hume SD week four.

written Friday, July 9, 2010.our God is so great to us. i am blown away at what He did at camp this week. so many lives were changed and transformed. i love building relationships with the campers and seeing where they are at with God.

we had about 400 junior highers this week. juniors highers have so much joy and excitement. they are like dry sponges ready to soak up God's word. i especially love junior high camp because it is where i started to realize what being a Christ follower is all about. being a christian is not simply doing good things, but it an ever growing relationship with the God who is full of mercy, love and blessings. this time was when i started to really dive into God's Word. it was so cool to talk with some of our guys and lead them through a quiet time, a personal time of connection with our Savior.
i met a couple of guys who go to a christian school. i have a huge heart for christian school students, i really enjoyed my time at redwood. we talked for hours about what God did and was doing in their lives. i can't wait to see how God will use these new found friendships.
decision night was incredible. its always such an emotional time for me when i see so many decisions being made for Christ. it's definitely the highlight of the week.looking back over these week, God has worked in my own life. i have really started to live out our theme: Excusez Mwa? its all about putting yourself aside and taking up the needs of others and therefore glorifying christ. sounds simple, but to live it out is a lifelong task. the other main lesson that God taught me through camp is being lead by His Spirit. if i feel Him moving me to talk to someone or do something, i need to faithfully follow. i may not always see the overall purpose but all i need to know is that i need to be obedient to my Creator. again, sounds easy and so churchy but to fully live this out takes steps of boldness and risks.

i love our God who is so loving, and whose mercies are renewed every morning. i love our God who works in the hearts of junior highers and i love how the body of Christ is connected. we need to support each other and bring His love to all that we meet.God, You Reign.

hume SD week three.

written Saturday, July 3, 2010.

praise God from whom all blessing flow! what a blessed week this was. we had over 600 high school students this week. they all came, like me, to learn and grown in the God who created and cares for them. i really miss a lot of the students, especially the guys from our building.
it was such a great experience to pray with some of the guys. i made a lot of new friendships. nothings brings me greater joy at hume sd than praying and worshiping God with these students. i am going to stay in contact with many of them through facebook, thank you technology. some of the guys and i wanted to start a thread and share what God is teaching us through the reading of His Word. i hope that God uses this to grow all of us.
God has blessed me this last week with lots of community. i love how the church supports each other and can carry each other's burdens. God did not create us to be a solitary people but a relational one; why not take advantage of that by showing His love to all that we meet.

there were many great conversations this week. it was awesome to hear where campers were at with God and what they were learning this week. one of our staff shared how we wear these hume sd badges and this gives us this "in" to talk with them about where they are with God. no one asks why we care but they give us sincere, heartfelt answers. it is such a blessing.

so many of the students needed this week to get back on course with God; i can totally relate with them. this experience has taught me that our God is a God who provides and wants the best for us. its a great spiritual refreshment after a busy and chaotic year.

one of the highlights of my week is victory circle, where we gather outside and share the victories that Christ had this week. this entire week was cloudy and gloomy, but the last night when we gathered together and talked about what he has done, the sky cleared and we saw the glory of God, in the form of stars, shine through. it was one of those moments. it was so awesome to hear the students share a few words on how God worked. one that touched me was a girl who said that she was doubting where she was with God but after hearing how God was working in the lives of her peers, she believed in Him. i love community.

hume SD week two.

written Saturday, June 26, 2010.

week two is over already? it seemed like a yesterday, over 500 high schoolers joined our motley crew. they were so fun-loving, joy-seeking and even dare i say spunky individuals. i miss them already. we should be exhausted, we got about 5 hours of sleep a night this week but i am energized by this feeling of joy given to me from God. i like it.

rec this week was so crazy. let's be honest here: i really really dislike sports. i have nothing against them, its just God did not design my body to move like that. BUT i LOVE rec. its one of my favorite things. the best part of rec is how we can relate hitting mcdonald's play place spheres off of kids head with pool noodles to the spiritual warfare that is going around us, found in Ephesians 6. man, i love hume, a lot. to top rec off, we played glow-in-the-dark kajabe. it was insane.andrew and i had 3 floors of guys which was chaotic, crazy but oh so worth it. these guys as andrew puts it "were so diverse...in everything." i completely agree. some had no idea what this Christian thing was and some were searching God's direction in their lives. i think God worked throughout all the students lives no matter where they were in life. that's our God! i am blown away how he can work all angles and speak to every student no matter where they are at in life using the same words spoken by the same speaker.

on decision night, so many students came to Christ or rededicated themselves to Him, i can't really give a number. it brought me such joy to pray and talk with the students. i love talking with them, its one of my new passions in life. another found favorite is worshiping with them, lifting our hands to a God who reaches us, no matter where we are or who we are.

victory circle was last night. it is such a bittersweet feeling. camp is over and they are going back to a world which is not Christ-friendly, a place full of temptations and selfishness. but at the same time, to hear what they learned and gained from this week and the things that God did in their lives brings me the best kind of joy. they were asked to sum up their camp experience in a few words. "never be the same" "life-changing experience" "I am found" were the ones that stuck out and gave me through Holy Spirit chills, which i love.

hume SD week one.

written Friday, June 18, 2010.

we just finished our first week of camp down here in point loma. its hume lake meets the beach meets the spectacular city of san diego. this is the first time in a few weeks where i've had time to sit and be still. as I am typing, i can hear the crashing of the waves right outside my dorm. God is good.finals were last week ago, in fact, one week from today i was smashing equations together trying to figure out my physics final. i booked it over from finals to point loma narzarene university where hume sd resides. that weekend we practiced the opener. the song has yet to leave my head. the campers arrived and the week hit off with the opener and theme: excusez mwa?

the theme is based off of II corinthians 5:14-15 which says: "for Christ's love compels us, for we are convinced that one died for all therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and was raised again." our culture today is so self centered, this week we are learning how we need to put Christ and others before ourselves. this sounds so simple and basic but takes a lifetime of learning. we are learning to excuse ourselves for the sake of others.

i am on activities and rec staff. this job is one of the best i've had. i mean, who wouldn't want to run rec games which involve shooting tenis balls at students or playing kajabe kan kan. then we hang out with the students while biking, surfing, kayaking, playing spicy uno and carpet ball, and creating a custom hume sd hat. one of my favorite things about rec is how we can relate being thrown into a trash can or being sprayed with colored water to our spiritual lives. i love how hume brings everything, i mean everything back to the the relationship we have with our Savior. i've gotten to know a lot of the students. my great friend and roomate, andrew ruiz, is a lead and i've gotten to talk with the students with him and get to know them. this week we had a floor of junior highers; they were awesome and i miss them already. so many kids joined the family of Christ this week and it brought me so much joy to pray with them and with their counselors. the students said so many hilarious things yet they learned so much about the living God. Patch wanted to "become a better man of God" and Erik realized that "love is not a feeling but an action" i've learned a lot from these guys; i loved their desire to learn more about Christ and instant friendship they gave our staff.
the halls are empty now. there are no cheers for o'cou tour or a la mode. there are no mustaches on the faces of cups and salt shakers. there are no students around wanting to play spicy uno.

don't worry, this will only last until sunday. we had 180 junior highers and next week there are 550 high schoolers. can i get an amen? i am so excited to see what God will do next week. praise be to God who works in the lives of not only students but in the lives of staff as well.