There are only two paths...

It has been a whirlwind of a week!

I was so wonderfully encouraged last weekend by the visit of one of my best friends, Ms. Anna Wadsworth. She drove all the way to see me, through all the obstacles- the 300 mile distance, my unclear directions, her ADD and the lack of Diamond Shamrock gas stations in the route from my house to CS!
She taught me how to make an awesome garden casserole, as well as some tasty baked sandwiches! WHOOP! I'm getting domesticated!
My future husband is going to appreciate it :D hehehe

Last week was week one of our VBS, which we call Summer Camp. We have our Summer Camp at the local Boys and Girls Club, only a few blocks away from the church. This is our 4th year to have Summer Camp at the BGC. It is truly amazing to see how the Lord has worked through this non-traditional way of doing VBS.

***A special insight, when I did this Children's Ministry Internship for the first time 4 years ago, this particular idea, taking the message of the Gospel out into the community, ministering to kids outside the walls of the church, changed my life forever! It honestly made such a HUGE impact on me that I have never been the same since. After that summer I knew that I wanted to minister to kids, out in the community, and be a light into the lives of kids who live in a lot of darkness. The next semester of college I changed my major to Sociology, without ever having taken a class or really even knowing anything about what I was getting into, after much prayer of course. I took the giant leap of faith into something I could not deny my passion for. Kids and Jesus... And that was only the beginning. It was a semester later that the Lord brought me Living Hope, and about a year after that He brought me the Children's Ministry at Living Hope. Both of which He used to DRASTICALLY change my life!!! And just think... all stemming from a strange idea to have VBS out in the community rather than inside the church... how compelling!
WOW! I had forgotten about all that until I just wrote it... I had almost forgotten how I got to where I am today. Thank you Lord for reminding me of how faithful you are. You are so amazing and you do truly equip the called!

So back to my recap:

This year it was decided to have two weeks of camp, one for 1st -3rd and the other 4th-6th.

Week 1 of Summer Camp was really great!

The theme is Soles for Jesus and that we only have two paths to walk on.
The path of SIN, which we are all born on, or the path of TRUSTING IN JESUS, which we choose to walk on by believing in the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The numbers were just right to where leaders were able to really connect with the kids more deeply. It allowed for genuine conversations about the truths presented. It was extremely gospel centered! There is not a lot of frill or hype about a special decor, it is basically just an amazing message presented in an extremely practical and engaging way.
There were several kids who admitted that they had never heard truth like what they heard that week. They had never heard about who Jesus really was or about sin.

Just think, even in a small town of about 10,000, maybe a few 1000 more if you include the surrounding area, there are still people who have not heard the gospel!!!
For being a christian dominated area, where there are about 25 Christ affiliated churches, there are too many people who haven't heard truth, even if that means a few 1st-3rd graders.

When you think about it, if those kids haven't heard about it, then that means they are not being taught at home. And if they are not being taught at home then their parents must not know. And if the parents do not know, then somewhere within this "christian area" there is a lack of information being exchanged.

That should bring conviction... if it doesn't, either you're too prideful for what you think you're already doing or you just don't get the urgency of the message of Christ.
I know it gave me a chill just thinking about how lazy and self centered that must make me!

On the last night, the families of the kids were able to come and share the Summer Camp experience and hear what their kids had heard and get a glimpse of the message of Christ.
Our prayer is that through this, through the follow-up that will happen after camp, and through us having open arms and open hearts, the people will come to know the Lord in a personal, intimate way.

It was exhausting... four days of work plus four nights of camp until 8:30 makes for some long days.
It was also worth it.
Praise the Lord for his rest and renewal this weekend.

I feel like I am ready to march into another week of Summer Camp and just life in general!

As I do, I have to remember, there are only two paths...

... which one am I going to choose to walk on?