The following is an essay our friend Jen wrote after attending camp over the summer:
Do you know what a lukewarm Christian is? A lukewarm Christian is someone who isn’t as faithful in Christ as one should be but still believes in the religion. Before Summer ’24, I used to be one. Now that the summer is over, I see changes and differences in myself that I thought weren’t ever possible all because of Castaway Young Life camp.
It all started when Annika, also known as my leader at Young Life, came up to me and my group of friends asking us to go to camp this summer. At first, I was hesitant and worried I couldn’t afford camp, however, I still really wanted to get to know God more. Some time went on and I still couldn’t make up all of the money to go. A few weeks before camp, my leader Annika contacted me and my best friend Juliana letting me know that the rest of expenses had been paid for. I was honestly never more excited than I was at that moment I heard the news. I prayed to God the night before we left and just told him how thankful I was for him making it happen and helping me get the chance to learn of what the true value and meaning of being a Christian truly is.
The fourteen-hour car ride felt like the longest ever as we passed many states and cities and saw many kinds of landscapes. I was just looking out the window and thinking to myself that I can’t wait to arrive. As we finally got there, there was a group welcoming us with loud music and cheers as we got off the van and walked to our cabins. We had a cabin shared with girls from Sparta and we all grew close throughout the week. We did challenges as a team and so many fun things where we got to grow together like an obstacle course, silent disco, Hawaiian party on the beach, a big birthday bash, and more. However, we grew with each other on a whole different level than just fun. We grew closer and closer together though every meeting with our leaders, through every brave story told, every song that we locked arms with and sang together in harmony, and every night in cabin time that we bawled our eyes out to one another and just felt safe with each other. One event that we did that changed my whole life was on the last night; we were given a crystal cross, and all told to find a place to just sit in straight silence and talk to God about anything we want to – family problems, relationship problems, school issues and just the problems of being a teenager. Content is the only way to explain how I was feeling in that moment, just so happy I got to experience such an eye-opening moment and so happy I talked to God about my past, my present, and my future, and being able to fully believe in Christ. I went to bed that night knowing I’m good enough and that I’m the person I’ve always wanted to be.
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