By Brenda Brazee, Assistant Director of Bible Adventure
My role at Joy El as Assistant Director of Bible Adventure is to train and equip our leaders and volunteers for the work of the ministry. I don’t regularly interact directly with children in my role, so when God gave me the opportunity to serve Him and lead a cabin of 18 girls at the Bible Adventure Weekend Retreat, I was excited.
“Going for the Gold” was the weekend theme, using Matthew 6:19-21. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Through the Bible teaching, creative songs, and the daily devotions, children learned the difference of storing up treasures on earth with things that don’t matter and won’t last. Things that pull us away from God. We studied passages and examples of people who were “others” centered. We defined treasures in heaven as not being “me” centered, but God centered. We all learned and enthusiastically sang at each chapel the Slugs and Bugs song “Two Shirts” The lyrics are…
Chorus: “Anyone who has two shirts
Should share with the one who has none,
Anyone who has food should do the same.
Anyone who wants to be first, must be the very last,
And the servant of all. The servant of all.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
Where moth and rust destroy,
Where thieves break in and steal
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be.”
Sunday was a very cold morning and I noticed a child crying. She didn’t have a coat on. As her leader was about to take her back to her cabin to retrieve her coat, a young second-grade or third-grade girl took off her coat and in a thin t-shirt, offered her coat to this little girl. I was amazed at her act of kindness and self-sacrifice. I told her she went above and beyond what we were singing about. She literally gave the coat off her back, and not an extra coat, her only coat. We studied about sacrificial giving that day in the passage of the widow who gave 2 coins to the temple. Many gave much more out of their abundance. Jesus pointed this widow out because she gave little, but it was all she had. This little girl was living out what she learned. Such an example of the love of Christ flowing though her! What a treasure it is to watch God at work at Joy El and I am grateful to have a small part in all that He is doing here.
Learn more about Bible Adventure and Joy El’s summer camp opportunities here.
