I
want to start by saying, THANK YOU FOR THE PRAYERS! We FELT and saw them. Camp
starts long beforehand because we work with the kids for long periods of time
before taking them to "the best weekend of their lives". I had been working with 4 girls for a while
and 3 other girls more recently. We were praying to take 20 right hearts to
camp, from kids to "potential leaders". The last days before camp were so hard. One of our leaders (a young guy training for a
year now) took a spiritual detour 3 days before camp. It hit Wilson and me so
hard to know he wouldn’t be coming and because of his detour, one of the girls
might not either. My list of 10 girls
who said they would go to camp went down to 2. One day before leaving all I did
was pray because I didn´t want to doubt that God had complete control, or that
this was because of something I did. In
moments like those our only comfort was God, and we took refuge in the storm.
I
have been working as a receptionist in Gran Colombia Suites for a little over a
month, and every day when I came to work I passed by a candy "cart"
where a mom and her daughter work selling small edibles under an umbrella from
early morning until 6pm every day. Once the first week of training was over in
my new job I stopped bringing food from my home and that gave me an opportunity
to buy from them chips everyday in hopes to make friends with the girl. After a
few days of only buying from them I had the courage to make small talk and ask
their names: Gloria (mom) and Ana Maria (her daughter). After that we talked briefly
every day when I stopped by, and Ana Maria was always so shy. 5 days before
camp, I worked up the courage to ask her to come with us, I felt so nervous, to
find out that while we were going to be at camp, they were leaving for a family
trip (their 1 vacation for the entire year) and so Ana Maria couldn’t go. I
left the form for camp with them anyway and a YL brochure. I thought it´s too soon for them to trust a stranger
in the street with their 14year old daughter and planned to keep trying
after camp to get her to come to our Saturday meetings and so next year she
would go. One day before camp Ana Maria calls me, and tells me she is going, and
the good news didn´t stop there, they also wanted her 15yr old cousin to go,
and that´s how Josselin came to camp! On Wednesday night I had a living room
full of kids on mattresses on the floor because we were going to leave at 6am
next morning. Coming back from work and a rollercoaster of emotions, this was a
moment that I loved. That night another kid canceled, but two others jumped in.
For us they were little miracles. At 5:30am we were up and ready to go, we had
a group of 3 leaders, 3 kids who went as work crew (to serve and train to be future
leaders) and 12 campers. Thanks to the donations we were able to treat them to
lunch on the way and visit Pailon del Diablo in Baños, and what a fun
experience it was for everyone to bond before camp started.
On our first night
in camp everyone had a blast and once again I almost cried... because I was
reminded of God´s love through my girls. There was a competition of girls vs.
guys with lots of different fun games, but each time a team lost, their leaders
would get bathed in flour, eggs, water and foam. I was up to be sacrificed
twice, but right before it happened there was an announcement that 1 girl could
take my place instead. Both of those times, someone took my place I became overwhelmed
with emotions knowing that Jesus did the same, only a lot worse. The girls lost
overall that night and all the female leaders were sacrificed in the end, but
going to sleep at 2am after a long shower, I was still pretty joyful of how it
all had happened.
On our second night the speaker had already spoken about sin,
so cabin time with my girls was special. They were beginning to open up and
getting to know each other more, especially with Josselyn who was completely
new. The third night was everything; it was the most important 15 minutes of
their lives. They had heard the salvation message and now it was 15 minutes of
complete silence in a chair outside overlooking the sky. As I sat there close
to them in my own chair, my began to beg God to please allow them to feel His presence,
that He is real and wants to be a part of their lives. It rained on us but we
moved under a roof and we finished our 15 minutes there. We all went to cabin
time again, where the leaders asked what decision their kids had made in those
15 mins. All my girls were crying and told me how they had used their 15mins to
talk to God. Some asking why their lives were full of problems and also
thanking Him. Then I asked what was their decision and all four of them want to
experience a real relationship with the living God. Every call, every time
spent alone with each of them through activities in camp and before it were for
this moment exactly. Some of them thought they "knew" God from their Catholic
upbringing, so when they said "I felt something I have never felt before
in my 15 mins" I just lost it and cried with them. What a beautiful experience, I know the work
has just begun. Last night they came home and none of their problems have changed;
only they have internally. As new believers, they won’t know how to explain
their new found faith just yet, so please pray that God would keep them from
doubts and temptations. Please pray that
their hearts would be open to coming to bible study and especially that their
parents will allow them to. Also pray for leadership, that our hearts may never
lose strength and the desire to serve and follow Jesus with our hearts and not
our minds, with our ears and not our mouths. Thanks to all your support, we
have new members in the family of Christ!!
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