God Encounters, cont'd...

God Encounter #4
A Calling to Him and for Him.
Thursday night is inevitably the night when we humble ourselves before the Lord and ask if He wants us to go into full-time ministry. I LOVE THIS NIGHT. Granted, I’m a little partial because I feel like God wants me to serve Him in the capacity of full-time minister, but I also love how this night can show everyone that ministry doesn’t always have to be behind the pulpit. I appreciated how the evangelist made this distinction and reminded the students (and staff) that we are all to spread the Gospel…and some are to do so in the position of preacher or missionary. It was a well-balanced altar call, if that makes sense to anyone out there…

As I went to the front to pray for students, I was blessed to received a prophetic word for to student to my right, a guy I had joked around with in the concessions stand. I shared it with him later that night, and it seemed to resonate within him. But the moment that changed and challenged me the most was when I prayed with an awesome young woman named Katie. To be honest, I felt incredibly awkward at first going down to the altar area; the only spot open was dead center, right in front of the evangelist on stage. I’m not one for attention, and much prefer praying for students on the side or somewhere in the back (Turner Falls interns: remember praying for campers in their rooms on the really stormy nights?!? Oh man, THOSE were altar calls!). I hesitated, but just prayed for my mind to be on the right thing, and waited for someone to come forward for prayer. Soon after, this girl who is crying her eyes out just clutches on to my arms and starts praying. The moment she touched my arms I could literally feel God’s presence on her and knew that she was weeping from the depths of her soul for the lost. Through tears and sobs she tells me her name and that she feels God calling her to be an evangelist. Once she shared that with me, I knew she was absolutely right--I could feel in my heart that God was breaking her heart with compassion for those who have never known hope. We prayed for what seemed like forever (but was probably 5 minutes), and I literally could not find enough words to tell her how much God has His hand on her life. Even now I feel inadequate to articulate what I felt and was praying for her. When she had calmed down a little we laughed at the fact that I had a black streak on my shoulder from her mascara, and said goodbye. I was glad to see her in concessions later that night, and recently got an email from her. I hope the Lord keeps her in my heart to pray for her regularly, because I truly believe that brokenness is from Him, and that she will be able to lead many to Christ through the years. Hallelujah!

God Encounter #5
The Lord’s Table.
Sleep deprivation finally caught up with me Friday morning as I became thoroughly confused as to what time it really was; all week we were on “Camp Time,” which was basically EST. However, my cell phone stayed on CDT and I had to add an hour constantly to not be late. Friday morning, still confused and even more exhausted, I ended up at the chapel over an hour early for service. Yeah. So I prayed for awhile, and even though I was sleepy I was grateful for the time to pray in the quiet. We shared communion as a Body in the service, and I felt it was a wonderful close to a wonderful week.

God Encounters #6-10
“And He shall give His angels charge over you…” (Psalm 91:11)
It stormed all night Thursday, and the storm continued Friday as we sadly said goodbye to camp. We took it easy on the windy roads to Lebanon (with a little crabbiness on my part as the youth jumped around on the van and made a little too much noise for my nerves!), but when we got on I-44 the storm let loose with torrential rains. As much as the youth drove me nuts earlier on the drive, they sat up and started paying attention when we were in a near-pileup outside of Marshfield. I was so proud of them as they started praying for all the wrecks we passed (there were three between Marshfield and Springfield!) and thanking God for keeping us safe. It was a very tense hour, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared driving on the highway (and trust me, I have been on the highway a lot in the past few years). But God did indeed keep us safe, and even though half of Springfield’s roads were flooded, we were able to get the kids home safe and get home ourselves. Praise Him!

It was an amazing week at youth camp, and since then I have seen the youth genuinely hold on to the changes that God is helping them make in their lives. I am exceedingly proud of them, especially this past week--they have been very instrumental in passing out literature for our outreach and leading the younger kids at church. I am looking forward to watching them continue to grow.

In Him,
Heather

God Encounters

Not only was youth camp a great time to learn how to laugh things off on a regular basis, but it was a week filled with God’s sweet love and grace. All 5 of us from Forest Avenue had many experiences that both encouraged us and changed our lives, and we are all deeply grateful for God’s work in us last week--and continuing on into the future.

