell the next part of her story. It was evident from the way she talked that her heart was so hard against God, so much so, that during Counselor Prayer the next day her counselor shared with us that she had said that she hated God. One cannot blame her for thinking this, but we know that our God is a God of love and justice who takes care of the beaten and downtrodden. Her counselor fought mightily throughout the week to show Diana that she is loved by God and loved by us. She encouraged her to send God a “Facebook message” and open up communication with him, which had been shut down many years prior. Diana, although coming to camp with a very hard heart towards God, left camp with a heart softened toward him. Pray in the days and weeks that follow camp that God will take hold of her life and that she’ll surrender all of her pain and sorrow to Jesus.

Another camper new to camp was Anthony. He came with a hard heart just like Diana. Despite having been placed in a good home at an early age, Anthony struggled to believe in God and found his security in knowing that he had been raised as a Catholic. His thoughts were conflicting as he had never been in a place with other foster children who had similar stories and had not heard much of the person of Jesus. His counselor spent many one-on-ones with him telling him about who Jesus was and what He accomplished through His death and resurrection. This was very comforting for Anthony, who slowly over the week opened up more and more, and finally put his faith in Christ on Friday. We rejoice with the angels as another camper became a child of God.

There are more stories like Diana and Anthony’s from this last week of camp, which much credit is due to your faithful prayers. Please continue to pray for all the campers as they’ve returned home to difficult situations. Blessings!

                                                                                                In Christ,

                                                                                                Jeremy & Amy Allen

Summer Camp 2013 - Session 8 - August 8-10, 2013 - 10-12th Grade

Dear Prayer Coordinators,

Last week I was blessed with two amazing, young men as my campers. The first of which was Phil, a returning camper who came to camp with many anger issues. He hadn’t been in a couple of years and came back claiming to have this great relationship with God. During our first one-on-one he shared his testimony with me and explained how he had an abusive father and a drug addict mother. He had bounced from group home to group home since he was eight years old. He was angry and felt as though he had been dealt a bad hand in life. My second camper was Jim. Jim made it to camp at around 5pm on Monday, shortly after being taken off the roster. Jim was late because he was on his way back from another camp and had just enough time to clean up. Jim was a first time camper and came with a very different struggle. His father had been in prison since before he was born and his mother was also a drug addict. He had recently given his life to Christ and was really seeking God in his life. Although he was a Christian, he was incredibly negative about everything we did. He didn’t like the tents, food, games, schedule – the list goes on and on. He and I would have great conversations about God and the Bible, but as soon as the conversation was over he would be negative again. As the week progressed both of these young men had amazing victories.

                As the week progressed Phil's anger became more obvious, with his buttons becoming easier to push. He started to lose patience with the other campers. As it progressed I found out it was not so much anger at others, but a fear of what was going to happen after he left camp. He told me that before he came up to camp his Aunt told him she was going to adopt him. This gave him a great deal of happiness, but sadly also brought up feelings of rejection and insecurities. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time someone told him that they were going to adopt him. He was fearful of being rejected again. Thankfully, as the week came to a close he found comfort in God. While all of this was going on, Jim was working through some struggles. He had a difficult time enjoying himself at camp because of his negative attitude. He shared with me his younger foster brother had come up before and did not like it. So his impression of camp was negative even before he came. It was on Wednesday, however, that he realized he truly did enjoy camp. His attitude slowly started to change. He grew in his relationship with the Lord and was even able to share his testimony. It was his first time ever sharing his testimony, which was a very freeing experience for him. After he shared, he told me that it felt like a weight was lifted from him. In the end, he loved camp and everyone was able to see his joy as well.

Even though I only had two campers there was a third camper in my tent. We had many different conversations at night, but a few stuck out to me. The first of which was that they had many questions about the reality of God’s love. This led to a great conversation on what love truly is and how we should show it to others. The second happened on the last night of camp. One of the guys asked me why I had lent my jacket to a girl at campfire that night, considering that it was the coldest night and I was clearly cold after doing so. This simple question opened the door for me to share with them what being a man is, and not just any man, but a godly man. At the beginning of the week these three young men had all sorts of dysfunction going on around them, but by the end of the week though they were able to find comfort and normalcy in God and His love for them. Praise the Lord! While they still had problems when they left, they were able and willing to seek God in them. Thank you for praying for these guys throughout the week. Your prayers are powerful!

                                                                                                                                In Christ,

                                                                                                                                Kris, Staff-Counselor