God is always with me

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Summer camp at Joy El is in full swing and it is such a joy to hear children all over the facility enjoying the activities and worshipping together. When I was a camper, I always looked forward to Thursday nights. Thursday nights are special at camp because that is when we do campfire. In the midst of God’s creation, campers and staff have the opportunity to come together and share what God has been revealing to them through their time at camp, as well as life-change decisions that they have made.

One campfire time this summer has especially stood out to me. This week was particularly exciting and as we approached the time of campfire, the energy in the campers continued to build. We started out giving opportunities for campers first to share verses they had memorized throughout the week. Camper after camper stood up to share new verses they had learned as a result of being at camp.

Then we moved to answering one question, “What did God teach you about Himself this week?” As an elementary-aged child, I remember being terrified of speaking in front of a larger group of people and I imagine some of the campers that night felt a similar level of fear. Despite that, several campers immediately lined up to share and more continued to join the line. They shared,

“God is always with me.”

“I don’t need to be afraid because I know that God is with me.”

“God is more powerful than anything.”

“I need to have a personal relationship with God.”

“God is calling me to share more about Him with others.”

Wow! God is doing amazing things this summer. We celebrated each of these declarations and then we praised the Lord for the numerous life-change decisions made that week. We ended our evening praying in cabin groups over campers who had made decisions.

Campfire continues to be a special time at camp, a time of reflection on all that God has been doing at camp as well as Hope for what He will continue to do in the lives of each summer camper. Please continue to pray that many children and teens would have life-changing encounters with God at summer camp!

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