Week 1 of Training

Man- so long without having the internet on my computer and being able to just post my thoughts and experiences. I have no idea how I am going to begin except to try and summarize the weeks I have been at camp. So, here goes nothing to throw out there what I learned/experienced the first week of camp. It started the day I arrived, May 20th. I checked in and realized that I didn’t know any one, or where to go, or what I was really getting myself into. There was a bit of panic as some answers were brought to my attention: there were like 17 leaders in training, most of them had previously met at a leader’s retreat, beside the retreat many of them seemed to have connections to each other, and I was the second oldest. “God, what in the world is going on? Am I really suppose to be here?”. Thnx to some awesome prayer warrior friends, words of encouragement where texted my way and Monday morning came with a breath of fresh air, a wave a determination, the sense that it wasn’t going to be easy but that I was exactly where I needed to be. It was a long day – 5 hours of worship followed by the phenomenal movie/documentary Finger of God (about a guy who kind of doubted that the Holy Spirit still worked today, and then went around to different cities praying for healings and saw people healed). I was still shook up as unfinished business from my 11 month trip began to surface; but again, my friends were there with words of encouragement and challenges that I needed to hear. As God would have it, two girls in my room needed prayer in the middle of the night for sleep: as if God was reminding me that I had a place on this team. Tuesday night I learned that the way we view our mothers effects the way we view the Holy Spirit, the way we view our earthly father(s) effects the way we view God and the way we view our friends/siblings effects the way we view Jesus. Wednesday we started to do some ministry planning and holy moley was that like a crash course. Planning in a group of 9 people was one of the hardest things I have ever done; ideas flying around, getting to know personalities, limited internet resources, miscommunications and uncertainties galore! As I was falling asleep/praying- I got a picture of a man covered in tattoos (it’s important later) Friday we got to learn how to restrain a child who is going out of control – that was fun! And we learned our model of care: Positive Peer Culture. Then we watched Furious Love, done by the same people who did Finger of God. This time the movie is about God’s love over coming darkness and the demonic in the states and abroad. And THEN came the big whopper of a day. The treasure hunt. What does this even mean? Well that is a good question. We loaded the vans and started to drive (after a coffee stop!!) and then began to pray for pictures, words, etc from God. We wrote them down and stopped at Lord’s Park in Elgin. The group I was in got pictures of kids at a park before we even knew where we were going – pretty groovy! About ten minutes before we leave there are a few dads that come to the park with their children and I find myself wanting to go talk to the one dad, ask him how I can be praying for him and give him a note that had been previously written. I talk to him briefly and then we head home after a great day of just loving on parents and their children. As I journal that night I remember that the dad in the park I went up to was covered in tattoos  Coincidence? I think no – thank you God for reminding me that I do hear from you!