This past week, I was blessed to be able to participate as a chaperone to Passport's camp in Greensboro, North Carolina. For those of you who aren't familiar with Passport, it is a christian camp that teaches and challenges youth students from 6th grade-recently graduated seniors. This was my first experience attending a christian camp, and I feel I truly came back with a different mindset. Even though I wasn't a "camper" as they say, I still learned a great deal more than I ever thought I would. The things I learned can be applied to anyone and everyone no matter what age or stage in life they are in.
1. God made our lives to be wild and precious.
As Christians, we were not meant to simply sit on the sideline and stay to ourselves. We were meant to live in a radical and dangerous way. This doesn't mean making potentially detrimental decisions, but standing out in the crowd for doing what's right. For about a year now, I have been taught by several great people about calling and vocation. The one call that God gave each individual is the call to love God and love people. This means that because you love God, you can't help but share the great news of Jesus. Loving people means loving them no matter what differences you all may have. If you truly love someone the way God calls you to, your life and relationships will change and become more whole and better. If you truly pray for your enemies, expecting nothing in return, the hate will fade and love will grow. That is a wild and precious gift; we should not take this for granted.
2. You don't need a lot of money to make an impact.
At Passport, there is a time when the students break into their selected choice group. The choice I chose to be an adult chaperone for was Missions. In Missions, we traveled to this little church ministry called the Nehemiah Center. This ministry takes in kids all over town and gives them a safe place to spend their summer, while they study academics, learn about God, and grow in their abilities. This ministry also feeds hundreds of people in the community; this includes women, men, and children. They are a non-profit organization that started out with little-to-no money. However, with the help of God, they were able to kick-start their organization and now they serve various families in Greensboro. We painted walls and cleaned their building top to bottom. Seeing the faces of the volunteers and employees was all the payment we needed. You never know how much you can do for someone by just being the hands and feet of Jesus. That is a more rewarding feeling than any amount of money can give.
3. Community is everything.
At Passport, they have a no electronics rule. They call it a "Digital Sabbath." This allows students to truly connect not only with God, but with each other. Of course with after being with one another for a week straight, drama started happening. Instead of the kids hiding behind their screens and letting social media feed their negative energy, they were forced to actually have a conversation with each other and resolve the conflict. It was amazing to see the relationships that formed and the growth in faith from just a week without cell phones. As I said earlier, we must love our enemies, but how can we do that if we can't even love the people closest to us? The kids truly talked about God and gave each other positive ideas that built each other up instead of ones that tore each other down. I saw a connection between everyone there that can only be explained and connected by God's grace and love.
Our theme song for the week said, "What will you do with this one life? Where will you go to follow your soul? What will you dream for God's kingdom? Leaving your mark, when will you start?" Don't be afraid to seek God's kingdom in all that you do. It is anything but boring and not cool. It leads you to an exciting adventure that challenges and gives you hope for tomorrow and what's to come. What will you do with this one wild and precious life?
John 10:10b: "...I came so that everyone would have life and have it in its fullest."
