Dear Prayer Coordinators,
Thank
you for your prayers for our JC Training Camp over May 27-30. It was a great
weekend to introduce the JCs to the new facility and welcome many new JCs into
the Camp Alandale family. We had tons of fun and got to witness God’s work in
the hearts of the JCs. I asked a few JCs to share their reflections with you.
Natalie,
a camper JC shared, “From being a camper to being a JC, Camp Alandale is always
a great escape for me. Every time I go I learn something new. This time around
I learned that I cannot do things in my own strength. I have to have God by my
side. Repeatedly, whether it was through someone’s testimony or just random
things people said, I heard that I have to have God by my side. At the end of
the weekend we were given time to reflect and see what God wanted us to take
from the weekend. I went outside and said a prayer. I prayed to God and asked
him to show me what it was that I needed to know. At that point, I opened up my
Bible to Philippians 4 and came across 4:13, ‘I can do all things through
Christ who gives me strength.’ In this, I realized I can't do it on my own.
After that I remembered a verse from the beatitudes, Matthew 5:3, ‘God blesses
those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the kingdom of heaven is
theirs.’ I came to realize not only that I want him to be my encouragement, but
I need him all the time.”
Elijah,
a first time JC said, “JC training at Camp Alandale was definitely a learning
experience for me. Spending a weekend of uninterrupted time with people I had
never met, regardless of the reason, was not something I've ever been very good
at. Thankfully, God gave me peace and kept me from worrying about the
impressions I made to the other JC's, all of whom are now friends of mine. But,
my anti-social tendencies aren't the only thing that were abated. To be
one-hundred percent honest, I was terrified that I would make mistakes almost
all weekend. My perfectionist mind couldn't handle not understanding how things
worked or where they went. Despite my silent fretting, I never had an issue. As
much as my pride would like to say otherwise, I know this isn't because I'm
such a quick-learner, or even a normal-learner. I had to give my fear of
failure over to God, so that He could get me to see all the other great things
going on. I could enjoy real conversations with the JC's and dancing (if you
could call moving awkwardly to songs you've never heard before
"dancing") because I wasn't worried about making mistakes. Granted, I
don't expect to walk into the dish-room and pull a 'Mary Poppins', snapping my
fingers and having all the dishes clean themselves; however, I know that my
best effort is all that's required of me. God can and will see to the rest.
Psalm 25:9 says that ‘He leads the humble in doing right.’ I can look to enjoy
my weeks at camp this summer because training taught me (among other, more
specific things) to trust God with my fears, and He will help me through any
situation.
Andi,
another camper JC explained, “At camp a verse that kept coming to me was 1
Thessalonians 5:16-18, ‘Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in
all circumstances for this is God’s will for you who belongs to Christ Jesus.’
Camp has shown me to never stop praying to God even when I don’t hear an answer
from God at that very moment. It doesn’t mean he isn’t paying attention. Also,
God has challenge me to not be afraid in opening my heart to new people in my
life. He also challenged me to talk about Scripture to my coworkers and
classmates. My favorite moment was when we played Catch Phrase our last night
together even though everyone was tired, but still wanted to talk and goof
around. My other favorite moment was when the bus broke down and we all got out
and started playing charades and laughing at each other. At that moment I
thanked God for giving me lasting friendships.”
As you can see, God was at work
during the weekend. Thank you for praying for us! We look forward to sharing
more stories with you as the summer gets going. All glory and honor to God our
Father.
God bless,
The
Camp Directors at Camp Alandale
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