Camp Alandale Newsletter: Issue 2, 2014 - Part 3

Satan Lost
By Matt Pritchett

A feeling of darkness and pain instantly developed as the campers walked off the bus Monday morning. Sarah found my wife Tarrah to tell her that her foster brothers had come to camp and that they were ready to beat up another camper who they hated. She said, “They are all Satanist and they do not want to be here." A great spiritual battle was unfolding before our eyes.

Our theme for the summer was, “The Invisible War." It was a perfect theme for this group of Satanists. Through skits and Bible studies they learned that there really is a war going on that we cannot see. We talked about how their families were caught up in this Invisible War. The sinful choices their parents had made landed them in foster care. Anthony, one of the Satanists, shared with us about his pain. “How could a God forgive me for the Grand Theft Autos I have done, or for hitting a kid with my gun and putting him in a coma? Satan takes care of me.” 

We encouraged the group of Satanists to move away from the darkness, to be forgiven and live the life that God has for them, a life with future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We shared James 4:7-8, “If you resist the devil he will flee from you," and that “if you draw near to God He will draw near to you." It felt hopeless. If we were going to win this battle we needed even more prayer than we were getting from the 27 churches that were praying for each child by name. Our staff and counselors called and emailed to have more people begin to pray for their souls. Our junior counselors prayed diligently from Tuesday on that God would win the victory.

We began to see glimmers of hope, as one by one the Satan-worshiping campers began to receive the love that was being offered to them. Thursday the walls began to come down as Anthony, their leader, began considering what we were saying. He came to us again asking, “Could God forgive me for the things I have done, for the cars I have stolen, for the people I have hurt, for being involved in gang fights?” Anthony had been shot in the leg during one of the fights and had severely injured the young man he was fighting. He had spent lots of time in Juvenile Hall. He said, "I know if I continue down the path I am on, I will end up in prison.” He began to see the plans Satan had for him were not for his good, as he had previously believed. He was leading him down a road of destruction and death. His blind eyes were opening and God’s word was penetrating Anthony’s heart.

That night Anthony’s counselor overheard a conversation where our Satan worshiping campers were talking about giving God a chance. Anthony was sharing how his life was getting worse and worse, “More violence, more time in Juvi. I don’t want that." He said, “Maybe God really does have a plan for my life, a good plan with hope and a future." Tommy lashed out at him in anger, “No we cannot follow this God. If he is a good God why would he have created hell just because Satan disagreed with him?” The deception on him was heavy.
Another, Tommy had been to camp three times but was one of the few campers that came to camp more than twice without receiving Jesus. He was always angry. He knew anger was his friend. He could control his world with it. No one wants to get close to an angry young man. With no one close to him, no one would hurt him. But his counselor Wayne would not be pushed away by his anger. He would not let the threats, the yelling, the dirty looks, and the talk of Satanism dissuade him from showing the love of Jesus to this broken soul.
Alan was the third. He had been involved in black magic since he was a child. His parents were Satanist and would ritually abuse him and his sister. During one of our campfire talks about how to protect yourself from being sex trafficked, I asked the question, "What is sex trafficking?" Alan raised his hand and I called on him. Then he slumped down in his seat, put his hood from his sweatshirt low over his eyes and began to share. 

“You would be moved from city to city, and at each new location they would take you out of a locked van or cargo truck. Late at night when it is the darkest, they would move you into a warehouse. When you arrive they would inspect you. They would look at your hands and feet. They would check your teeth to see if you are healthy. They would shower you, and you would be taken to another location for a couple of weeks where they would sell you and men would rape you. Then the whole thing would begin again, in another city, another state. That’s what it’s like.” 

Alan was thrown out after they checked his teeth, but his sister is still gone. He has not seen her in years.

With all the pain these precious campers felt, they had to be overwhelmed with a tsunami of the love of Christ. It happened at our campfire time on the last night. One by one each of them was overcome by the love of God. Through song and tears, God revealed his great love for all the campers. Each one of our Satan worshiping campers asked to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. They committed to turn from their sin and follow Jesus. The evil presence we had felt at camp was gone. The campers celebrated, "We are free!" During the game time we have after campfire, they all kept singing. We finally gave up on games and worshiped the Lord for another half hour. At Pinecone Ceremony we added extra worship songs in because the whole camp was pouring their hearts out to the King of Heaven. Our Satan worshiping campers were now worshiping Christ for the first time. They stood singing at the top of their lungs with their hands reaching out towards the heavens praising their God and King. Anthony said, “What’s wrong with me? I can’t stop singing. I can’t stop smiling, I never smile!” For Alan it was obvious that his burden had been removed. Finally Tommy, in whom I have never seen anything but anger, stood before us, hands raised in victory, singing with a smile on his face and tears running down his cheeks.

