Dear Prayer Warriors,
Working and ministering to children
who have been taken advantage of, abandoned, and rejected can have its
challenges to say the least; when those kids are 4th-6th grade campers, it’s a
whole different ball game. This week, Session #2 over June 22-26, was one of
those weeks. Thank you for your prayers before and throughout the week.
I, Gallagher, counseled three boys but
my focus will remain on one, his name is John. He had a noticeable twitch and
it would make itself known with every word spoken from him. He ran on all
cylinders from the rising to the setting of the sun. Throughout the week I
watched as other kids would point out his seemingly acquired gesture, leaving John disheartened and angry. I often thought and prayed asking God, “Guide my
words and heal this child.” John is a good kid, he really is; he knows he’s a
little different than others and right know John is unsure of how to deal with
it. During testimony time at camp fire, John decided that I was safe, so he
wrapped his skinny arms around mine. His head rested on my shoulders as a few
sniffles meekly resounded.
By Thursday, John had opened up to me. He still has
angry towards his parents but God is starting to take that burden away. John,
thankfully, has foster parents who love Jesus which makes it easier for me to
let him go knowing that he’ll return to a safe and loving home. Our Father is
faithful to complete the work He started. “Being confident of this, that he who
began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ
Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
I, Alex, counseled for Session #2 as
well. George arrived at camp with his hood on. The moment I saw him I could tell
he had something he wanted to get off his chest. During our first one-on-one he
hardly talked. I was having a hard time finding things he was interested in.
When we were half way through the one-on-one, I was out of things to talk about
and we walked in silence for a while as I was trying to think of something to
say and seeking God’s direction, and eventually George began to talk and the
one-on-one went better than I thought it would. Early in the week George shared
with me that he used to be “emo.” One day as we were sitting at lunch God threw
a question in my mind I had to ask George, “So George, what does it mean to be
emo?” Right away he responded with, “Well, it means you have no future, your
dreams are ruined, and your life is ruined,” he said contently with a fake
smile. I was shocked. I thought of a few verses and began to unmask this lie as
God led me through the conversation. One verse in particular, “'For I know the
plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm
you, plans to give you a hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11). He was
speechless when I told him this verse.
Later that night I was surprised when George and his sister went up together to share their testimony. His sister did
most of the talking, but at the end of her time, he broke out in tears, began
talking about how he missed his parents and how his older brother would
continuously beat him on a daily basis. George talked about how while his
brother beats him, he has tried to hug his brother and tell him how much he
loves him. Throughout this time his sister was patting his back and rolling her
eyes as if he is being a baby about these things going on. I finally realized
how loving and caring George is, even though he doesn’t get that same love and
care in return. When George left camp I could see that he was more at peace
after opening up. He wasn’t completely at peace, which made me feel like a
failure as a counselor, but God reminded me that He is the one doing the work
in George's heart. I have faith that God will finish this good work that God is
doing in George's life. Pray for him and other campers like him!
Sincerely,
Gallagher
& Alex
Summer
Staff 2015
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