From a Counselor

Letter to Prayer Coordinators for Feb 21-23, 7th-9th Grade Camp
Dear Prayer Coordinators,

We had an awesome weekend over February 21-23 with the 7^th through 9^th grade campers and we want to share it with you! 

I’m so grateful that one of our sweet counselors, Penny, sent me a letter just after camp was over which she had written to her prayer team describing her weekend. I’m pleased to share part of it with you below:

Penny wrote, “I had a wonderful weekend up at camp with the junior high campers. God gave me a young girl named Samantha who was 15 years old. She lived with such abuse and neglect that you would think she was unable to forgive, love, or have true joy! She shared with me through our time together that the only thing that kept her going was to care for her younger siblings. Now you may be asking yourself, ‘Why am I sharing this with you?’ It's because I am amazed how God can use even his littlest children to be a witness for him. I was blown away by her story and how God prearranged her to be a witness of true joy and transformation for me as I thought I was supposed to be for her. It was a total divine appointment. 

"Our weekend theme was #whoisjesus_winter2014. Well, Jesus was a man who walked this earth and spent time in solitude, community, and ministry. He gave purpose, he provided, he was powerful, and he forgave!

“As Samantha shared her story with me this weekend, I felt God reveal to me again how he does and can turn our sadness into joy. I gave her John 16:24 which says if you ask in his name you will receive and will have abundant joy! She was doing just that and asked God on daily to help her rise above and take away any bad feelings that still lingered from her perpetrators that abused her. What a powerful example is she! 

"For such a young girl to surrender like that daily, really shows how great God is! I thought, Jesus, I need that constant reminder to pull away from all that distracts me from you and allow me to live in solitude, community and ministry daily.”

Also, one of our precious boy campers, Joey, decided to commit his life to the Lord the last day of camp! His counselor Wayne had been matched with him during the summer. So it was a double blessing to see how God orchestrates these campers having some of the same counselors over and over again so they can build a trusting and loving relationship. 

We saw Joey open up and receive love from his counselor as he learned about the healing reality of Jesus Christ. 

Thank you for all your prayers. We could never accomplish so much through the Spirit of God without our prayers partners going to battle for us daily!

Blessings to each of you as you pray,

Jeremy and Amy Allen

The Golden Poison Frog

Letter to Prayer Coordinators for Feb 14-16, 7th-9th Grade Camp
Dear Prayer Coordinators,

Have you ever heard of the golden poison frog? It is native to Colombia’s Pacific coast, the beautiful but deadly golden poison frog, Phyllobates terribilis, is one of the most poisonous animals on the planet. It is small enough to fit comfortably in your palm and  it has enough poison in its skin secretions to kill 20 men, or two African bull elephants. When it is attacked it secretes a toxic ooze from its skin that causes the animal attacking to immediately release it. By that time, however, the frog and the attacker are doomed to death. Such is the case many times with PRAYER – too little, too late. But that does not happen at Camp Alandale, thanks to your prayers for these precious children! The work you are doing will pay dividends in eternity. 

Thank you for your prayers.

Well it has been much more like fall than winter this year. We have had little snow and even less rain. Trees are turning brown and branches and pine needles are starting to die off, but that was not the case with Sherrie this winter camp. 

Sherrie did not die, Sherrie came to life.

Sherrie is a special girl, the type of girl that has a smile that lights up the room. This was Sherrie's 4^th camp in three years. This camp she was paired up with the perfect counselor for her. She and her counselor bonded immediately. The times they had for one-on-one were very special. Sherrie shared at Victory Circle that she had been able to open up and share many of the deep wounds she had incurred during the time she was abused. Sherrie made the decision that she wanted to follow Christ at this camp.

This year for winter camp we designed challenge bracelets and had them made. The bracelets say #FOLLOWME_WINTER2014 (for any of you social media savvy prayer warriors out there feel free to check it) and we are challenging the campers to follow Jesus when they go down the hill. During the challenge time we give campers a chance to share what Christ has spoken to them about this camp. 

That is when Sherrie chose to step forward and share with the whole camp that she would be following Jesus. 

I appreciate when campers take time to make a decision for Christ, when they really think about what they are doing, it took Sherrie three years. Praise the LORD! Sherrie has passed from death to life eternally!!! Please keep praying she is a good soil for the seed of the gospel and that she will bring forth fruit 100 fold!

Thank you for your prayers,

Matt, Tarrah, Aiden, and Piper Lulu Pritchett

5 THINGS I LEARNED AT JC TRAINING: TWO PERSPECTIVES

After our JC Training on January 17-20 we asked two of our newest Junior Counselor if they would be willing to share five things they learned at JC Training. This is what they said:

BY HADASSA MANCHESTER
1. NOT ALL CAMPS HAVE BAD FOOD! 
This stereotype is one that I had thought for sure was true after years of having endured barely edible food at different camps, until I came to Camp Alandale. In fact, when they served bacon one morning, it was so scrumptious, that I not only went for seconds, but also volunteered to help clean up the kitchen so that I could eat the leftovers. Note: this is a sure way of procuring extra delicious tidbits and getting a chance to have some good conversations with your fellow JCs on dish duty, which brings me to my second point.

2. DOING THE DISHES IS NOT ALWAYS BORING!
Now, washing the dishes is not usually my favorite thing to be doing, especially since I get to do them almost every evening at home. But at Camp Alandale I relearned that even the work that we usually consider the most boring, can be fun when we are willing to do it as a service to the Lord. Also when you’re working alongside some of the other JCs, it’s a great time to bond with each other and have some good conversations that you might not get a chance for otherwise.

