Mission Messenger - #4

Eeyore

Some campers are easy to love, some you know that God sent to you to aid in your sanctification.  ‘Roo’ was definitely one of the latter.  Before the end of the first night it was clear that he needed full-time supervision.  It wasn’t that he was a bad kid, per se, he was just very high-energy and high-maintenance.  Roo had been diagnosed with high-functioning autism and, being the bright child that he is, had figured out that he could use that diagnosis as an excuse for almost any behaviour.  Before we could even get to staff meeting Monday morning to discuss how to best care for him; he had to be rescued from at least one sticky situation.  At one point Roo had caught a frog and decided that it was safest in his back pocket.  The other campers knew that it wasn’t and started chasing, screaming after him.  By the time ‘Rabbit’ could get there, he was 20 feet up a tree with a crowd of distraught children at the base!

So ‘Operation 100 Acre Woods’ was put into play.  Roo bonded right away with one particular staff member: Kanga.  Kanga is one of the sweetest, most loving girls I’ve ever met, and her energy matched Roo’s step for step.  By the end of the week, with several different staff members pitching in to help, we had assembled nearly the entire cast of Winnie the Pooh in code names.  Jordan was Kanga, Mr. Greg became Christopher Robin, Nathan turned into Eeyore, Ian and Tim turned into Rabbit and Piglet respectively.  Every one poured their hearts wholeheartedly into trying to keep him safe and show him the love of God.

We could have told his parents we couldn’t handle him.  We could have sent him home Sunday night – but thank the Lord we didn’t!  Thursday afternoon he went up to his team leader during verse time and told her that he wanted to learn the verse today!  Six verses – word perfect – later, he was begging to know more.  Roo sat with Marie for almost half an hour, with a totally clear and cohesive mind as she answered his questions about God and the Bible.

It’s often tempting to think “O, he can’t really understand the gospel anyways.” and to give your efforts to campers who are easier to work with.  The truth is though, that these things are spiritually discerned – and anyone can understand them.  I don’t know if Roo got saved or not, I hope he did, but I do know that God opened his heart to want to know and his mind to understand. 

Kanga

We gave what we could…and the rest is up to God!! (O glorious thought!)

(Article by Laurel)

Mission Messenger #3

 Having been a cabin leader all summer for several years at RHBC, I have learned that in many ways, teen camp is the easiest camp that we run.  Most of the campers have been coming for years, and know the drill.  When you send a camper to chapel, you don’t have to remind him where it is, or that he needs to take his bible along.  When you ask for quiet, they usually have enough self-control to give it, at least for a minute or two.  They’ll usually even stay awake through devotions, and pay attention, too.  Obviously, there are unique challenges, however.  Many of them have typical teenager attitude problems, and can be harder to convince to cooperate than younger campers.  Their spiritual and emotional needs and concerns tend to be deeper, too, and sometimes harder to minister to.  Some of these campers have heard the gospel here already, year after year, yet have consistently rejected it.  This year, it quickly became apparent that most of the boys in my cabin had been Christians for years, with the exception of one, who I’ll call Rylee.  By the end of devotions, on the first night, it was apparent that he had virtually no Bible knowledge, but a great desire to learn.  On the second night, he announced that he had always been an atheist, but now he was starting to reconsider.  That comment spurred us all on to make sure that he was presented with the gospel as clearly and as often as we could manage, as well as some of the reasons that we can be sure it’s true.  By the last night he had concluded that God has indeed proved both His existence and His power, but he still wanted some time to think about it.  Although he left here before becoming a Christian, it was incredible to see how far God brought him in a week, and I continue to pray that God would neither permit Him to forget what he learned here, nor give him peace until he comes to Him.

 

Nathanael King,

Cabin Leader

Mission Messenger #2

“I hate squirt camp, I hate squirt camp!” That was my quiet yet whimpering cry to another staff member. Registration was starting and I looked at a child I knew was going to be in my cabin and wondered what I had gotten myself into! For the next three days, what seemed like an eternity to me, I would be the babysitter to a bunch of homesick, disobedient, non-interesting, bed-wetting squirts! What could God possibly do in their lives?! Usually at this time every week, my heart was soaring with anticipation over my next cabin, but this week... I was terrified! I love kids, but I knew that these 10 girls would aggravate me in the most exhausting way possible. My numerous prayers in preparation for this camp was that God would grant me: wisdom (for all those situations where you have no idea what to do or how to make yourself understood) patience (for all the times I was put into situations that included a screaming child) and most of all His love ( for when I wanted God's love to be my first and only reaction!).  Even though those things were prayed for, I knew that I was hopeless. “Horrible” was the only way this week was to be categorized! Yet, there was nothing to do, but pray and implore God to grant me the blessing of children that would be interested in His Word and the love that I needed. As each of 'my girls' filed up to the cabin, I knew right away that God had changed my heart, for the sickening feeling had left and God's love had taken it's place with such force that I had no choice but to let it overflow into the lives of these same squirts! I know that God has done a work in the lives of my beautiful girls, but I know the greater work of sanctification and trust was done in my own heart. Never again will I allow myself to believe the lie that wee little ones can't or won't be transformed by the Gospel message!

(Article by Marie)

Mission Messenger #1

I was thinking that we really needed to update this blog for you, but I didn't know what to say or how to find time to write it up.  And then I remembered that we have these articles that we wrote for the Mission Messenger, and all I have to do is copy & paste.  : D
Wish you could all be here!

During my first week of camp this summer I had a “bad” cabin.  It wasn’t that any one boy was particularly obnoxious, just that the four of the boys were best buds and were quick to build off each others’ disruptiveness whenever possible.  I had a long week of hard work keeping the boys in line and saw very little spiritual fruit. 

The second week rolled around and I received a cabin of boys unarmingly similar to the cabin I had the week before!  So when Jeremy (the leader from the next cabin over) thanked God for his quiet, calm and respectful cabin at Monday morning’s staff meeting – I felt jipped!

One of my campers that week was particularly trying – not because of behaviour; indeed he was one of the best behaved campers I’ve had!  But could he ever talk!  It was a challenge that week to be grateful when my break times were taken up talking with - or rather, listening to - Keenan.  I mean, one-on-one conversations are the heartbeat of camp, but this was just too much! 

I tried to be grateful that I had so much opportunity to share about God with a kid who came to camp knowing virtually nothing about God or the Bible – but it was hard.  Usually it is so easy to be thankful when a camper is clearly interested in the things of God – but did it have to be Keenan?  To top it all off, interest was as far as it seemed to go with him.  On Friday, as we discussed the plan of salvation, he told me that he “just had to think about it.”  A whole week of listening to this kid ramble on and on and on, and he was going to “think about it”!  He left that night having heard the gospel, but having done nothing about it.

I wrote him off in my mind as one of those kids we’ll never know about who will probably go home and forget everything we told him.

During that week, I had received an encouragement note from a fellow staff member which included 1Cor. 15:58 “…Your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”  How true that verse showed itself the next day when we received an e-mail from Keenan telling us that he had watched the Jesus film we had sent home with him and “let Jesus into my heart” that night!

Praise God, His word will not return to him void!!

(Article by Ian)