COTW Teen Week 1

I know it's been a while... but I've been busy.


Between the bad internet connections, weather that creates havoc online, and just being totally slammed by the first week of campers, I just couldn't make the whole blog thing happen.  But reinforcements have arrived, and my week should be considerably easier than it was last week.


There's much to tell so it's my hope to tell you a little bit now and share more later.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that I can do that.


We had a rough start to the week, so much that by the end of Monday I was in tears.  So much stress.  So much to arrange.  But considering how the week started, I cannot but glorify God for the fantastic ending He brought to the week.  We couldn't have been happier with how it all ended up.

So right now I'll just share with you the speech that I was able to give at the closing ceremonies of our COTW Olympic Games.


"We’ve worked on 1 Timothy 4:12 all week as we’ve been training to be an example of a believer.  We talked about the power of words as David revealed his heart for God when he faced Goliath.  We saw the faith of Gideon as he took the risk of believing that God could defeat the enemy with just 300 men.  We talked about how Daniel kept himself pure in a foreign culture and how we are to do the same.  And today we learned how Daniel kept a consistent walk throughout his life, even when his praying got him thrown to the lions.  And each night Ray challenged us to listen to God’s voice as He calls each of us to a life of adventure as we follow Him.

"But we’ve left out one thing.  Do you know what it is?

"Yes, it’s love.  We didn’t have a Bible story for love.   So here it is.

"Jesus came as a human.  He put on skin and lived in an earthly home.  He is our greatest example of love.  He died on the cross to save us from our sins.  He rose again to give us abundant life now and forever.

 

"When we make the decision to follow Jesus, God sends His Holy Spirit to move into our hearts and inhabit our body.  We become His hands and feet to meet the needs of those around us.

"It’s been our goal this week for all of us here on staff -- the cooks, the people on maintenance, the counselors, the people working in the office, the kids in kids’ club – to let you see the love of God through us.  We have loved serving you, each in our own way, each task important to the success of the whole camp.  Every act of service to you was actually God showing His love in a concrete and tangible way.

"And do you know what God is saying to you right now?

"He’s saying, 'Do you see how much these Christians here have loved you this week?  That’s Me loving you through them.  I told them to love you and they did.'

"We aren’t perfect.  If you haven’t felt loved every minute of every day, forgive us.  We’ve done our best.

"And so now, as Ray challenged you this week, we say to you once again, 'Go out and make a difference in the world by loving those around you.  Make a difference by loving others as you have been loved by us here in this place this week.'

"When the Olympic torch is extinguished in the real Olympic Games, a small torch is lit again to carry the flame to the site of the next Olympics.  Here we will extinguish our Olympic torch and pass the flame to each of the cabins.  It is a symbol of taking the light of God and His love to a dark world.  Take your candle and go light your world. "