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