Dear Prayer
Coordinators,
Hello from Camp Alandale! The summer
is underway and the second week of 4-6th grade camp was successfully completed.
The Holy Spirit’s presence was imminent and powerful as He moved among the
lives of the students in attendance. The Staff and I are grateful for all of
your intercessory prayer and support as we fight for the souls of these young
students. I find great joy in knowing that the Body of Christ, you, are just as
involved in this ministry as are my coworkers here. It is only together joined
to Christ that we are able to beckon this young and broken group of students
into God’s wonderful story. This past week by God’s grace we were able to do
just that.
Arriving at camp for the first time
was a young boy named James. Overwhelmed by new surroundings and new people he
was hesitant to join in. But the love of Christ expressed through the staff’s
smiles and big hugs removed all fears. When the campers were assigned a
counselor for the week I had the privilege to pair up with him. During our
first day James was always looking to me to see if he would be accepted and
whether or not I was a trustworthy companion. Standing by his side all day I
gained his confidence and joy began radiating out from within him.
Sitting down with any student here
at Camp Alandale for a one on one conversation can be intimidating. Where do
you begin? How do you create an atmosphere where students can be vulnerable?
Some of these students have been through so much that you feel handcuffed, but
it is in those moments you cry out to God in helplessness and he delivers to
you an extra measure of grace. So it was with James. Upon a rock we sat and he
opened up his broken heart full of pain, anger, and confusion. Tears streamed
down his eyes as he told the story of his family falling apart, the abuse of
his siblings, and hopping around from one foster home to the next. Then
something amazing happened, he began to talk of hope and of God. James had
heard about God from other camps and church services he had attended growing
up, but he was unsure how to know God personally and experience him. I shared
with him about Jesus, a savior for both of our lives, who lived, loved, died,
and rose from the grave for us. I communicated to him that we know God through
faith, and that through faith we experience him. He said he’d think about it.
The next day on our one on one James
decided that he was ready to follow Jesus. He was ready for Jesus to heal him,
transform him, and walk alongside him in this journey of life. During a
campfire that week James had the opportunity to tell everyone at camp his
story. At the close of his story he shared that he had decided to follow Jesus,
and that he knew God was leading him. He said that through the breaking up of
his family, the foster homes, and the abuse, God led him to Camp Alandale where
he was able to begin a relationship with Jesus.
This is but one example of how God’s
Spirit moved mightily among camp last week. May this story remind us that our
God is active and sovereign. Know that your prayers are not in vain and that
each prayer for the whole camp and the individual camper is cherished greatly
by us. Thank you!
In Christ,
Justin Moline (Camp Counselor)
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