God Encounter #1
Youth on fire.
From the first service Monday night, it was apparent that these youth were determined to experience God and a greater devotion to Him this week. The worship team lead us into beautiful times of worship before His throne, and each altar time was heart-felt. Jacob Jester was the speaker, and he spoke on the Training Camp themes: Pray, Live, Give, Serve, and Tell. Each night had a different theme, and the ministry of various Master’s Commissions and traveling ministry teams blessed all of us even more. I wish that every one of you could have been there with us! It was a great feeling to be at a youth camp once again; I spent three wonderful summers interning at Turner Falls youth camp in southern Oklahoma, and I had forgotten how much I loved camp! There is a certain electricity in the air in that kind of place, and it’s felt by all. Ahh…

God Encounter #2
Old friends and new friends.
It was such a blessing to run into some friends from Evangel while I was at camp. I had admittedly been super nervous going to camp, unsure if I would know anyone or make a connection with people that I could spend the week with. I didn’t want to cramp the youths’ style, so I tried to connect with some of the staff. Luckily my friends Josh and Jeana Shelley were there, so we got to hang out off and on. I had some classes with Josh, but hadn’t spent time with Jeana before, and we totally clicked! She is a wonderful woman, and I’m so thankful the Lord brought us together last week. They are going to continue doing great things for God in their ministry to youth. Also, I got to see my friend Sarah Tattershall who is leaving for Chiang Mai, Thailand next month. Pray for her, she lacks only a little money before she can leave! It was great to see her before she heads over there--it was also surreal to think that we will (God-willing) be seeing each other again in a few months, only this time in Thailand! Yah! As nice as it was to see old friends, God allowed me to spend time with and get to know Cheri, a pastor’s wife from the area, and all the great people in the concessions stand. We had some good times serving up good food to hungry campers and smelling of hamburgers and fries for a whole week! If any of you concessions friends are reading this, know that I miss you!

God Encounter #3
“Pour out Your Spirit on us…”
It is universally known (at least in the circles I’ve been in) that Wednesday night at youth camp is “Holy Spirit night.” A lot of students (and staff!) are not given many opportunities throughout the year to tarry at the altar and await the baptism in the Holy Spirit, so there is at least one night a week where the baptism is a central focus of the altar time. I always love these times of prayer because God is a good God, and He desires to give good gifts to His people! I have seen literally hundreds of young people blessed with the gift of the Spirit through my years at camps, and it always bring tears to my eyes when they experience God at this new level. Another beautiful aspect is the time after their experience when they learn that the Spirit doesn’t just bring a new prayer language, but also a deeper passion in worship and prayer, and a fiercer burden for the lost (not saying that those who haven’t experienced this gift are lacking--only speaking from what I’ve experienced in my heart). Wednesday night I needed to leave the altar time and set up for concessions, but as I prayed for the Lord to baptize our two girls, I felt in my heart that He was going to do as He willed, and that they would be blessed. I began to sing a Hillsong United chorus, “Pour out Your Spirit on us…” and prayed for His glory to touch their lives. I had a few kids in the concessions line afterwards proudly tell me, with their eyes shining and their hearts full, that the Lord had baptized them in the Spirit! And, as I met up with the girls before lights out, Savannah told me she had been baptized, too! Praise God! He is good, and so are His gifts.

More God Encounters to come hopefully tomorrow night…

Camp Mishap #38

Hi guys! Hello to the faithful ones who read my blog regularly, and hi to those checking it out for the first time (probably since I gave you my prayer card at camp). Thanks for being interested in what I have to say, hope you enjoy it. :)

The title of this entry might need a little explaining…I got back on Friday afternoon from an exciting, unusual, and relaxing week of youth camp at Lake of the Ozarks. Woo hoo for Training Camp 2008!!! It was a great experience, seeing as how it was my first week at the Southern Missouri district’s campgrounds/retreat center. I am grateful for the week away, and so glad I got to be there with the youth from Forest Avenue. God did some amazing things in all our lives, but there were also some hilarious and stretching moments which I like to refer to as my slew of Camp Mishaps…

Camp Mishap #1
The open water bottle vs. Heather’s dry and unsuspecting lap.
As you can probably assume, as I was driving the van to camp I took a slightly sharp turn going onto a narrow country road, and my co-pilot Robert (another youth sponsor) hadn’t put the lid back on his bottle of water perched on the dash. So…yeah. The kids said the best part of the experience was my facial expression as the cold water soaked my lap. Good thing I dried out before we stopped for lunch, or else Robert would have been a dead man. Haha.

