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| A Sweet Time of Worship |
I must say, I was a little apprehensive about this year's school camp trek to
Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters in Andrews, NC. Several fears fed this apprehension. What if the kids don't enjoy it? What if we have issues traveling such great distances? How will the counselors respond to the kids? How will the kids respond to the counselors? What if someone gets hurt? What will the food be like? What if.... I snore? Yes, I know, ridiculous isn't it? Mary Anne Evans, widely known by her pen name "George Eliot", once said,
"I'm proof against that word failure. I've seen behind it. The only failure a man ought to fear is failure of cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best." Upon arrival, I felt an overwhelming calm about the decisions that brought us to this place. The kids were immediately greeted by the guys and girls at SWO who genuinely showed an interest in them. They didn't bombard the kids with camp "rules and procedures", they treated them like... teenagers. Within the hour most of the counselors knew all of our names. They ate with the kids, challenged them to a pick-up basketball game, tossed the football with a few, and spent time encouraging them in the Lord. After dinner, we enjoyed a sweet time of worship and challenge from the Word.
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| Enjoying the "Refreshing" Nantahala |
Day two began with a flurry of activities for the kids. They were able to zip-line, climb the "tower of terror", get whipped by their teachers in a massive paintball war, and white-water raft down the... as they would call it, "refreshing" Nantahala river. "Refreshing" is SWO's euphemism for the word... COLD! It was exciting to say the least! Kids were conquering their fears, adults were acting like children, and God was pleased to see His children enjoying His majestic creation. That night, God broke my heart. At the beginning of the evening service, the SWO crew began the service with a heart-wrenching visual of what Jesus did for us. The passionate display of love was a bit overwhelming. At that moment, I knew that school camp wasn't just for the kids... it was for me! I needed that time to reflect on areas of personal holiness that I had neglected. I was challenged by the idea that nothing I do "impresses" God. How can I give God anything when He owns everything? That night, God gave me a lot of things that I needed to spiritually digest.
As we wrapped our 2011 school camp with one final gathering, Brody challenged us with the following video:
That's when God's hammer hit me the hardest! I need to get busy! People are dying for their faith in Christ. Children all over the world are hurting. People are not being told that Jesus saves! You know, Mary Anne Evans was right! Cleaving to the purpose eliminated the fear. The purpose ultimately ripped open our hearts and exposed us to the importance of the Gospel!
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| The "Next Generation" of the Church |
I believe that LCA's best days are yet to come. I also believe that it takes days like the ones we experienced together at SWO to prepare us for those days! Your kids were amazingly well-behaved, and all in all, I believed that God was pleased.
DE
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