“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:19)
And finally, we have arrived at Adventure Camp! Summer has been wonderfully great. Seeing God move through Explorer Camp and Discovery Camp excites me for the new things that He will do in Adventure Camp. Our campers are older compared to the last two sessions, so the dynamics have changed a bit, but that God will move has not.
These campers are in a new stage in their lives. They are beginning the “teen years” where life and how we understand things begins to change dramatically. They are beginning to try and grasp life into their own hands. They are beginning to make their own decisions. They are hoping to shape their own future. But the reality is that God holds their future in His hands. It is a future filled with wonder, joy, and peace. So far, we have been learning how God is going to do new things in our lives, not only in this new session of camp, but in this new phase of life. God is going to do new things in each and every one of our Adventure campers. I am expectant of the new and wondrous things He is going to do.
We have also learned that, in each of these new things, we have to trust God. In evening Christian Formation, we learned of the different names of God. These names are specifically linked to an action that He has done in the Bible. For example, Jehovah-Raah: “The Lord my shepherd.” God is like our good shepherd who leads us through life; through the good and the bad (Psalm 23). Jehovah-Nissi: “The Lord my canopy/banner” means that God is our protector (Exodus 17:15). In learning all these different names, we came to know that God is for us and with us every step of the way. We have come to trust God in His goodness and promises. But that is only the beginning of our journey here at Camp. God is about to do so much more. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and whoever is reading this, pray that God may move in the lives of these Adventure campers and they wholeheartedly trust Him every step of the way.