Camp Mishap #6
Forest Avenue’s van vs. a small, unsuspecting silver four-door sedan.
Classic facial expressions became the highlight of Monday’s rainy afternoon before camp started. It was still raining pretty hard when we arrived and checked-in, so we piled back into the van to drive the youth to their dorms to unload. I casually asked the kids if there was anything behind me and started backing out to the main road. As I slowly reversed, I felt us bump into something…and one of the youth yell out, “Oh my gosh, you hit someone’s car!” !!!! My emotions once again painting my face, we all jumped out of the van to inspect the damage. Fortunately, our bumpers had only touched and there was no damage on the car! Praise God! I don’t know if I’d ever felt so guilty and scared before! Luckily, after taking the girls’ stuff to their dorms, I ran into the really nice woman whose car I hit, gave her my contact info, and promised her I’d fix her car if anything went wrong with it anytime soon. Wow.

Camp Mishap #11
The mother of all embarrassing and awkward moments.
As we drove to the staff lodgings the youth kept themselves busy making fun of me and teasing that they were going to call Pastor Jim and tell him what happened (who, by the way, felt more sorry for me than angry! Haha.). We arrived at the motel, and quickly learned that both Robert AND I were assigned to room 9. Yeah… One room, two beds, one bathroom. This had to be a mistake! Once again, the kids were practically on the ground laughing their behinds off at my expense. Robert and I couldn’t quite look at each other, so we quietly unloaded our stuff and vowed not to tell anyone until things were resolved. Glad that the youth had something to take their minds off of how nervous they were for their first youth camp, we made our way to the chapel for orientation--with the youth singing their own rendition of “Going to the Chapel.” Sigh.

Camp Mishap #12
A vow broken.
Within 30 minutes, Robert had told 4 people about the room situation. Welcome to SoMo youth camp, Heather Goff! No time to be nervous, only embarrassed!!! :)

Camp Mishap #18
No food or drinks in the gymnasium. Duh!
After some time in the incredibly hot Snack Shack, I checked out what the girls were doing in the gym during free time. Trying to stay out of the crossfire of an intense game of dodge ball between staff and campers, Savannah and I chatted about the first two days of camp. Just as I was thinking, “This isn’t such a good idea…we might get--” a large yellow dodge ball hit’s the Styrofoam cup of Pibb Xtra in my hand, baptizing Savanah and I in a sticky mess! Cleaning up the remnants on the floor (and picking up the pieces of my pride left after the game paused to check out the damage), I laughed at myself and wondered if I had done anything the week before to deserve a lesson in humility…

Camp Mishap #23
Killer mosquitoes. No joke, they’re vicious and stealthy in Missouri.
After service and concessions time on Tuesday night I decided to chat it up with my neighbor and with Robert (even though by now word had spread quickly of our brief stint as roommates). Standing with my door half-way open I knew I risked having to kill a few critters before bed, but took the chance and talked for about 30 minutes with the guys. As I went to read a little before bed, I noticed a swarm of small, transparent, quiet mosquitoes that were buzzing my overhead light. After at least 20 minutes of carnage involving unsuspecting mosquitoes and a rolled-up pair of gym shorts, I had killed almost 30 mosquitoes in my room! Add to that a roach and a stinkbug that conveniently fell in my trash can, and I was ready for bed! As I laid down talking the day over with my Mom on the phone, the lone surviving mosquito began dive-bombing my face! Twice it circled down from the ceiling at me, until I stood up and swatted at it again with the shorts. Then it came with a full-frontal attack and again went for my face!! I eventually killed it, got back on the phone, explained the shrieks and squeals to my laughing mother, and went to bed. The remaining troops that hid in my bathroom that night were properly disposed of the next morning. Tough little boogers.

Camp Mishaps #34-37
You mean we had staff meetings every morning?!?!
My ongoing faux pas at youth camp was the fact that every morning I slept in, then lazed around my room and at Cross Pointe reading, reflecting, and praying. It wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that Cheri, a wonderful pastor’s wife that I spent the week befriending, asked if I had heard the devotion in staff meeting that morning. Staff meeting? What staff meeting?!?!? She laughed at me pretty hard, then explained that I must have missed the meeting every morning above the chapel. Yeah… Pretty sure I was sleeping during ALL of them. Hopefully Darrin Poe (the District Youth Director) didn’t notice…and if he did, I’m sorry Darrin! Wow, I am good.

Well, I really hope you have enjoyed reading about my adventures at youth camp this past week. Ask any questions you might have about the experience, and check back in a day or two for all the God Experiences that we had there as well. I would write them tonight, but it’s getting late. I will have them up soon.

Hope everyone reading this remembers that mishaps in life can be stretching and a blessing; so be humble, never trust someone when they say you’re clear to back up, always carry bugspray, and remember not to bring any food or drinks in the gymnasium!!!!

Enjoying life through Him,
Heather