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10th October 2011 by MORE

At the end of last year nothing could have prepared me for what God had in store for my life. God had graciously laid upon my heart that I should throw away all my previous plans into the wind and to head on down south to the School for Youth Leadership. So after a very long conversation with my parents and one phone call to the Directors it was decided. I was heading to the school for some of the most amazing adventures of my life.

Halfway through my life-altering experience, the school packed me up and sent me on a practical adventure where, in my case, I was sent to Camp Gifford, U.S.A.

In all honesty, no matter how many people tell you what to expect, see and do at camp, you still find yourself “winging it”.

I spent 11 weeks in America: two weeks of vigorous training, seven weeks of being a female counsellor (one of which where I was lead female counsellor), and two weeks of volunteering in the kitchen.

Camp is an experience on its own, from all the American accents to the food you eat, right up to the sun setting at 9:30pm at night. But most of all the kids; they were fantastic. Each child came to camp with one thought on their mind and that was, “this week is going to be the best of their life” and that’s where I come in. 

It was my job to make sure they had fun; like Camp was their second home. But most importantly, I wanted to give them opportunity to know Christ. Giving them that opportunity to discover how Christ is with us all the time, every second of the day, was mind boggling for them as a lot of the kids came from disadvantaged homes. Giving them this chance to learn to speak and grow with him was just amazing. Every child had a different experience and a different question and thankfully that’s where most of my skills from the School for Youth Leadership came in handy. Summer camps gave me a chance to exercise what I was taught from God, as well as my daily devotions which were all based around Romans 12:1-3 (The Message).

“So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.”

God certainly gave me the opportunity and I feel blessed.

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