Summer Camp Ends

Summer Camp Season is over and once again, even though I end it with a sense of exhaustion, I am renewed, replenished and reaffirmed that Chris and I have obediently answered His call to ministry. Camp season is always exhausting, constantly pushing my out of my comfort zone and relying on His grace, mercy and strength to bring Him in new and exciting ways to our campers. This year, we grew in size (again). I am not foolish enough to believe that any of that growth has to do with me, but I am aware that it has to do with all those in our ministry teams that constantly strive to keep camp focus on Him, relying on His vision instead of our own.

This year, we reached record numbers at our camps, meaning that we also saw record number of first time acceptance of Christ, reaffirmations of decisions and calls into ministry. None of this happens unless the Holy Spirit is allowed to flow freely throughout the camps. I am truly blessed to be in ministry with a God seeking man (my boss), supported by a God seeking man (Chris) and surrounded by God seeking people (Servant Team, youth leaders, friends). I recently had a conversation with Rev Ryan Barnett (brief, brief brief convo) and he mentioned his recent trip to Africa. I mentioned that Chris and I would jump at the chance to go to Africa and serve but didn't feel that God had opened those doors and paths for us. He pointed out that it was obvious that we were where we were supposed to be - evident by the abundant fruitfulness that was occurring in the ministry. What a great compliment and affirmation!

At the end of summer camps, we take our Servant Team (aka summer camp staffers) that have worked every camp (same set of youth, chosen through a lengthy application process) on a post retreat to celebrate and replenish before returning them to their homes. This year, we baptised Joshua at the post retreat.

It was a great ending of the camp season for us and a great beginning for a new journey. Rusty baptized him, one of the guys from our Servant Team prayed over him and Michaleh and I stood beside him. Dad looked on proudly (and a little overwhelmed). It marks the beginning of a new journey for our family as we have chosen to put Joshua in a private Christian school which is based on university teaching model. This means he'll go to school 2 days a week and I'll have to home school him the other 3 days. They give us the lesson plans and resources we need to help with the home teaching part.

It's a new journey which will involve sacrifice as it requires quite a financial investment, as well as drive time (the school is 45 minutes away), and the extra teaching time (should I mention, a stronger sense of structure & discipline will have to be implemented on my part?). But we have prayed over it and set some guidelines in our decision making - all which God fulfilled and showed us that this was the path He was laying out for us. I kept waiting for the doors to close on this opportunity for Joshua attending the school, but they just kept opening. Affirming that we were beginning a new journey.

A new journey began for me as well in June, when the conference brought me on full time (officially, as I've been working full time anyway). Again, affirming that we were being blessed for answering the God when He called. We begin a new journey as we pray about selling our house at the end of this school year (with Michaleh graduating in June) and moving into a smaller, simpler home in Marble Falls (no more commute for school, easier for Chris to upkeep while I'm away at camps, etc). And while we are not sure about some of our journey, and we certainly don't have exact clarity on what our future looks like, what we do know is that whenever we follow our Creator, we are always well taken care of. It might not be in lavish lodgings, or deluxe vacations, or new luxury cars - but we are well taken care of the way that God desires us to be; and that brings us peace and comfort (which in this world, are often hard to find). Wherever our Father Abba takes us, we have joy in knowing that we are on this adventure together!

Camp Season is right around the Corner

It's mid May and that means, I've basically had to finish up the prep for summer camps. One of our favorite camps is MYMission - not because it is my mission. Here's the official description: My Mission (Methodist Youth Mission) is a one-week, inner city mission camp sponsored by the SWTC Council on Youth Ministries.

My Mission Mixed 2011 is designed for Sr. and Jr. High students (entering 6th thru 12th grades) and will be at Travis Park UMC in San Antonio, TX, Friday at 6 PM until Tuesday at 12 PM. This will be a safe but "intense" week of homeless street experience, poverty simulation, and service in and around inner-city San Antonio. Students will gain an understanding of what it means to be homeless and to live in poverty. Jr. High students will have more of an introduction to inner city ministry and will be separated from Sr. High students during the day and during sleeping at night. Programming will be age-specific and well supervised.

We focus on service, not the hammer and nails kind of service, but the relational service - much the way Christ focused when He walked the earth. We reach as many homeless as possible, handing out 1000s of water bottles, 150 sandwiches each day, and sharing the love of Christ in simple conversations. We offer those that we meet on the streets our time, our non-judgement and our sincere friendship. Too often, we have to drag our students off the streets and back into the church where we sleep at night. This is a good thing.

We try to spend the week doing with less then our normal daily, all too comfort lives allow us too - often giving up some of our possessions, going without showers, and even "roof sleeping" (a fenced flat top roof atop the church, in which we stay, where we sleep for a night). We roof sleep so we understand that sleep on the streets is not easy - we are able to smell and hear all the sounds that downtown San Antonio has to offer. And it impacts our lives. The next morning we are more kind and more gentle to all those that we meet.

We want the homeless to experience the true grace and love that Christ holds for them, and we try our hardest to share just a piece of that. We often leave MYMission, feeling inadequate and asking if we could have done more. We always leave with knowing that we will forever be changed by the people that we have met and we know that we will never be able to go under a downtown bridge without looking for a familiar face (one that we've met during our days on the streets).

If you would like to help, we will be putting together 100s of homeless bags to hand out. To get more information on how you and your church can help, simply click here: http://www.reachingyouth.org/f/My_Mission_Hand_Out_Bags_Poster.pdf

I have been saying it a lot lately, and I'll say it one more time, I am blessed to be able to chase God's heart, and share Him with students all while calling it a job and getting paid to boot.

W