By Aaron E. Ziebarth, Executive Director
Abby Lackey, had some exciting things to share with the Joy El staff team recently.
Last week at campfire, an energizer Jr. Ranger (camper) waited in line to share about dedicating his life to Jesus here at camp. What struck me most about his testimony was that he was so impacted by the Rooted theme (Colossians 2:7)! He shared about how before he came to camp he wasn’t planted anywhere. But since he came to camp, through talks with his counselor, he was now rooted in Jesus Christ. He said he knew that he could trust Jesus and because he was trustworthy, nothing would move him because his roots were in Jesus.
And then she shared:
Two weeks ago as I was serving the guest group at canteen, some of the campers came up to the windows with nametags on their shirts, however their given names were not what was written on them. Instead what was written were words like, “loved, forgiven, chosen by God, valuable”. I asked one of the campers what that meant. He told me that just before coming there, they had had an extended worship service in which they wrote down a lie they believed about themselves, gave it to a staff member who in turn wrote a truth about them and gave it back to them. From then on, when the campers would come up to the window, we would refer to them by their name tags. “Hello, Mr. Forgiven, what would you like?”
Campers immediately lit up upon hearing this affirmation that yes, they are loved, valuable, chosen by God. “For the Mighty One has done great things for me– holy is his name” (Luke 1:49).
Life-change occurs at Joy El, a Christian camps and retreat centers in pa. Thank you for praying!
