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.
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| Super Summer Worship Band practice before students arrived |
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| First night of worship with the students |
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| Chase preaching the second night. I'm chilling in the light booth. |
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| Last night of worship with the students |
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| 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!
