Greetings!
It has been many weeks since I’ve been able to provide an
update. In fact this is my last week
serving at Cedar Lake Ministries! I will
be counseling high school girls this week. My top prayer requests:
- · Continued good health and energy
- · Jesus’ love to pour out of me and through me
- · Protection from any spiritual oppression for myself as well as the campers as they hear about the love of God and the Gospel—some for the first time ever.
Now for an update on the past few weeks.
The first week of speaking was great! God faithfully gave me great ideas through
His scripture as well as tangible hands on activities to encourage the campers
to remember the truth being taught. I
remember one specific camper as I was sharing the Gospel leaning forward and
focusing in on me taking everything in I was saying. I would ask questions and as she nodded her
head about something then I said no, good works cannot get you to Heaven, she
looked fearful. I was able to proclaim
the Gospel that day. Her counselor as
well as others continued to love on her and she was one of the 5 or 6 campers
that made a profession of faith that week!
Praise God!
The next week (4th of July week) we only had
around 20 day campers. Several of us
were given different roles other than counseling. My cold turned very bad and I ended up in bed
several days. God used that time to heal
me as well as gave me a ministry of prayer.
I was able to do some office work as well as helping come up with
ideas/themes for future retreats/conferences for CLM. Although I was not hands on with the campers—God
still used me. I was also able to
experience the love of those around me as they brought medicine, water, food,
and company. I found out that a couple
of the 20 campers made a profession of faith that week as well.
This past week I was back in speaker mode and was able to tweak
my messages a little to help share the truth.
Because of the number of campers (almost 125) I did two morning sessions
and one afternoon session each day. The
little campers (k-3rd) learned about Ready, Set, Go—keeping our eyes
on Jesus and letting Jesus complete our faith.
We memorized Hebrews 12:2a and I was able to teach them about how to use
their Bible. The older campers (4th-6th)
learned about Think, Watch Out, and Encourage.
I used passaged in Hebrews 12, Acts 10: 34-43, and I Corinthians
13. It was thrilling to put together the
slide show, activities, pray over the lessons, campers, and staff, and speak
the sessions. God also used me occasionally
for camper management when the campers were out of hand and needed a little
firm loving discipline. The neatest part
was the campers that were the “hardest to love” were the ones that responded to
the Gospel message and received Christ as Savior! I continue to be over joyed in the work God
does in just one week.
Personal Update:
I am doing great healthwise and just have an occational allergy
like symptoms but medicine is helping. I
did not get sick once from gluten this summer and feel better than I’ve felt in
months! I am so thankful to Heather (camp chef and friend) as
well as my adoptive parents (cottagers at CLM encouraged me during the summer) who have given me such great gluten free food and I’ve
not had to worry at all about this aspect of my life.
I made the decision to wait until the Spring 2017 school
year to begin taking classes online for my Master’s through Dallas Theological
Seminary.
I am going to miss being here at CLM so much. Please pray I will be able to transition into
back into life in a healthy way. I do
not have the support network and care at home that I have had here and I am
keenly aware of the potential danger of going back into depression after such a
great summer. Pray that those around me
will think of me and reach out to love on me and I can love on them as well.
I have not been offered any full time positions as of today
and will be returning with no plan other than to continue applying for work,
growing in the Lord, and trusting God fully to not only provide but also direct
what His will and plan is for me. I am
open to anywhere and since I am single I do have the freedom to pick up and go
if that is where the Lord directs.
I
started reading a book
(The Cure: What if God isn't who you think He is and neither are
you?: Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, John S Lynch) that has been very
timely and helpful in my relationship with Jesus and life. I am looking forward to finishing it and
letting God continue to transform me into Christ’s likeness.
Thank
you all so much for praying for me and reading my updates. Please let me know how I can be praying for
you and please give me a ring if you’d like to go out for coffee and catch up…I’ll
have some free time next week. (smiles)
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