Stories from camp. Or, why I love youth camp even more now that I'm an adult.

I love camp. I seriously think I love youth camp more now that I'm an adult than I did when I was actually a youth. I spent last week in the Alpes with a whole bunch of middle schoolers for iccp's second youth winter camp. Last year we had 10 students go to camp with us, this year we took 31. That's right, we tripled our camp this year. Triple the number of kids learning about Jesus for a week, triple the exhaustion for us leaders, and triple the awesomeness.

I love all the friendships and fun and laughter that happen at camp. And I really love watching God work in the lives of these kids while we're together for a week. I love watching them grow and watching them navigate difficult situations. I love seeing how God can take someone's inner-garbage and turn it into a growing experience and a chance to receive His grace.

Let me tell you one story of how God worked this week. One girl came to camp with a very hard exterior, and we watched as God gently peeled away that hard shell over the course of the week. One day she had an emotional breakdown, and confessed to me how little everyone thinks of her and how unloved she feels. God gave me the opportunity to speak Truth into her. As I told her that she was a daughter of God, that she was unconditionally loved, that she has value because God says she has value, that she was specially made, that she was bought with a price, I watched her heart soak up Truth. I watched her experience God's real love in that moment and over the last few days of camp, and she was a different girl when we left camp at the end of the week.

This is one story, one life. There are 30 more lives that experienced the love of Christ that week. 31 lives that are in process, like we all are. 31 people that are desperately loved by our God.

Thanks for praying, friends. Let's keep praying for these 31 precious lives.


There are lots of amazing pictures from camp. Check them out here.