Hey y'all! I'm finally back from camp. I actually got back on Saturday evening but we had things to do from the time we got back until Sunday evening, so i'm just now catching up with everything. Tonight I just want to do a little recap of what camp was like and how it impacted me even with a bit of a change of roles this year. 

Going into this week I didn't really have a specific role. I went in knowing that I would be fulfilling various roles and obligations throughout the week. I was the worship tech for Broshi for Blue School. I was sort of assistant TLing with one of the small groups a couple times a day. I was helping with tech stuff for worship for evening services each night. I was running lights for evening worship. I was also on call for set up, tear down and whatever else Chad needed throughout the week. I also got a few other little things thrown in there, but nothing time consuming or too strenuous. So I was bouncing from role to role through out the week. This allowed me to see Super Summer from different sides than I had previously. I enjoyed the week and the different aspects of filling the different roles, but I also got to make some observations about how that bouncing around was good and bad for me.

 

Last summer I really got the chance to build relationships with the girls and guys in my school, especially those in my Family Group. This was awesome and I still keep in contact with them. Some of them even came back this summer! I really enjoyed this, but in a tiny way had wished to get to know some of the adults better. Overall I couldn't have asked for a better experience last summer. This summer I was bouncing back and forth between being a part of a school and being a part of exec staff. It was fun, but I feel like I lost that relational aspect, especially when it comes to the students. I got to meet them and get to know them but not on the same level. Yet on the other hand I got to get to know some incredible people on exec staff and continue to build relationships with those I already knew. I absolutely loved getting to do this and it was such a blessing! I think that next year I would prefer to be fully in a school or fully on exec staff. It's hard to build relationships when you're jumping from one to the other constantly. However, I know that God put me where He did this year for a reason. Part of that I have already seen and there is part of it that i'm sure I don't even know yet.

Anyways, here are some pictures from the week. They are all of the evening service, but that's because I didn't have time to pull out my iPad and take pictures at other times throughout the week. 

Super Summer Worship Band practice before students arrived

First night of worship with the students

Chase preaching the second night. I'm chilling in the light booth.

Last night of worship with the students

Chase's last message to the students

The theme of Super Summer this year was 10/40: Send Me. So the whole week was centered around the students learning about the 10/40 Window and how they can make a difference there, as well as right where they live. They learned about the lack of Christianity in the 10/40 Window despite the number of people in it. Blue School was focusing specifically on how you go about sharing the Gospel, whether in the 10/40 Window or elsewhere. I watched students come to tears throughout the week as they felt a definite call to a specific area in the 10/40 Window and some who were called elsewhere. I watched as these students were questioning their faith in the right ways, as they were coming to terms of where they felt God may be calling them and as some came to terms with the fact that God truly loves them regardless of their pasts. 

In Blue School we asked the students to share their testimonies throughout the week. (Blue School is those going into 9th grade in the fall.) Some of the students had simple testimonies which is absolutely wonderful! Some of the students had some heartbreaking testimonies. I watched and listened as these 14 year old students stood up and shared some very serious things. Some admitted that they were diagnosed with Suicidal Depression in 5th and 6th grade. Others shared of the physical abuse that they and their other parent suffered from their fathers. Many shared of painful divorces and fathers who walked away. The things that I faced in high school these students are facing in grade school. One girl in my school was the daughter of one of the pastors who was a leader in another school and she had been struggling with some very serious things. She had come last week but at the beginning she had seemed hesitant to open up and she seemed like she didn't really want to be there, but at the end of the week she stood up and shared her testimony. I was close to tears when many of them shared their stories. 

These students who bravely got up and shared their stories in a room with quite a few people they had only just met that week made me realize something. How often do I share my story, even with people I know well? How often am I brave enough to stand up and share what God has done in my life without feeling like someone would judge me? Do I have enough faith to stand up and share what He has done even when it puts me outside of my comfort zone?

So tomorrow I will be posting my story. I don't know what impact it will have, if any, but I think that sharing it on here is a good place to start. I don't know how long it will be or how detailed, but it will be here. 

