By: Sarah Dains
Each season of camp, I find myself amazed by the transformation that happens in the lives of our students. It’s funny really, this shouldn’t be something that surprises me because where the word of God is taught, it will not return void. And season after season we see this come to fruition. This past summer our theme was titled “Truth Be Told” and over a week of camp we taught through the entire gospel of John. In a culture that says anything can be accepted as truth, and encourages us to define our own individual truths, our goal was to show and communicate through the scriptures that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life. There are a handful of stories from the summer that could be shared that communicate the transformative work that took place, but one stands out to me.
During a Friday night Victory Circle, which is our final programming of the week consisting of a time of sharing, looking at the stars and worship through music, the Lord did a mighty work in the quietness of a young girl’s heart. Throughout the time of sharing, students both declare the victories that God had in their lives at camp and proclaim truths about His character. Victory Circle is so sweet because as camp staff we get to hear firsthand the way God worked in students’ lives. All summer we hear things like “God, thank you for saving me,” “God, thank you that you are the only truth,” “God, thank you for being a good father,” and so much more. After the time of sharing and worship, I go up and conclude the evening and encourage students to remain faithful to the truth of God’s word. Often I feel pressure to conclude this time in a timely manner so that counselors can have the final night of camp with their students, but this particular night I felt a nudge to have the students look up at the stars just once more, which would add time to the programming. This began an internal battle for me; do I dismiss students and remain on time, or listen to this still, small voice? I decided to have the students look at the stars one more time, and after we concluded Victory Circle, a young girl approached me and thanked me for “helping her understand God more.” I asked her what she meant by that and she began to tell me that she had been attending her church for awhile, but didn’t consider herself a Christian. She told me that after hearing the Word taught all week long, combined with the second time we looked at the stars during Victory Circle, she knew God was real and decided to give her life to the Lord in the quietness of her heart while looking at the stars. I’m a crier, so I cried and celebrated with her and went with her to find her counselor. The Lord was kind and gentle to nudge me out of our usual programming, and He did so for His daughter that needed that final confirmation of His character.
God is at work in mighty ways because where His word goes out, it does not return void. He desires to reconcile lost sinners back to himself, and Hume is a tool for just that. I consider it a joy and an honor to be able to run camp at a place that is faithful to present the gospel to each person that comes to Hume Lake.
Sarah Dains
Ponderosa Camp Director