Debut album coming soon...
I love summer time in Michigan. Some of my favorite pastimes include time at the lake, taking a spin on a SeaDoo, grilling up Texas Brisket bratwurst, and chucking the football around on the beach pretending that I could have made it into the NFL.
Although these are clearly Pure Michigan moments, none of them quite match the slice of heaven moments that I experienced at Timber Wolf Lake Young Life Camp where I worked for three weeks as the Work Crew Coordinator, and then for another week when I attended camp as a leader with Kentwood Young Life Kids.
During my first stint at camp as the Work Crew Coordinator for Session 1, I served alongside 16 other staff members from 8 different states as well as 60 high school aged kids who volunteered to work at camp for free in order to serve others and to grow in their own faith. It was hard work with long days and late nights. One of my favorite parts of this assignment was when the camp staff that worked behind the scenes would stop working for about 15 minutes to tune in to a livestream of the club room. On the last day of camp, there was a final club where campers were given the opportunity to stand up and profess that they were starting a new life in Christ. In our three weeks of camp, we witnessed 319 campers bravely stand up and proclaim that God had met them at camp. It was beautiful and reminded us that the hard work was worth it! The hard work was changing us too. We were becoming more like the creation God had intended us to be. It was a privilege to live in such a community. Iron sharpening iron.
A couple weeks later, I found myself on the other side of camp. I was there as a leader with my East Kentwood friends and my co-leader and friend Chris. We had pounded the pavement all year to bring kids to camp, and we ended up with eight of our friends heading up to Timber Wolf Lake with us. We had a great time! We played basketball, shot some pool, swam (a lot), ziplined, and tossed the football around to name just a few things!! I’d love to talk more about the entire camp experience, but there is one story that I need to share…
One of my high school friends was supposed to join us for Fall Weekend back in November. Unfortunately, just days before we were to embark north to camp, he was unable to join us. I was pretty devastated that he wasn’t about to come. I truly felt he needed to come to camp and hear the gospel without the many distractions of back home. Fall Weekend was not in the plans, but 7 months later he found himself heading to camp. I had no idea what the Lord was going to do in his life over the week, but I was hopeful that the gospel might be received. During our first club talk, our camp speaker Greg read John 3 which talks about Jesus' interaction with Nicodemus and where we get the famous and popular scripture of John 3:16. The one you see behind the field goal posts at the Super Bowl. During the talk, I glanced over towards this specific camper. He looked very disinterested and even had his head down most of the time. It was discouraging.
After club, we headed to cabin time and it was there that after about 15 minutes my friend finally joined the conversation. He asked a question that I don’t know if I have ever been asked during a cabin time. He asked, "How can I be born again?" I still can't shake that question from my brain even a week later. Without sharing too many details… this young man’s life is full of pain and brokenness. Some of it is self-inflicted, but mostly it is caused by adults who haven't been there for him and who have made poor decisions. The heartbreaking consequences from their choices have been passed down into his life. In that moment, I could feel the heaviness of his heart that was internally crying out, "I can't go on like this, a change needs to be made."
Later on in the week, he and I had a “1 on 1”. (Our goal is that every kid at camp has an individual conversation with a leader, and it’s one of the most powerful things that happens at camp.) We talked about what was going well back home, not well, how his relationships with mom/dad/siblings are, and what his relationship with God was like or if there is one. We talked for probably 30 minutes or so. We talked about the messiness of life, some of the pain he has been through, and so much more. I could tell he was at a breaking point in the conversation so I asked him, "Do you want to have a relationship with Jesus?" With tears in his eyes, he put his head down and mustered a "Yes". From there we prayed together and I told him that Jesus was with him and for him. I also told him that he now gets to choose a different trajectory for his life and his family's life because of this decision to accept Jesus into his heart. The reality is, the road for this young man moving forward is difficult, but because of Jesus, the ministry of Young Life, and generous donors that make camp trips like this possible, his road now has hope in it. Hope in a Savior named Jesus that has given him a new life.
I share this story because there are so many other kids at East Kentwood who are in desperate need of hearing the Good News of Jesus. They have been dealt a really tough hand at life. But through the ministry of Young Life, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the commitment of us as leaders to continue to show up and teach our friends about Jesus, change is happening. New rooms in heaven are being built and kids are being noticed and invited to be part of a community that they can truly grow in. My hope is that in your business of summer activities you would consider giving to the ministry of Kentwood Young Life. There are still more kids that we want to reach. We are trying to raise $10,000 to finish our fiscal year strong! Would you join our journey?
Upper Left: Kentwood Boys throw up the famous "YL"
Upper Middle: Selah LOVED camp. She still talks about the friends she made up there. I was super grateful that her and Annika got to spend a lot of time at camp with me.
Upper Right: My work crew friend Ryan was one of the cooks for 3 weeks. Check out that YL imprinted pancake. Compliments to the chef!
Bottom Left: This was a, "Man, I have a weird job", moment.
Bottom Middle: Work crew friends praying over cabins
Bottom Right: Our Kentwood friend Jalil pies Chris in the face!