This summer I had the blessed oppertunity to take the students at my church to camp. It was a week of fun, but it was amazing to see God move in the lives of the students. I just wanted to share a few stories from this week:
First being the night were it all happened. I was praying for each student individually all week. That evening all my prayers were answered. I prayed that one girl will start to deal with her current family situation, another to have her heart break for the lost, few to really get serious about their faith, and that they group would come together as a family to support one another. After evening chapel, I had girls crying over what I had prayed about and a most everyone else saying that they want to take there faith seriously. That evening was spent us letting the students meet as a group to pray over one another and to encourage one another to overcome what they are dealing with. God just moved. He moved in a way that only he can. God proved to me that He shows up when his people pray. My faith has never been stronger because of that.
The next day is when the drama bomb exploded. I will not disclose all the details, but there was a conflict between two of the students for the majority of the day, which really only they could resolve themselves. But that morning I challenged the students to trust the Holy Spirit to guide them in the word for their morning devotion. At the heat of the conflict, one of the students (who was not involved in the drama in any way) wanted to share what she read that morning for her devotional. You know what she read? 1 Peter 4 where it say that "love covers a multitude of sins". After that they two students having the conflict resolved there issue for the most part because of the words of their fellow peer. God is good beyond my comprehension. When we choose to follow his ways and his decrees, there is nothing that stops his awesome power. He is even working when we don't choose his will because he wanted to see this world redeemed. Praise God that is alive and working!
So what is a man like me suppose to do with this? During this week I became very fearful of what kind of leader I need to be and how to lead such an amazing group of students. I have to trust God everyday with this opportunity, because I will fail every time. So the aftermath is all about providing continual opportunities for these students to serve and live out their faith. If I don't I am a careless shepherd who will lead his sheep into a barren landscape than to the lush field of green right around the corner.
