We have come to share God’s love here, and the devil is not happy about it. Many of us are extremely tired and stressed after only a few days of camp. Now, you might say that is “normal”, but what is “normal”? Will we choose to live by heavenly standards or earthly ones?
We talked about feeling discouraged, and some of the things we are struggling with in our groups. Many of the kids have been rebellious, distracted, unwilling to engage in the games or lessons. Even though these kids have reasons to all of these things, we decided to not allow it to steal the message and the love that we have for them.
We can choose to accept this as “normal” or we can acknowledge that there is more going on here than what we see. We know that there is a battle raging in the spiritual realm, and we are part of it. We are going on the offensive and taking back land and people for God’s kingdom, and the devil will do whatever he can to stop us.
We all seemed to be affected by this in some way, so we decided to gather a little earlier this morning and pray before we start the day. We prayed against distractions, rebellion, fear and seclusion. We prayed for new energy and screamed for Jesus, choosing to go above the fatigue and discouragement and claim the enthusiasm and patience that we needed for this day.
Last night, God really spoke to me about why I was so discouraged. I did not know how to be an authority over these kids without dominating them. I yelled at them to be quiet, or to come back to the group, or to sit down. When they tried to run off, I grabbed them by the arm and drug them back. When they started fighting, I pulled them apart and separated them. I was going crazy trying to “survive” the day.
Now, I promise that all of that sounds worse and more dramatic than it really was, but it still wasn’t showing them love. I didn’t want to have to be mean. I wanted them to like me and know that I love them, but I didn’t know how to do that. The only way I knew how to maintain control was through aggression. I needed help, and God gave me the answer I was looking for.
I knew that I had to humble myself before these kids to regain their trust and respect. When the kids gathered around this morning, I called them all in close and apologized for not being nice yesterday. I told them that it was not okay, and that I was sorry. Then I asked them to forgive me. Each one of them said they forgive me, and then some of them apologized for not being nice to me too. We all agreed to be nice to each other and to hold each other accountable.
That little conversation changed everything. The kids were great today. They still got distracted and didn’t always cooperate, but when I asked them to come or to be quiet or to listen, they did it. It was great. Later in our lesson, we were talking about problems that we have that we can pray about. Some of the kids began to open up and share more.
About half of the kids have lost at least one parent. They talked about needing food, and warm clothes, and shoes. We talked about how we can pray to God about these things and some of the ways God might provide them. It was great to get a little deeper with these kids and get to know them better. Treating them with respect and showing genuine interest in their lives open a new door of trust between us.
I told God this morning that He was going to have to teach me how to lead out of humility and love, because I did not know how. He was faithful to answer that prayer. He showed me how to be humble and admit my weaknesses. He taught me how to sit with the kids at their own level and look each one in the eye and ask them questions about themselves. He helped me to bring them back to the group with a hug instead of a strong arm. He gave me the gentleness to encourage them with a pat on the back.
I saw six completely new people in that class today, and one of them was me. I turned that class over to the Lord, and He redeemed it and made it great. Praise God, our Redeemer and our Friend. We didn’t finish the entire lesson as planned today, but these kids and me learned some valuable lessons about forgiveness, God’s love, and how to love each other. I think that’s pretty amazing stuff.
