Summer Camp

The last 2 weeks of June we hosted junior and senior camps at a local campground in Quisqueya.  We had 18 kids the first week and 20 teens the second. The campers came from 3 groups: our church in the batey, another local Baptist church (Iglesia Bautista Evangelica en Ramon Santana - IBERS), & Josiah’s House. 

One of my favorite parts of both weeks was our “quiet time” each morning. For a while now, these kids have heard us talk about having a quiet time reading the Bible and talking with God but didn’t really know what that looks like, never having seen a real-life example. What a privilege it was to take a few minutes to explain in more detail what a quiet time is and to see them sitting on their beds reading the Word!

Another highlight was, of course, the teaching of God’s Word. This year's theme was “Fishing with Jesus,” and the name of Jesus was truly exalted as our co-laborers from IBERS, Rachel and Ruth, taught 6 excellent lessons on His majesty and uniqueness. Every evening, Michael preached on the idea of following and obeying Jesus using the story of Jesus calling of Peter from Luke 5.

I think my favorite time, however, was the lesson response time during teen camp. After each lesson, we divided into 3 groups to discuss what we just learned. The first day, the concept of discussion seemed a bit foreign to most - few campers responded and those that did gave superficial “churchy” answers; but by the third and fourth days, I saw my group begin to open up and become more transparent, allowing us to discuss some of the challenges and struggles that keep us from following Jesus with our whole hearts. I was so encouraged to hear several of the believers share things that they want to change in their walks with God and areas in which they want to grow.

The two weeks of camp were definitely great and there were so many blessings for which to thank the Lord, but I wouldn't be giving you a true picture if I didn't share the fact that there were a lot of hard things too. From the "little" struggles like dealing with discipline issues to the larger distractions like losing power every night just when chapel was supposed to start or (once the power was working again) being attacked by a bazillion mosquitoes during the preaching, the enemy did his best to keep our focus off of the Main Thing. The hardest thing of all, however, was watching several teenagers admit that they do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, hear the Gospel very clearly presented multiple times, and still say at the end of the week "not yet." Please join us in prayer that God will continue to be gracious to these teens and once again mercifully speak to them and draw them to Himself.

    It’s been one month since I arrived back in the Dominican Republic.  As I begin my 2nd year of “full-time ministry” here, I find myself looking backward and forward at the same time - reflecting on God’s working last year and planning for the current year.

   Last year was a year of many struggles through which I learned a lot about myself, the ministry, and God.  It was also a year full of great blessing, not the least of which was seeing several people come to Christ in the last few months!

    I’ve been trying to think of how to sum the year up.  I guess I would say that I was reminded in a million ways (little and big) that “God is God.”  Really profound, right?  But if you stop and think about it, is there a better way to describe Him and the way He works?  I could spend hours talking about His different character qualities and the way they were manifested in things He did.  The phrase "God is God" seems to sum it all up: He is God and I am not.  His ways are different than mine…much higher.  Just when I think I start to understand Him and the way He works, He surprises me both by what I read in the Scriptures and how I see Him working in life.  Sometimes the best way to describe His working is just simply by saying that God was being God.

    As I plan for 2017, I want to strive to be more conscious of this fact (that “God is God”).  What does that look like? Well, for me that means focusing on 4 main areas.

      1) Prayer: Leaving my own wisdom and methods behind and more fervently
          seeking God’s wisdom through prayer - living the reality that I can
          neither live nor minister without Him.  

      2) Time in the Word: Being reminded daily of how unfathomable God is
          through His revelation of Himself in the Bible - not by spending more
          time reading it but by spending my time reading it more wisely,
          purposing in my heart to seek His.

      3) Fasting: Setting aside days for fasting to intentionally combat my own
          pride and to keep me from forgetting my sinfulness, my frailty, my need
          for God.   

      4) Gratitude: Being more observant of God's working in everyday life and
          being more intentional about thanking Him for it.

    Why am I sharing all this?   Well, for starters I want to be transparent.  God made us to be relational and to learn from each other.  I believe transparency really aids that.  I hope that my thoughts here will encourage you to seek Him more this year also.  But also, I share this because I want you to see where I need prayer.  It’s been said that when you sit down to pray for a fellow servant of Christ, you should pray for the things you need that day.  I think if we are honest, most of us could stand to work on these areas.  These are the areas I will be praying for many of my friends and family for this year.  Please pray for me and, if you share your comments, I'd love to pray for you too.