God had won the VICTORY!

Camp Alandale Newsletter: Issue 2, 2014 - Part 2

A Camper Bio about Andi Garcia was featured on The Link, a newsletter by OC4kids.com. Click here to view the newsletter and see Andi Garcia's bio.

Click here to read the rest of Gallagher Goodland's, "How I Came to Love Camp Alandale."

Camp Alandale Newsletter: Issue 2, 2014 - Part 1

Our latest newsletter is out. Did you get it? 

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Read the stories from the newsletter below.

37 Campers gave their hearts to Jesus this summer!!!

Rarely do we get to see the Spirit of the Lord move as undeniably as we saw Him move this summer at Camp Alandale. As you read this newsletter be reminded of the greatness of our God and how much He loves His precious children who have suffered abuse at the hands of angry and violent parents and family members. My prayer this summer was for the Lord Jesus to give us opportunities to glorify Him through what He has done. That prayer was answered many times this summer and these are just a few of the stories. See page 4 for a special story of Christ victory!!!

Wedding Bells are Ringing

One of the unexpected blessings at Camp Alandale each summer is seeing the young adults that God brings up to serve at camp on summer staff find love and get married. So it was with Justin and Brittany in 2013. We were blessed to see them seal their relationship in Christ on July 12th 2014. Ten of us are taking credit for matching them up, but we all know Who really matched this Godly couple up, don’t we? Please join us in praying a blessing upon Justin and Brittany’s marriage and for their future ministry together. May God Bless the Moline’s!!!

He Bled So They Wouldn’t Have To
By Jeremy Allen

“I didn’t want to come to camp because I was going to kill myself this week. I told my staff that I didn’t want to come, but they made me,” Josie told her counselor through tears after the evening’s campfire testimony time. It was Wednesday night, the second night of listening to the campers share their stories with the rest of the group, and these stories were heavy. They sent Josie into a time of weeping and wailing during her one-on-one with her coun-selor.

The night before the first brave girl named Josie got up to share her story I was unaware that she’d share something that would become a theme for the campers throughout the summer. She was a cutter. Josie had used cutting to escape the pain she was feeling in her life after being abused by her parents and placed in foster care. Jessica, Josie’s counselor listened to Josie as she tried to explain herself through the weeps and wails. Patiently, Jessica let her unload all of the burdens she had been carrying for so long.

Jessica shared the love of Jesus Christ with Josie. She got to speak into Josie’s life that night like no one else before and encouraged her to trust Jesus with her whole heart. Although it took time, Josie’s heart was opened to the truth and she left camp that week with a renewed hope in Jesus to help face the pain in her life. Josie would stop cutting, but there were still many campers cutting themselves. Josie had been a cutter for a long time and had the scars to prove it, but the release she used to get from cutting wasn’t enough anymore. She now had Jesus to release her from all her pain and suffering. If Josie had not come to camp that week, her group home staff may have found her dead in her bedroom.

I've Got a Secret

Shhhhhh......don't tell anyone. I've got a secret for you. 

You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone. 

Okay?

You want to know the secret? I know you do. Well, it's just a small secret about our theme for winter camp. It's about the Beatitudes. I can't tell you what we're calling it yet.

Do you know where the Beatitudes are in the Bible? 

No? Maybe you should go look. 

I'll give you a hint. They're found somewhere in the beginning of the New Testament. You'll find them at the beginning of the passage where Jesus gives a sermon to the disciples and all the crowds while he's on top of a mount.

Did you find them? They're pretty awesome, right? I think so. 

During winter camp we're going to look at a bunch of the Beatitudes (the weekend is too short to look at all of them, but don't worry it'll still be awesome). I wanted to share with you some thoughts about two of the Beatitudes that I found on another website: meekness and peacemaking. I'm thinking that the more you can learn about the Beatitudes before coming to camp, the better it will be. What if you memorized the Beatitudes before you came? That would be pretty cool. 

Check out meekness here and check out peacemaking here.

That's it. Come to winter camp to learn more. We can't wait to see you. 

Wait No More - The time is right now!

Do you care about orphans?

Did you know that right now there are 130,000 legal orphans in the United States foster care system that are waiting for adoptive families?

