SUMMER CAMP IN ACTION

Before camp, Jayden was really struggling. He would show up to youth group most nights high on drugs, with his sweatshirt hoodie over his head, and didn’t even seem to know where he was or what was going on. We were nervous about having him go to camp but felt God leading us to scholarship him (thanks for Forest Home) to see what God wanted to do in his life. About half way through camp, Jayden’s leaders caught him using marijuana and had to confront Jayden. Before this conversation, it seemed nothing was going to break through Jayden’s hardened heart, but everything changed during that next conversation. Jayden finally admitted that he brought drugs to camp and they were getting in the way and he chose to surrender his life back to God. During our baptism celebration, one of Jayden’s friends got baptized and afterwards, Jayden ran into the water to give his friend a huge hug. I haven’t seen Jayden smile like that in forever. The best part of all is that Jayden has come back from camp a changed young man. He shows up every week to youth group with a smile and an excitement to grow his relationship with Jesus. His friends are holding him accountable and he’s drug free and pursuing Jesus. Everything changed at camp for Jayden!

Silvia is a mom in our ministry and she brings a van full of her daughters' high school teammates/friends who do not attend church to our youth group every single Wednesday night. These kids are inner-city urban students who often spend their days after school and in the summer at Silvia's house because their own homes are broken or unsafe. Silvia had it on her heart to bring all of these kids to summer camp, so we called this project "Silvia's 10.” With the help of Forest Home giving us a huge scholarship for inner city kids, along with Silvia raising money, and Purpose Church providing them scholarships, we were able to bring 8 students to summer camp (the other 2 were not available that week) who have never been to a camp before, nor the mountains. They all had an incredible time, and one student named Bladi got baptized in the lake at camp! This was all made possible with the financial help of Forest Home!

Josie is one of our 11th grade girls from the inner city, urban area of our church. She's been involved in our high school ministry since she was a freshmen, but struggled to connect with God as well as her fellow students. However, at Forest Home, we saw Josie's heart soften as she had opportunities to get away from her normal routine and make room to hear God's voice. The night of the worship experience, one of the other students in her Life Group offered to wash her feet. Josie saw that as an act of deep service and love, and made a decision to recommit her life to Jesus and get baptized in the Forest Home lake. Josie has continued seeking God in her faith journey, and we are excited to keep watching the Lord grow her!

During one of the games, our team was getting destroyed and Lewis (junior high student) was pretty sad because he had gone last for us in the relay race so he felt like it was his fault we lost. He was super down and extremely bummed but 5 of the 8th grade boys had walked over to him afterwards and cheered him on, told him he did a great job, and they just hung out with him for a good while afterwards and he just had the biggest smile ever after all that. They loved on him and just offered him some words of encouragement. It was really cool to see.

After we did the worship stations, all of my girls that I had with me wrote a "but God" testimony and three of them shared with the group when we got back to the cabin. They had been disrespectful to me and the other leader and to each other the whole week—and then everything changed. During cabin time, the girls started being vulnerable and sharing their “but God” stories. One girls talked about how she had been doubting her faith “but God” showed up at camp and transformed her mind. Another girl who has a hard family life and battles with insecurity shared how she was able to find her worth in Jesus. Lastly, a girl who begged to go home since the first hour at camp shared how she was influenced by the stories her group was sharing and decided that night she wanted to take God seriously and make Him a priority in her life. After that cabin time, the dynamic shifted. They had gained respect for each other!