Dear Prayer Family,
There is a certain sweetness you can taste at the
10th-12th grade camps. Many of the kids have been coming
to camp for years and know more about the program than the counselors do. They
love and cherish being at camp and even call camp their home. One of the girls
this past weekend, over February 20-22, told a counselor after the first night
of camp that she always sleeps better at camp, which she referred to as her
home. For Virginia, though, it was only her second time at camp. She could tell
that camp was her home after only coming once. Wow! Anyways, this weekend
proved to be a great weekend filled with the sweetness and joy that only comes
from God.
Richard wasn’t super keen on me asking him questions
when I picked him up at the first bus stop. He answered my questions, but
wasn’t going to engage in a conversation with me. He had attended camp only
once before when he was in the sixth or seventh grade. From the get-go, I could
tell that despite his hard outer shell, he was a young man hurting from
feelings of loneliness and abandonment that he had to constantly face
throughout his childhood. His father died when he was four and his mother was in
prison. His first set of foster parents kicked him out and he moved around in
the system until moving to Oregon with a relative.
Upon arriving at camp Richard shared with his
counselor, Todd that he knew no one cared for him and that no one has ever been
there for him. His only friend was his “drug friend” that did drugs with him on
a daily basis. His heart was certainly guarded against anything of God and at
first his approach to camp was that of being untouchable. Todd, however, a very
wise and seasoned counselor, began to share with Richard that he was not alone and
that he was there for Richard and that his Camp Alandale family was there for him. Even more, he shared that God was there for Richard and that Jesus loved and cared
for him. God used many of the teaching points at camp through the Beatitudes in
Matthew 5:1-12 to open up Richard's heart. He began to see that he had a friend in
Jesus and that Todd’s care for him wasn’t fake or forced. This all came to a
climax during the one-on-one time Saturday evening where tears began to flow
down Richard's face and his heart began to soften.
On Sunday at the end of Victory Circle, Richard stood
up and shared with the whole group his thankfulness for Todd. He said that Todd
taught him about companionship and that he knew that Todd was there for him,
Camp Alandale was there for him, and that God was there for him. What a change
from the beginning of the weekend. Please continue to pray for Richard as the Holy
Spirit continues to work on his heart and that Richard would surrender to Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers for Richard and all the others at Camp Alandale!
In the name of Jesus,
Jeremy & Amy Allen
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