3. TAKE A STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE! 
I have heard people say this countless times before, and at JC training this became a reality for me. As hard as it can sometimes be, every time I do step out of my comfort zone I realize more and more the value of times like this. I remember on the first day, one of the Camp Directors looked at me at the end of one of our training sessions and asked me to close in prayer. For a moment I froze up and must have looked like a deer in the headlights. Praying out loud (among other things) is something that for some reason makes me extremely nervous, but God gave me the courage I needed, not only in this situation, but also in many others. A verse that kept coming to mind was 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

4. THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING "HOT!"
Something I’ve always struggled with is getting over my shyness and opening up to people, particularly when it comes to sharing about something difficult that I’m going through. I remember so many different occasions where people have asked me how they could be praying for me or asked me to share what was going on with me, and always I would come up with some superficial request for a friend’s friend or an aunt’s cousin. When I got to Camp Alandale, the Camp Directors impressed upon us all, that when we split up into our smaller groups (also known as prayer dot groups) we needed to be honest, open and transparent (or HOT) with each other -- no prayer requests for mother’s aunt’s cousins, we were there to bear one another’s burdens and we were all family. It stuck with me and I really felt that God was putting it on my heart to share something hard that I was currently going through. I couldn’t understand why I should, but I also prayed for courage and the Lord gave it to me, so when my turn came to share, I was able to. Later that day one of the girls from my prayer dots group came up to me and told me that she was going through something similar and thanked me for being willing to open up.

5. EVERYONE AT JC TRAINING IS AMAZING!
Upon my arrival, I was kind of just standing there, possibly trying to hide from all those new people who kept on coming, and wondering what exactly I had gotten myself into by deciding to come to a place where it seemed like everyone else had known each other for years. My misgivings were to be very short-lived, however, for almost no sooner had the thought entered my head than one of the girls walked up to me, gave me a big hug and introduced herself. Shortly thereafter someone else came up to me and upon hearing my name, told me that over the past week he had chosen to pray for two of the people whose names were on the JC Training list and mine had been one of them. I was like, “Whoa! This is so cool, someone I’ve never even met before has been praying for me!” Everyone there was so welcoming and kind that by the end of the weekend I found that I had a bunch of new friends!

BY BRANDON GESTON

1. COMPLAIN LESS, PRAY MORE

Complaining about something isn't going to get you anywhere and can just drag you down. Pray for it instead, bring your problems to God and learn to let go of them.

  

2. THE MORE YOU ARE IN THE WORD, THE MORE YOU ARE AT PEACE

Spend some quality time with God and his word. The more in depth and the more you immerse yourself in God, the more peaceful you will feel. That is not to say that troubles won't come your way, it will just make it easier to deal with them.

3. GOD ALWAYS WANTS TO TALK TO YOU, YOU JUST HAVE TO LEND HIM AN EAR

No matter how much we may ignore him, God is always there waiting to speak to us. Maybe not directly, but through reading his word he gives us direction and comfort in life.

4. GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU

God has a purpose and a plan for everybody; no matter how big or small, old or young, God wants to use you. He uses us in many different ways, ways that we may not even realize, so always remember to think and act with God in mind. Don't forget to pray for his guidance in your life and decisions too.

5. THE MEMORY VERSE

"Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and life. No one shall come to the father except through me. If you had really known me, then you would know who my father is. From now on you do know him and have seen him.'" John 14:6-7

A Wonderful Weekend

Letter to Prayer Coordinators for Jan 31-Feb 2, 7th-9th Grade Camp
Dear Prayer Coordinators,

It was a wonderful weekend, and a very fast weekend!

As winter camp approaches we get so excited and the kids can't wait to see the campers. I get into the bus and drive down the mountain and am so thankful for your prayers that I know you all have been pouring out as an offering to our Lord.

When I picked up the group last week they seemed a little different than the campers usually seem when they come up to winter camp. I sensed a little more apprehension in their spirits than normal. I realized that over half the campers last week had been evacuated last summer after two and a half days of camp or had missed camp altogether the following week due to the evacuation. They were ready to be loved on and needed to hear about God’s love for them in His Son Jesus. Our theme this winter is #whoisjesus_winter2014. Who Is JESUS?

One camper that really received the love of Christ was Jennifer. Jennifer was a very needy camper, what she needed was the love of Jesus! Jennifer was always asking for something, "Will you put my shoe on?" and she was always getting hurt. She even sprained her wrist playing Foosball and needed it to be iced and then re-iced for the next day and a half. She just really needed to know that someone cared. As is the case with many campers that come to camp Jennifer needed to feel loved and accepted by her family here at Camp Alandale, her real family.

I had a chance to talk to Jennifer about how God our Father has adopted us into His family! We talked about how there was a legal contract that was made - a new covenant in Christ’s blood, and that through Him she was adopted as a child of God. She could not be any more His child than she was right now. I shared with her about how my children are adopted and when we adopted them we received new birth certificates for them with our names as their mother and father, the change has been made, legally and finally. It is the same with our adoption into Gods family! Jennifer needed to know she was secure in her Heavenly Father’s love, and she needed to feel the hugs of her family at camp which showed the love of her heavenly Father. And she got it! This fiery little red headed girl went home feeling the love of God deep in her heart, knowing she was secure in that love. She found out who Jesus is and realized she can trust Him.

Psalms 27:10 says, "Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close." Jennifer went home on the bus a changed girl knowing that the Lord will never leave her or forsake her.

Thank you for your prayers.

Matt, Tarrah, Aiden, and Piper Pritchett

Justice Matters Conference

We're going to be here! 

Will you?

Come to the Justice Matters conference this Saturday, February 15th from 8am-5pm at Calvary Chapel Murrieta. See flyer below.

Go to the event website www.justice-matters.com for more info.