Do you know that God commands Christians to care for these orphans?

You have to see this video:

Click here to see "Wait No More"

Wait No More^®:

Finding Families for Waiting Kids

Right now, more than 100,000* legal orphans in United States foster care are waiting for adoptive families. The US also has more than 300,000 churches, and God has given clear commands for Christians to take care of His orphan children.

So if the command is clear and the need is apparent, why are these kids still waiting?

At Focus on the Family, we believe that every child has the right to have a family. That’s why we’re collaborating with adoption agencies, church leaders, and ministry partners to raise awareness of and recruit families for those waiting for permanent families.

Through one day events and targeted marketing campaigns, Focus on the Family is highlighting the urgent need for adoptive parents. For too long, these children and youth have been overlooked.

But that is changing. God is stirring the hearts of His people to welcome these children and youth into forever homes. To date, more than 2,700 families have initiated the process of adoption from foster care as a result of the collaborative efforts of Wait No More. And this is only the beginning.

For more information check out icareaboutorphans.org/.

How I Came to Love Camp Alandale

By Gallagher Goodland

Summer Staff 2014

Preparation for my first week of counseling was filled with hope and anxious thoughts. Hope that can be found through Jesus in the work only one with the title ‘Son of God’ could do and quickly followed by those unrelenting anxious thoughts of, can I do this? In my time of prayer leading up to week one of counseling, I quickly found my answer to this dilemma of, “Can I do this?” In short, the answer was a gargantuan no! Thankfully for me and the rest of the summer staff, we had little need of our own strength. With the grace given by God through the salvation from Jesus and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit I was more than ready and able, we all were.

On Monday at 11:00am, that large bus pulled up filled with 4th through 6th grade foster children. The staff and counselors rush out with great big smiles; plenty of cookies and mixed fruit in hand. One by one I watch as the kids slowly walk off the bus; some have a look of remembrance given by the previous year, while others walk off the bus timidly and unsure of the surroundings they have now entered into. After the hugs and handshakes and how are you; two thoughts came to mind and the first was unpleasant. Some smiled while others were shy and timid but all of them had one thing in common, every child carried burdens, the ones most of us would never experience. This image placed in my mind was quickly followed by an overwhelming peace; the Spirit of God was about to move and do His work.

In my first week of counseling I was given three campers. For this story, my focus will remain with one particular camper named Kenny. Out of all the kids who came to camp that week, Kenny was by far one of the most timid of the kids. I realized on day one that this boy has been abused severely. In his mind he could do nothing right, every action and every question was followed by “I’m sorry,” and “Are you mad at me?” All day, every day, I would hear these words and my heart would break. What had this boy seen in his short life, what acts of evil had been done to him to cause such fear? I couldn't help but allow these thoughts to consume my mind at times. By this I was compelled to be in constant prayer.

I had decided on Monday night that I needed more time with Jesus before the start of each day. At 7:00am the director would turn on the music (the Camp Alandale alarm clock). Between the time it took most of the kids to actually wake up, brush their teeth, and the constant need to stay by their side; having time to read God’s Word and pray was seldom found. With that said, I set my alarm for 5:30am. That gave me plenty of time to stumble around a bit until I woke up and could focus my attention more firmly in God’s Word and in prayer.

It wasn’t enough for me, the small Bible studies, skits and the few times of worship. It was wonderful and full of God’s presence but I needed more. It brings great joy to my heart to say, it wasn’t enough for Kenny either. Each morning, my alarm would go off at 5:30am and each morning as I woke up to read and pray, so did Kenny. We would sit just outside our tent; he would rest his head on my arm and listen to the words God had to share. And that was our little routine, each morning. Kenny’s second routine each morning, after 7:00am was to go down to the grassy area, grab the toy lawnmower and begin mowing the lawn. You got to hand it to him, he was consistent!

Each day, three times a day, we would have our one-on-ones. For those who are unfamiliar with that phrase; a one-on-one is a time spent with just the counselor and one of their kids (if the counselor has more than one camper). During my one-on-ones with Kenny, not much was said and I could see that he was afraid, unsure as to what would be done if he would talk about his life to others. 

On Monday, we just sat on the large rocks overlooking the desert, I prayed for and with him. Tuesday we prayed before starting and after praying he rested his head on my arm and said, “I miss my mom.” I looked down and asked when the last time he had seen her. He told me that it had been a month. I asked him if they were able to do anything fun. Kenny sat up as quickly as he could, looked at me with the biggest smile, and said, “Guess what? I got to go with my mom to McDonalds and have McNuggets and fries! Chicken nuggets are my favorite and I got to eat all of them!”

