Today started off as a fairly ordinary camp day, until the unforeseen had happened. We started off with our team devotional led by Krista in Mark 10:42-45. We were reminded of the humility of Christ and how we must reflect His serving heart. With this in mind, we welcomed the campers and went to teach classes.

For my advanced English class, I was able to develop my own lesson. Students were given a song lyric sheet with parts of the lyrics missing. They would listen to the song being played and identify the missing lyrics. After that, we discussed as a class the interpretation and the message of each song. This trained the students in both listening and comprehension skills. I was glad to hear that my students wanted to do this activity again.

The students then went to worship and we sang. Compared to Day 1, the students were singing loudly without hesitation. Following, Dillon gave a thoughtful message from James 2:14-23. While preaching, he had volunteers come up to illustrate the promise God had made for Abraham and displayed the challenges of true faith. Finally, he challenged us to discern whether our faith is genuine or not.

Now comes the part of the day I was most encouraged by. We divided up into small groups to discuss what the students took from Dillon’s message. At first, it seemed like the usual discussion. However, the students were all intrigued by verse 19 from James 2. “Even the demons believe – and shudder!” Then a student asked us if demons are capable of believing, why would they not be able to be saved? We explained that angels and demons are different from humanity.

From this, the students became more interested in the things unseen and a barrage of questions were asked. Questions such as, “Why do all humans first choose evil over good?” and, “Is Satan the ruler of hell?” At this point, I could not believe what was happening in this small group. I expected an ordinary small group discussion on an ordinary camp day. Yet, what we got was students who finally opened up to asking questions that were stored deep in their minds.

We first went over the Fall in Genesis and explained how good was tainted by evil, all  because of the choice humanity has made. Then, we went over to Job to show that Satan is under God’s sovereign rule. And to answer one of their questions, we went to Revelation to see Jesus’s victory as Satan is thrown into the Lake of Fire. This conversation was so rich that it carried over to lunch. By answering each of students’ questions, we were able to illustrate human depravity, God’s sovereign grace, and how this develops into true faith. The Gospel was proclaimed today by God’s good work.

As the conversation came to a close, we bonded with the campers over a game of soccer and capture the flag. The students ran in God’s creation as fellowship was taking place. We hoped as we played games that our prayer was being answered: that every camper feels welcome and experiences the love of Christ. What we do know is this: God is good and His Gospel was heard today.

Please pray for God to continue being present with us and the campers and for more opportunities to be bold and share the Gospel.  Pray that our students would be more open during their small groups.  As we near the end of the week, pray for energy to be enthusiastic and loving to these kids and to be always reminded of our dependence on God.

Thanks so much for all your support and prayers!