Yahweh

Week 6:  July 5-11

Wow, what a week.  What an incredible week.

It started off pretty rough.  Kirk, one of the guy counselors, got sick in town over the July 4^th weekend.  We left him lying on his death bed in Auke Bay on Saturday night so he could recover before coming back to camp.  He ended up in the hospital, having been diagnosed with both pneumonia and anemia.  He had to get three blood transfusions.  The kids from Maverick 1 who had returned to Maverick 2 this week noticed that he was gone because he had led worship for them the last time, so we were all pretty worried.  Once again, though, I can’t deny that God answers prayer.  We prayed for his recovery during chapel, and he came back Wednesday!  He made a glorious and pretty epic entrance into the chapel while Jon-Michael was speaking.  As he walked up the steps and into the room, Jon-Michael announced, “Hey, everybody, Kirk is back!”  And the crowd roared.  What better way to demonstrate the power of prayer right in front of these kids?  God really does work in all things for the good of those who love Him, all to glorify Himself.  Awesome.

Mondays are always interesting for the counselors.  The first time you meet your kids is generally pretty awkward.  You unintentionally form your opinions of each girl based on how much she talks to you or what she looks like or whether she offers you a piece of gum when she gets unpacked.  Those impressions never last.  Just another lesson to be learned. 

The counselors are expected to talk with each camper one-on-one at some point during the week to gauge where they stand with God.  After talking with each kid, we’re supposed to fill out evaluations for each one so the camp can know how many kids are unsaved, saved this week at camp, or were already saved.  We had received a new survey to give the kids along with their evaluations.  This survey included questions like What is sin?  What are the Ten Commandments?  How can you know right from wrong?  Where do you think you’ll go after you die?  Why should God let you into Heaven?  How sure are you that you’ll go to Heaven?  It was really interesting to see the results. 

I had ten very different girls in my cabin this week:  three 14-year-olds and seven 12-year-olds.  One of the 14-year-olds was the poster child for “troubled teen”. She dressed the part, came from a verbally abusive home, and didn’t have a much better experience at school.  She made friends by telling perverted jokes and had no problem with swearing.  She had no interest in God at all; in fact, she hated Him.  One of her friends had recently committed suicide, and she blamed God for not saving Him.  When I looked at her survey by the end of the week, I was heartbroken by the answers she gave.  What is sin?  “Me.”  How sure that you will go to Heaven?  “Not sure at all.”  In spite of her answers, she had some really interesting religious views.  She believed there was a God, but she didn’t care at all.  She believed that everyone would be forgiven in the end and that everyone would go to heaven.  She viewed Christianity as a crutch for those who needed someone to blame or a reason not to be scared of death.  I prayed like crazy that God would break down the walls of her heart and reach into those crevices.  But I’ll get back to that in a little bit.

I had several other girls who were struggling spiritually as well.  Many of them wanted to be close to God, but they didn’t know how.  I forgot how dramatic middle school is.  A few of them gave me the rundown of every friend problem they are currently dealing with, and all I could do was nod and try to be empathetic (empathic?).  Most of the girls came from non-Christian and/or non-church-going homes.  In fact, I don’t think any of their parents went to church.  If the girls went at all (and very few of them did), they went with grandparents or friends.  I can’t even imagine how hard that would be.  One of my biggest questions about my life is whether I would be a Christian if I hadn’t come from a Christian home.  I guess I will never know, but I am so thankful that God blessed me with those circumstances.

So, back to Monday.  I clicked pretty well with my girls, which was awesome.  In fact, the only dramatic thing that took place didn’t involve my cabin, thankfully.  A girl got a stick stuck in her foot.  It was impressive, too.  It was probably half the thickness of a pencil and about two inches long.  It was in the top side, running from between her big and second toes to between her fourth and pinky toes.  Ouch.  She had to be taken to the ER in town to get it removed, but she came back on Thursday.

Tuesday was when the cabin drama began.  A few of my girls (including the one I talked about) were or had become good friends with one of the guys at camp.  One of the girls got really upset when she hung out with that group because they all made perverted jokes.  Another girl felt caught in the middle between the girl who was upset about the jokes and the one who was making the jokes.  While the first girl was outside crying, I listened to the side of the girl who felt like she had to choose between friends and the girl who “wouldn’t change who she was”.  Sweet.  It was all okay in the end without my intervention, thankfully. 

The counselor skit team performed the Lifehouse “Everything” skit (look it up on YouTube!) again on Wednesday night, and the response was about the same as last time.  Jon-Michael, the chapel speaker for the week, talked about death and how important it is to know where you’ll go when your life comes to an end.  Many of the kids, including about half my girls, spent that evening crying for various reasons.  Devotions that evening consisted mostly of stories about how loved ones had died.  These girls had a lot of pain to deal with.  A couple of them experienced some awesome spiritual wake-up calls, though, which was incredible to witness. One girl talked about it during devotions, and another borrowed my pen so she could journal about God for around half an hour.  They realized that they needed and actually wanted Him.  Oh, sweet goodness.