A few minutes after talking to me about the different foods that he loves he began telling me about his dad and the fear he had towards him. Not much was said about his dad; after telling me that his dad would punch his mom over and over again and in his anger turn to Kenny and do the same. Kenny realized what he was saying and quickly put an end to the conversation. He put his head back on my arms and started to cry. There was nothing to say on my part, I just cried with him. Kenny had brought up old memories, memories he had locked up. That night was the second hardest night for him. 

During most meal times, he would barely eat his food. On Wednesday night, Kenny refused to even have a bite. During our time in amphitheater, he was restless. He took his sunglasses and started slamming them against the bricks then hitting himself on the head while screaming that he wanted to die. The director and I were able to calm him down and give him some words of encouragement. Thankfully, it was at that time, his favorite song started playing and he snapped out of it and ran back to the amphitheater so he could dance. For the rest of that night he was good, he was calm.

The following day, the last full day of camp, Kenny’s thoughts and fears came back with a vengeance. This time it was all day with more outbursts of anger. He would constantly say, “You don't love me, you hate me.” Or he would say, “I’m bad and I’m always going to be bad.” I would hold him tight and tell him that I loved him but most importantly that Jesus loved him, that it breaks Gods heart to know that he had suffered and this pain that he felt wouldn't last. Jesus could take away all his pain. 

That night during amphitheater he ran off during worship and began screaming and hitting his head on the ground, I tried to keep that from happening so he ran inside, laid on the cold surface of the tiled floor, and pulled his hoody over his head. I sat next to him and allowed Kenny to vent while the directors calmly and gently tried talking with him. It took everything I had not to tear up when he reached his hand out to mine. We held hands for about ten minutes without a word spoken. After that, he was ready to go back and by then it was just about time for the Pinecone Ceremony.

The Pinecone Ceremony is a time when we play a soft worship song as the directors pass out a pinecone to each of the campers, counselors, and staff. As we hold the pinecone in our hands, we feel the sharp prickles; it’s a reminder of our past pain, pain that has been inflicted on us but also the pain that we have caused others. After the song is over, team by team we go to the fire pit and are able to place our pinecone, our past pain, into the fire and just as Jesus can and will take away our pain, so to the fire takes away the pinecone. By the next morning, there isn't even a trace of a single pinecone; the fire would consume it completely.

Once the Pinecone Ceremony is over, we play a few more songs, then stand in a big circle, placing our hands over each others’ shoulders and sing one last song together that says, “Here we are, standing together as a family… singing Abba, Father.” It’s a bitter sweet moment. In one hand, the Spirit of God is there and you can feel it and see it on everyone’s faces. On the other hand, it’s one of the last songs we’ll sing together.

As I’m walking up to my tent after passing out our camp T-shirt and doing all the things needed before bed; I overhear Kenny talking to his friend as they walk just a few feet in front of me. Kenny looks at his friend and asks, “Andy, do you hate the devil?” Andy replies, “Yep, I sure do.” “I do too,” said Kenny. Then he asks, “Hey Andy, do you love Jesus?” Andy looks at Kenny and says, “I really love Jesus.” “Me too,” Kenny quickly replies. “Hey Andy, did you know that tonight, Jesus took all my pain away?” Andy says without hesitation, “Yea, me too!” For the first time that week since Monday, my heart was at peace and filled with more joy than I could hold on to. God had completed what He does best, who was I to doubt God’s work. That night my faith grew by leaps and bounds; I had seen the hand of God change the hearts of these two little boys.

Spending just about every waking moment with kids who desperately needed and wanted attention, I had found the heart of God and I could understand more clearly the meaning of His words in James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

That first week and the weeks to follow, God had given me far more than I could give. He renewed my heart, gave me a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and of His desires. I had been filled with the fruits of the Spirit as it says in Galatians 5:22-23; practicing love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. By the end of the first week I had fallen in love with the campers, with the counselors, and with the staff; I had fallen in love with Camp Alandale.

Summer Celebration - Saturday, August 23

Coming soon to Camp Alandale!

Saturday, August 23 from 10am-4:30pm
Summer Celebration 2014 at Camp Alandale

Come celebrate all the things God has done this summer at camp.

See flyer below.

Click here to RSVP or call 951-659-5253.