Camp Impact

I sent this information as an email to some ladies I did a Bible Study with this Spring, but thought I should go on and post it as a blog so the rest of you can see it too!

God has been doing some amazing things here in Shelbyville! This is just a small glimpse of it!

Last week, we went to camp with Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church. We had been planning for this trip since March and we were so excited to see what God was going to do through this trip in the lives of the students and the church as a whole! Little did we know what He had planned....

The night before Satan launched a full out attack. His goal was simply to destroy the joy that I had going into that week! My mind was confused and I was becoming angry over some things and I was literally to the point where I just did not want to go! But as I prayed for the situation my mood changed. I knew that God had given me this opportunity to go and minister to these students and I could not let it pass me by. So of course I went and God showed up in ways I never dreamed! (Just to give you some background...this is the church that my family and I were attending when I gave my life to Christ and when He called us to be a part of the work in Las Vegas.)

The messages all week were focused on the armor of God(Eph 6:10-20). The first night was an overview of the armor and then each session after that focused on a specific piece of the armor. For each piece of the armor we focused on how that piece was used for the Roman soldier in battle, what that piece means to us as Christians, and how we can apply this piece of armor in our lives each day! Each message was amazing! And we learned that non of these pieces is more important than another, because if you are missing a piece then there is a part of you that is not protected from the attacks of the enemy! There was one piece that seemed to stick out to all of us more than the others though. This piece was the shield of faith. These shields used by the Roman soldiers were 2 1/2 ft wide and 4 1/2 ft tall, they were overlayed with leather that could be soaked in water to extinguish fiery arrows shot by the enemy, and on the sides they had grooves so that they could be locked in with one another to form a wall of protection. We learned that for us as Christians, our shield is our faith in God. Faith that He is who He says He is and will do what He promises! When the enemy begins to attack us, we duck down behind this faith just as a soldier ducks down behind his shield.

The coolest part of this message was getting to watch the students play a game afterward that really helped this truth to sink in to their hearts and the hearts of those of us watching! After each night session the students had night rec. They would go out onto this HUGE soccer field and play games by the light of a single generator-powered stadium light. For these activities the students were split into their color teams (a mixture of church groups and ages). This night the rec leader had them get into their color groups at various spots on the field, so that the groups were a spread out from one another. The leader then explained to the students that they were going to have to find their church group...in the dark!! They cut the light and chaos broke out! It was so dark you could not see your hand in front of your face! The students were screaming! But finally they began to calm down and work to find their group. Once some of our students found each other they began chanting "Shelbyvile!" so that all the other students could find them. Finally all the groups were together.The rec leader then had them lock arms (our symbol of locked shields for the week) and not only lock with just their group, but lock with the two other church groups. So those of us leaders that were out their are standing on this hill and we start shining the flash lights we had on the students so we could see them and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! 100+ students standing arms locked, the length of the entire soccer field. Of course we were unable to get the lights to come back on, totally a God thing! As we stood there in the pitch black darkness the students began to sing! God spoke to my heart at that moment that this was a picture of how we look when we as the body unite with one another and stand against the enemy! The only words I can use to describe it are terrifyingly beautiful. I cannot imagine the fear that must have run through the enemy as he heard those students sing out the the living God!

So Sunday night the students shared all of this and more with the rest of the church. And God is using it in amazing ways! These students have been texting one another every morning to remind one another to get up and put on the armor of God and sharing with one another what God has spoken into their lives through their time with Him that morning! It is so amazing that a tool, like text messaging, that Satan uses so frequently to stir up trouble and worldly behavior has been the fuel that is keeping these students on fire! This fire also spread to the church! We woke up late yesterday morning and a few mins after I got up my mom called the house and said that one of the staff guys was trying to get in touch with Zeke to lead worship because we were going to have another service that night because of all that God was doing they just felt that we needed to meet again and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's moving. So Zeke lead and the pastor spoke on revival. Revival for us as soldiers in a battle. There will be times when we are victorious, but shaken, wounded and hurting. In these times we look to God and hide in his shelter. We draw close to Him so that He can refresh us and renew our spirit!

I am sorry this is so long, but I really felt like I needed to share this with you all! Please pray for our students and the whole church that we would continue to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's movement! Also please pray for me and the older girls (11th, 12th, and college girls) we are starting a Bible study tonight! Pray that God would use this study however He desires! That He would speak to the lives of all of us in the Bible study!

If there is anything I can pray for you about please let me know!

This video is of pictures from the week at camp!