This week was a great one and i'm sure that I will share a little more as time goes forward, but that was just a tiny recap and some thoughts that have been running through my head about it since being back. The next few weeks will be crazy as we have a missions team coming in and then head off for our second week long camp of the summer. I'm still struggling with the concept that it's already July. How did it get here so quickly?!

Anyways, i'm going to be working on writing my story tonight while listening to some music. I hope you all have a great night.

God Bless!

Super Summer 2013

Hey y'all!! I'm back tracking to the beginning of the summer to tell you all about the first 'not' camp (it really is camp lol) that I participated in this summer. This 'not' camp is an intense week long discipleship camp for students who have just finished 8th through those who have just graduated high school. The students are put into schools based on the grade they finished. Each school has a dean, an assistant dean, a team leader assistant (?) and then 4-5 team leaders. Each school has a theme and a color. The dean and assistant dean teach multiple lessons throughout the week based on their theme and the overall theme of the camp. There are chapel/worship services in the evenings with messages based on the overall camp theme.

This year was a special year though. This year was the 20th Anniversary of Super Summer. It was such an awesome experience to have my first year there be such a special year in the history of Super Summer. On our last day everyone wore there Super Summer shirt (color based on what school they were in...black shirts are staff members) and we took a group picture of everyone who came to camp, along with a special banner.

Super Summer 2013...20th Anniversary

You can't really see me, but i'm back with everyone in the blue shirts. I was a TL in Blue School. GO BLUE SCHOOL!!! A friend from school and a fellow summer intern was also a TL in Blue School. The rest of the team was new to me, but I quickly got acquainted. It was such a blessing to get to know everyone that was leading Blue School. I couldn't have asked for a better team. God definitely knew what He was doing when He brought all of us together to lead those students. I have gotten to know them better since then as well and look forward to getting to know them better in the future.

The best yet scariest part of the week was being a family group leader. Family group is small group and I was leading one with seven 8th (soon to be 9th) grade girls. This is most definitely not my area of expertise, but I couldn't back out or push it on someone else. This was my group and I went into the week unprepared and not knowing what to expect. We met three times a day in small group and talked over things that were discussed in school sessions and in chapel. I ended up being blown away by these young ladies in my group! They already have strong relationships with Christ and are working to get closer. I got to see some changes throughout the week in the mindsets of a couple of them and it was amazing. I got to know a couple of them better and more one-on-one. It was such a blessing that they were so open to trusting me with the things going on in the heads and hearts. It really allowed me to better pray for them, as well as be able to encourage them in different things throughout the week and even now as I continue to keep in touch with them through Facebook.

My family group...Beautiful Godly young women!

These girls were crazy & made me laugh :)

We took some pictures as a family group on the last day. This last day was when they really clicked as a group and I wish we could have had just a couple more days. I can only imagine what would have happened!! They are absolutely amazing young ladies with hearts for Christ. They're enjoying life and learning how to daily live for Him. While in the midst of this the antics are quite funny. From Skittle accidents to spitting water across everyone (unintentionally) to doing crazy flips and tumbles in the grass. These young ladies were so amazing to work with!! I am beyond blessed to have been able to have spent a week getting to know them and share with them. I didn't know how the week was going to turn out but it was definitely far  better than I expected!!

I try to keep in touch with them all on a regular basis, which from what i've gathered isn't common for TLs. It's a blessing to know how i've worked in their lives even when I didn't think I was doing a good job. One of the girls told me that i'm the best TL she's had at Super Summer. I was surprised when she said that. I know that I can only credit that to God because I couldn't have done that on my own. That week and those girls were in His hands...I was merely a tool in the whole plan.

That week in June was an incredible blessing and one of the highlights of my summer (and likely my year)!! I wish we had had more time, but i'm incredibly happy to have had the time we did. I pray daily that these girls, along with all the other students, learn how to walk with Christ in their daily lives. I pray that He shows them how important they are and how useful they can be. I pray that He bless them in everything they do and that they may be a blessing to everyone they come in contact with. My prayers for them are unending.

It was a wonderful week!! I hope I didn't bore everyone by sharing about this incredible God focused week. It was such a blessing to me and I just wanted to share it!!