Dear Prayer Warriors,
This past week was powerful in a lot of ways, and we were
blessed to be on the “frontline”. Our
time with the campers was fun, yet compelling.
The first thing Angelo told me was that he wasn’t
“religious”. He said his sisters go to
church, but that wasn’t him. He told me
he loved doing graffiti art. He also
said he enjoyed doing body art, where he would paint images on the naked bodies
of girls he knew, because he was sometimes able to get “lucky”. At the beginning of the week, he wouldn’t
participate very much during amphitheater time.
At one point in the beginning of the week, he told a staff member he was
never coming back to this place. He did,
however, participate during the Bible studies; he would read out of the Bible,
answer questions, and seemed engaged much of the time. As the week progressed, he started to
participate more during amphitheater, and on one of our last one-on-ones, he
told me he was thinking about becoming a Christian. I told him that was awesome, but also that he
needed to count the cost, and understand that though he didn’t need to clean up
his act in order to come to Christ, he could expect God to change him after
surrendering to Him. He didn’t end up
praying to accept Christ before he left, but he did say he was for sure planning
on returning for winter camp.
One of
the most interesting and challenging experiences I had this entire summer at
camp would have to be Lucy. She was a beautiful girl who told me right off the
bat that she was agnostic and she didn’t want to change that. She said that she
was open to hearing about God but that she wanted her views to be respected and
that she was not a believer or a Christian. Throughout the week we kept talking
and she would be engaged in what we were talking about and she said that she liked
the time that we spent one-on-one together where we would talk about God. On
the last night of camp she watched a skit that we performed that really moved
her and she started to cry. She didn’t stop crying the entire night that night
as we continued on with the pine cone ceremony and other activities. That night
after it was all over she told me, “I think I’m a Christian now”. Together we
were able to pray the sinner’s prayer together and I know that she left camp a
changed woman.
A very
strange experience I had this last week was with Freddy. We began the week and
he told me how he didn’t believe in God and that he had been up here a few
years now and that’s where he stood. As the week progressed he stood his ground
and continued to say that he did not believe in God. But in the last few days
his attitude changed and he said he believes in God but not in Christianity.
Which changed again to; I just don’t want God in my life right now. At the end
of camp he was standing up and singing all of the worship songs and even
engaged in the bible studies. Where he did not accept Christ he still told me
this is the closest to God he has ever been. When he was about to go down the
mountain he told me that this was his favorite week of camp and that of the
four years he had been up here he had never like a counselor before me. A
radical change happened in his heart from the beginning of the week until he
left Saturday afternoon.
Thank you for your continued prayer support! May God bless you for your faithfulness.
Jonny, Hannah and Kris (Summer Staff)
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