I’m not sure I had ever prayed so much in such a short time span.  I came to a much better understanding of what it means to “pray without ceasing.”  I told many of my girls that, as you get to know God better and better, prayer just becomes natural.  I pray when I’m walking around camp, sitting in the bathroom, lying in bed, everywhere.  There’s nothing like having a true, growing relationship with God – when Christianity is a lifestyle rather than a label.  Probably as a result of talking to God so much, I could tell that He was talking back through me.  There were so many times where I was convinced that the words coming out of my mouth were not from me.  As I told my girls my story during devotions or answered their questions about God or gave my testimony in chapel on Friday, I knew that my words were not my own.  I got so pumped up during my testimony that I was out of breath!  I focused a lot on the times I found God during times of deep loneliness and how He worked through those trials of my life to bring me true joy and satisfaction in Him.  At the end, I read Psalm 73:23-26, which says, “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.  You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.  Whom have I in heaven but you?  And earth has nothing I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” 

I also don’t think I’ve gotten so much water dumped on me in such a short time span.  Since it was a hot and sunny week, we played a lot of water games outside.  One of the games involved being blindfolded and searching for a water gun in the sand.  Once you find the water gun, you squirt other people with it until you find theirs.  In a round with all the other counselors, I never found mine, so I got shot by everyone and then a hose to the head.  A popular phrase around here is “for the kids” (or “FTK” for short).  It’s the only response there is for the times you find yourself looking ridiculous while dancing in chapel or wearing tacky outfits on themed dress-up days or getting a pie smashed in your face for losing a cabin competition.  This was one of those times, I guess.  Another one of those times was the day I decided to read my mail before doing the ritual Gray Squirrel dance after dinner.  I said that I only wanted to read it and that I would do the dance anyway, but I guess that didn’t cut it.  They made those of us who were impatient get on our knees while singing the song, and then we got water dumped on our heads.  FTK.  I guess I’ll know better for next time.  I also got water thrown at me by a kid who didn’t appreciate me chasing him down with a noodle (the swimming pool kind) during Storm the Castle.  That was only for him, though. 

Friday was my favorite day of the week.  It was the day of Crud War, which was something I hadn’t participated in since I went to church camp in high school.  The whole point of Crud War is to throw lots of gross stuff at other people.  I got shaving cream smeared all over my face, potato/cheese/cream/noodle/meat slop in my hair, and flour in my ear.  Nice.  We all ran into the ocean to wash the gross off before showering.  It was the first time I had actually fully submerged myself in the Pacific Ocean, so I guess that was epic.  After chapel, we had the campfire.  Unlike the last one, where we sang silly songs and talked about all the good times, this campfire included worship and testimonies shared by the kids.  One of the kids who shared was the guy that all my girls loved hanging out with.  We learned that he had struggled with some pretty intense depression recently and had wanted to kill himself before being turned in by a friend from school.  He wasn’t sure where he stood with God now, but he knew he wanted to come back to Him.  This hit four of my girls right at the core.  When we got back to the cabin that night, three of them really wanted to share their testimonies, so we stayed up until just after 1am doing that.  One of them talked about how she had struggled with self-image.  Another talked about how she had cut herself, and battled with depression, been abused from her stepdad, and had dealt with suicidal thoughts.  Finally, the girl I talked about earlier shared.  Before sharing, though, she prayed aloud for the previous girl.  I couldn’t believe it.  I thought this girl wanted absolutely nothing to do with God, and here she was, sincerely praying for one of her friends!  After telling her life story, she said that she now believed in God and had a greater respect for Christianity.  Unbelievable.  There is a God!  Needless to say, this was the highlight of my week.  I had prayed so hard for this girl to let God in, and I saw it right there in front of my eyes.  God answers prayer.

Even though this girl wasn’t ready to accept Christ into her life at the end of this week, she told me she might start reading her Bible.  Since she didn’t have one of her own that wasn’t a children’s Bible, I gave her one of the camp’s.  On the inside cover, I wrote a note that told her about how much God loved her and would always stand by her side and that I hoped she would really get into the Word and eventually put her faith in Him.  She was so grateful.  I hope and pray that she actually reads it.  If you think about it, please pray for her.

God answers prayer.  If it seems like He doesn’t, then keep praying.  “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”  Luke 11:10.  So pray big.

Speaking of prayer, the only senior high week of this summer starts tomorrow.  I will be counseling again.  Please pray that God prepares the hearts of the campers and counselors.  I expect nothing less than greatness.