Youth Camp - "THE EXPERIENCE"

We just finished our (Connie & I) first Youth Camp with our students at Generations Church. Youth Camp is an "experience" that we all need to have. It gets us away from the routine of our lives. It gets us out of the cycle we are in. It stretches us out of our comfort zones in worship, Word, & relationships.

We had some students that this was either their first or second time to ever go out of town and spend the night for several days. They were just in awe of the atmosphere at Mo Ranch (near Kerrville, TX). They were stretched in their worship, pulled into an introspective look at their lives, called to make life altering decisions, thrust into new relationships with each other, and challenged to go home and be a world changer.

We had 3 students in attendance who had made a choice to be followers of Christ the week before at our Sunday service. This meant that Youth Camp was like a compressed boot camp for them. Rules, time tables, worship twice a day, preaching twice a day, drama workshop, and last but not least was the river all afternoon.

The raw hunger that we saw at camp just reminded me of what it might be like if someone had been in prison for several years and then released. At first they were all feeling one another out to see if we can live in such close quarters and get along. Will I fit in and whom will I fit in with? You could see in their eyes a wariness like a dog who has been beaten and it is not sure whether or not you are going to do the same. As we worshipped you could see the hunger spreading from one to the other as they began to sense the love of God sweep them up into His arms and love them. The walls were coming down moment by moment day by day. Before long they were open to God through worship and the Word, but more importantly they were loving each other. For most of these students they live less than ideal home lives and seem to be always waiting for the other shoe to drop and crush their hopes and dreams. This was no dream all the food you wanted, all the love you could stand, people who were caring about you unconditionally, and intense spoken direction right into your circumstances. JESUS WAS AS CLOSE AS THE MENTION OF HIS NAME. JESUS WAS REAL AND NOT JUST A RELIGIOUS IDEAL!! The prisoners are free to live and free to love. Their battles are all about how they see themselves. Will they believe what Jesus says about them and refuse to believe what the world and their circumstances tell them?

Raw thirst . . . . Raw hunger . . . where are they? Why am I not hungry like that in everyday life. Because I let the cares and distractions of my world carry me down a polluted river called the world. Let's rise above these base desires and give ourselves over to a Savior who tells us "those that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled." Fill us Lord! Let me drink from the well that never runs dry of pure sparkling water that cleanses and refreshes me.

All in all youth camp is an "experience" that most of us have had and we have fond memories of it. The "experience" probably was not meant to last because we have to come back to the real world and live. However God has proven to us that He is there and knows the intimate details of our lives so let's live for Him. Let's follow Him. Let's trust Him. Let's believe Him. Let's obey Him. We can all do these things without being at camp. Then next summer will come and we love the "experience" again. Plus we will look back and know that we have come so far but He is willing to take us to even great heights.

Do not miss camp Sunday. It will be life changing.

Proverbs 28:1
The wicked flee when no one pursues,But the righteous are bold as a lion. NKJV

Believing,

Ed