Thank you all so much for your prayers for our camp last week! I have had the priviledge of attending this camp for several years, starting when I was in high school as a camper and then the last three times as a counselor. It was started about 16 years ago by one of the men at my Bible school, The EI School of Biblical Training in Greenville, SC, who has a heart for young people to seek after the Lord and truly be totally His. It is a jam-packed week of solid Biblical teaching, community worship, and competitive team sports in the hot and humid South Carolina sun.
It was glorious to be able to sleep indoors and on a REAL mattress all week instead of like the week before at Training Camp (see my previous blog for those gritty details)! And all of the hot food and electricity and indoor plumbing…Wow. It felt like a luxurious retreat!
This year’s Totally His conference was the most fruitful I’ve ever seen (and that was just the fruit that we could see- only the Lord knows how He will continue to work in hearts and lives in the weeks and months and years to come)! God was moving in amazing ways among the student’s hearts. We had about 90 high schoolers present all week and saw about a dozen lives surrendered to the Lord, whether it was for the first time or as sincere re-dedications. It was beautiful to look around during the sessions and see 100+ young people worshiping the Lord in song, or listening intently to the speakers, searching their Bibles for a word from the Lord, or huddled around each other praying for each other, confessing sin and encouraging each other in Truth. Wednesday night was so moving that there was a celebration party after the evening session because two people got saved that night and the Joy of the Lord and His work was overflowing!
Who cares about evening curfew or silly things like SLEEP when lost sons and daughters have been brought Home?!?!?!? Rejoice!! Praise our glorious, gracious, pursuing Father!!!!!!
I was watching the sunset one night after sessions and just worshipping the Lord for His perfect timing, His way of drawing our hearts to Himself and causing us to seek His face, when I suddenly realized that I would literally not be where I am today if it was not for me attending one of these very conferences when I was about 16. I vividly remember attending this camp as a highschooler and hearing the passion for Jesus in the voices of the teachers, finally truly understanding what it meant to die to self and to live in Christ, and realizing that I could have a relationship with God as a person, not just a concept or an ambition.
God used this camp to awaken the cry in my heart to know Him in a deeper way back in 2008, which led me not only to a surrender of my heart to Him but also in attending this same Bible school as a student in 2012, which led to me knowing and trusting and loving His perfect and faithful hand, which, because I know that He is absolutely good and absolutely faithful and that He loves me with an unfathomable love, is why I am now able to trust His leading in pursuing this crazy year-long journey now in 2016.
Don’t ever underestimate the lasting work and higher scheme of what God is doing when He is moving hearts towards Him. Praise God His ways are higher than mine!
Please remember these campers in your prayers, that these seeds God has sown would not be uprooted or scattered by the Evil One, but that these teenagers would purpose in their hearts to seek after the One True God in their daily lives and to live in an attitude of continual surrender to Christ.
WR update for me: I am now about 76% funded!!!! I am blown away at the generosity of your hearts and the love of our Father. This whole concept of having so much money to raise has been a huge trial for me from the beginning, just the constant temptation to doubt God’s calling and, by not trusting Him, His ability to provide through His means and timing. I am so humbled in His faithfulness and your generosity. Thank you all for your continual financial, emotional, and prayerful support!
I have now met all of my financial goals except the very last one, which is that the total amount ($17,000-some odd number) be fully met by the end of November 2016, when I will have already been overseas for a few months. I am trusting that the Lord will go ahead and bring in the full amount before I even leave at the beginning of August. Please continue to join with me in prayer for His provision, and also for wisdom in how I will be spending my time as I only have a few short weeks left at home!
**I am tentatively planning on having a get-together night in Greenville later in July to be able to share my story (HIS story!), maybe do a fundraiser dinner and/or sell some homemade cookies, and give everyone a hug before I leave! Stay tuned for more details!**
