Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Kid's Quest Camp

About a week ago, Sarah and I went to Camp Kid's Quest with our Church!  There were about 27 counselors and 120 kids at camp.  A couple of days before camp, the Kids Quest staff held a meeting for the counselors that were going.  We learned each counselor was in charge of around 4 to 6 kids.  I was picked to have a special group of boys for the week; whose names are Kevin, JJ, Javier, and Diego.  I was introduced to Tim Gardiner, the one who invited these boys from his public school.  It was truly a God thing that they were able to come.  Tim told me that these boys had a rough childhood and they didn't attend church on a regular basis.  He told me about their different personalities.  I was getting more and more excited to meet these boys and share the love of Christ with them!  We prayed that the Lord would rock their worlds!

Large group time!
                The first day of camp arrived!  It was a busy day of figuring out what was going on and meeting our campers!  My boys arrived and you could tell that this week was going to be fun!  They were full of energy, ready to do things!  While they went and put their bags down, I introduced myself to Diego's family, they brought all four of my boys. The parents didn't speak much English, but I let them know that I was going to take care of her boys and that they didn't have to worry about a thing.   Later that day, after setting up our cabin and eating dinner, we went to "Club"!  The message, funny skits, and worshiping took place here.  It was interesting to see how the boys reacted to worship.  At first, they were very timid and shy, not wanting to stand up and sing with everyone or do any of the motions.  During the second song, I encouraged them to stand up and sing so they stood up and tried to learn the motions.  By the end of the week, they were jumping up and down singing all the words and doing all the motions!

               The theme of the week was on how God has had a plan from the very beginning.  The first night we talked about the magnificent garden and how sin entered the world.  After every club, we had small group time.  We each led our groups in a discussion about the club's message, how the kids were doing and what they thought.  My group talked about the relationship Adam and Eve had with God and that sin broke that relationship.  I was blown away by how fast these boys absorbed and understood the message. The following messages were about Abraham and Isaac, the Israelites being saved from slavery, and the lost tribes.  Each message emphasized that God keeps His promises and that He was the only way the world could be saved.  I could see that the Lord was working on the hearts of my boys by their answers to the small group discussion questions, especially Javier.

Me and my boys!
                On the last night, the message was about Jesus and how God's plan has come together to save the world from their sin.  It was a powerful presentation of the gospel and made my kids start thinking and asking really good questions.  They asked how to get into heaven giving me "what if" scenarios such as, "what if a man pushes a lady out of the way from getting hit by a train, would the man go to heaven?"  We went through about 10 different scenarios before it clicked that Jesus is the only way for to get into heaven. They understood that by admitting you are a sinner, believing in Jesus Christ, and choosing to receive Jesus meant that your relationship with God is restored and you have eternal life.  Javier was excited to share that he had done this and that Jesus Christ was his Savior! I was super excited for him; we celebrated by doing a dance!  Diego and JJ were still taken back that the people in the scenarios didn't go to heaven and started to become distracted.  Kevin became quiet as he started to think about it really hard.  Later that night, we had a bonfire where kids could share their experiences of being at camp.  At the end, the host gave an invitation to all the kids to accept Jesus into their hearts by saying a simple prayer.  with everyone's eyes still close he asked everyone to raise their hands if they prayed that prayer.  At this moment, I had to see if any of my boys did; so I peeked and saw Diego's and Kevin's hands were up! PRIASE THE LORD, I thought to myself!  What an exciting way to end camp!