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Young Life camp is designed to break down barriers
with kids and bond leaders and teens together. Adventure
components like this muddy obstacle course helped Keegan really get
to know his guys (above: Andreas and Jonas) and build trust
between them.
Throughout camp there is daily free time designed so
leaders and their cabin kids can get to know each other apart from activites. Here, I taught my cabin girls to
play Spoons. Not only was it a lot of fun, but it is something that
we can continue to get together and play throughout the summer when
we hang out.
Leaders
were asked to do an impromptu skit in an American Idol
competition. Here, Keegan shows his guys that he will risk it all for
them.
Music is an important part of camp. As you can
see, it bonds all the kids together and sets the tone of Club.
Club truly is the best hour of each day, packed
with games, skits, music and a Gospel message.
Micke, one
of our closest friends and an advisor for
our ministry in Vallentuna, was our
camp speaker this year. In Club, he spoke daily about who God is, what He has done for us, and that He
desires a relationship with us. Micke
did an incredible job communicating the Gospel in terms the teens
understood. Each night we got together with our cabins and
teens discussed their thoughts.
During the week at camp, we as leaders make it our goal to
have one-on-one conversations with each kid in our cabin to discuss
any questions they may have about Jesus Christ and to challenge them
to consider how they want to continue to process what they heard
at camp. Here, Empan and Johanna
sit and talk about Johanna's walk with Christ. As a staff
member, it was my role to encourage Empan
and Rebecka (my two leaders) in these
conversations. This helps extend my ministry to more teens than
I am able to reach on my own.
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"You were made for
this..." keeps running through my head as I think about our
ministry.
But, when I think
of Young Life's new tag-line, I do not think it necessarily
means kids were made for Young Life. I think of the feeling of love
and acceptance that kids feel when they really get the message of
Jesus Christ.
Picture 44 kids showing up at camp. Some were
nervous, insecure and lonely. Many brought with them
emotional baggage from home. Specifically, I want to share
with you about Agnes, a 16 year old from my cabin who
came certain that this was not a camp for her.
From the time the kids
stepped off the bus, they were in for surprise after
surprise. As the program team led games, music,
skits, and entertainment, some of the walls began to break
down. Most kids started to wonder what this camp was all about and
began to participate more and more. Agnes, on the
other hand, began to build thick walls to protect herself. She started to isolate herself
from the rest of the group. She began her mantra, "I am not like
the other girls, I am not the
adventurer type."
Finally, after two and a half days, we had a break
through. I sat next to Agnes in our cabin as she
began to cry and say that she is so afraid the girls don't like
her, just like at her school. As I listened to her, I could see
she was starting to open up. It wasn't until that night that I
realized how God was working. Maria, another girl from our
cabin was sad because she had injured her knee earlier in the
day. I was dreading the night's activities because I knew it
would be difficult for Maria to participate and that Agnes
wouldn't want to because it was our greatest adventure of the week, a
muddy obstacle course. However, that is precisely where
God worked the strongest. As the
"adventure girls" in my cabin rushed ahead, I
called them back and said, "we all have to work
together to get Maria through this without injuring her knee any further." This brought Agnes
into the mix without putting the emphasis on
her and all seven of us circled around Maria to help
her through. The girls finally bonded!
As the rest of the week unfolded, Agnes shared her heart with
the girls and her questions about God, life, and her struggles with
self-esteem. All the girls began to share more deeply
and I grew closer to them all. We listened to the girls as
they shared their individual stories of suicidal
thoughts, self-image issues and loss. We also talked about
how God fits into our lives and that it was not His
design for us to have to experience these hardships in
life. The girls opened up and shared that they had never
heard anybody talk about God like this. That He seems so
personal when Micke talked and
as Rebecka, Empan
(my two Swedish leaders) and I talk about Him.
So, this is why the Young Life tag-line keeps running through my
head. I think the person who thought that line up must realize
how special our job is. I am so thrilled and I hope you
are too, that the work we do together communicates to kids, like
the seven girls in my cabin, that we
were made for relationship with Jesus Christ.
Please Pray For:
-Our close friends, Langley and
David who do YL ministry in Africa, who just lost their first
baby 26 weeks into pregnancy
-That we would continue to be able to further develop
relationships with Andreas, Jonas, Nikko, Isabell,
Elin, Agnes, Johanna, Empan,
Rebecka and Maria after camp.
-For Rebecka and other future volunteers as
we train them for ministry.
-For Becka and baby to continue to be
healthy and Becka's ability to sleep
without back pain.
-For Keegan to recover from an infection from a tick bite.
-For an apartment for us in Vallentuna.
Please email your prayer requests to rebecca.younglife(atsymbol)gmail.com*
Will
you join us on this Journey?
Even though we are in Sweden
and you are back home, there are still ways you can be apart
of this life-changing ministry.
- Please pray regularly for our mission.
- Share with others about our ministry by
clicking on email this link.
- To support our ministry
financially: Click on Giving and designate Christ/ Sweden X2106 OR
Send tax-deductible gifts to Young Life, P.O. Box 2920, Colorado
Springs, CO 80901-9832. In memo: Christ/Sweden x2106
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