"Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you."
--Augustine of Hippo
Last Friday, I carefully packed my suitcase with everything I might possibly need for a weekend away in the mountains of the Sequoia National Forest. I said good-bye to Jared and the boys, met up with three friends, and with great anticipation we drove off.
We were going to camp.
Yes, I do live and work at a camp. I experience camp every day in one way or another. But experiencing camp as a camper is so entirely different!
Here at The Oaks, our staff anticipates the arrival of campers and guest groups regularly. We prepare rooms. We prepare meals. We create their schedules. We pray for them. We strive to create the space and freedom where they can experience their Creator and meet with Jesus. We anticipate what He will do in their lives, and it is so exciting to see real transformation happen! Dead souls are made alive in Christ! Restless souls leave at rest! It is humbling and exhilarating to be a witness to so many life transformations.
This past weekend, though, I was the camper. I was anticipating what God would do in my own life as I escaped the regular routine, stepped out of my comfort zone and into a completely different environment. My expectations were exceeded, not because of the awesome-ness of the camp (although it was awesome and super fun!) but because of the awesome-ness of Jesus and what He does when we let go of everything else and zoom in on Him. Like a flower grows while basking in the sunlight, our souls grew in faith and trust as we basked in the Son's light and let His love flow over us. Dead parts of our souls were made alive, and we left ready to head home and pour that Life into others.
It's easy to find our identity in what we do. But being a camper temporarily strips away the doing and leaves us to just be. To be and to remember who Christ made us to be and who we are in Him. He is the Source of all we are and everything we could possibly need. This concept is vital to understand if we truly want to follow Jesus, but often the shouts of our day-to-day responsibilities drown out the importance of it.
Obviously, our family loves camp for so many reasons. Camp offers a unique setting in which to get away and enjoy creation. At camp you focus in on what's important. At camp you are challenged to do hard things and overcome fears. Camp is a place to let go and to have fun. To experience community with others without the daily distractions of life. Camp is so great!
But camp is not an end in itself. It is not the source of our life, rest, and peace. Jesus is. If we want camp to go beyond a weekend and to be more than a mountaintop experience, camp needs to point people to the true Source that will fulfill the deepest longings of their souls. I experienced that this past weekend, and at The Oaks we live in trust and anticipation that it is God's work, not ours, that makes the difference. Our campers are not changed forever because they came to The Oaks, but because they met Jesus at The Oaks.
This summer we plan to serve hundreds of under-resourced youth during our summer camp programs. Most of them come from inner-city areas. All of our planning and working is for the purpose of creating the space and freedom for our campers to understand that true Life comes from Jesus. He is the Source. He redeems, restores, and resurrects. He is the living water that quenches our soul's deepest thirsts. Camp is simply a tool He uses to point people to Himself.
We are praying that those who arrive here with dead souls leave alive.
Will you pray with us?
We were going to camp.
Yes, I do live and work at a camp. I experience camp every day in one way or another. But experiencing camp as a camper is so entirely different!
Here at The Oaks, our staff anticipates the arrival of campers and guest groups regularly. We prepare rooms. We prepare meals. We create their schedules. We pray for them. We strive to create the space and freedom where they can experience their Creator and meet with Jesus. We anticipate what He will do in their lives, and it is so exciting to see real transformation happen! Dead souls are made alive in Christ! Restless souls leave at rest! It is humbling and exhilarating to be a witness to so many life transformations.
This past weekend, though, I was the camper. I was anticipating what God would do in my own life as I escaped the regular routine, stepped out of my comfort zone and into a completely different environment. My expectations were exceeded, not because of the awesome-ness of the camp (although it was awesome and super fun!) but because of the awesome-ness of Jesus and what He does when we let go of everything else and zoom in on Him. Like a flower grows while basking in the sunlight, our souls grew in faith and trust as we basked in the Son's light and let His love flow over us. Dead parts of our souls were made alive, and we left ready to head home and pour that Life into others.
It's easy to find our identity in what we do. But being a camper temporarily strips away the doing and leaves us to just be. To be and to remember who Christ made us to be and who we are in Him. He is the Source of all we are and everything we could possibly need. This concept is vital to understand if we truly want to follow Jesus, but often the shouts of our day-to-day responsibilities drown out the importance of it.
Obviously, our family loves camp for so many reasons. Camp offers a unique setting in which to get away and enjoy creation. At camp you focus in on what's important. At camp you are challenged to do hard things and overcome fears. Camp is a place to let go and to have fun. To experience community with others without the daily distractions of life. Camp is so great!
But camp is not an end in itself. It is not the source of our life, rest, and peace. Jesus is. If we want camp to go beyond a weekend and to be more than a mountaintop experience, camp needs to point people to the true Source that will fulfill the deepest longings of their souls. I experienced that this past weekend, and at The Oaks we live in trust and anticipation that it is God's work, not ours, that makes the difference. Our campers are not changed forever because they came to The Oaks, but because they met Jesus at The Oaks.
This summer we plan to serve hundreds of under-resourced youth during our summer camp programs. Most of them come from inner-city areas. All of our planning and working is for the purpose of creating the space and freedom for our campers to understand that true Life comes from Jesus. He is the Source. He redeems, restores, and resurrects. He is the living water that quenches our soul's deepest thirsts. Camp is simply a tool He uses to point people to Himself.
We are praying that those who arrive here with dead souls leave alive.
Will you pray with us?
We are currently raising funds to help under-resourced kids come to camp. If you'd like to sponsor a camper, you can visit this link:
All donations go directly to camper scholarships.
1 comment:
It is a blessing always to hear your hearts' desire to be used by God where you are!
Post a Comment