Camp – Identity Unlocked

Thank you for your prayers for us as we were at the camp a couple weeks ago – some incredible things happened!
 
There were two youth groups that merged for the camp and their theme was Identity Unlocked.  
 
Dan did the majority of the teaching and spoke on value, purity, God’s design for intimacy, and identity.  He did a brilliant job and has been asked to come to several schools in that area to present the same information at some point in the future.  One gal said, “All my friends need to hear this!”  
 
At the first session, he asked them to write down some of the negative things that were spoken over them or lies they believe about themselves and then they put them into a paper bag.  I read them later and they were heartbreaking.  Each student there had someone prayerfully write an encouraging message and blessing to them and they asked Dan and I to present them.  Many times as it was read over the student, the Holy Spirit would add a bit more for us to say and it was so beautiful.  Many of the students would cry, feeling overwhelmed by how beautifully the message connected to what was going on in their life.  (I was crying too!) The blessings that were spoken over the students often exactly countered the lies they had written down.  I believe those blessings were the key to the breakthroughs in the whole camp.
 
I was able to assist with leading a small group of gals for the discussion time after the sessions.  I found out much later that one gal in my group had attempted suicide the previous Friday at youth group!  It was so amazing to see how God used so many different people and voices to speak life and love into her heart and mind that weekend.
 
One evening I was “moving enthusiastically” with the pumping worship music and the strobe lights and I got a crippling pain in my hip.  I was thinking “oh brother, I am showing my age!!” and I limped to the back of the room to try to stretch it out.  I was only there like a minute when a gal approached me and asked to talk.  We went outside where we could hear each other and she told me she was really really struggling to connect with the Lord or to hear His voice and asked if I had any advice for her.  I mentioned that often when you have blocks in your ability to connect with the Lord, it is related to unforgiveness and asked her if there was anyone in her life that she had unforgiveness towards, or bitterness, or offense.   She said “yes” right away.  I asked her if she was ready to forgive and we talked through what forgiveness means and also what it doesn’t mean.  She prayed specifically “God, I forgive _____ for ______” over and over and she had a rather long list of really traumatic and horrible things that people had done to her in her life.  I found out later that Child Protective Services had been involved with the chaos in her home just one week previously.  When she was done praying, she said that she felt so much lighter and gave me a huge hug.  When she hugged me, my hip pain was instantly gone.  A friend was joking with me later that God had to give me that hip pain because I couldn’t hear His voice telling me to go to the back of the room over the loud music.  Ha ha!
 
During the session on Value, Dan’s illustration was to rip up a R100 bill (worth $8) and the students were absolutely freaking out! (It was awesome!!)  He talked about the value of the bill not changing even though it was stepped on, ripped up, and torn.  Then he taped it all back together and spoke life and love into the hearts of the teens, many of whom who have been “stepped on, ripped up, or torn” in their lives and told they have no value.  He ended up giving the taped up bill to a young man.  Later he said that being given that bill and the message it represents meant everything to him and that he would keep it forever.
 
There are so many more camp testimonies – here are just a few of our favorites.  Messages of identity and value and hope are important and timely for Africa’s teens.  It was such a blessing to be invited to share there.
 
We plan on sharing at a few more camps and schools this year.  There is definitely grace and favor in connecting with students in this season.  Dan was a substitute teacher at the school next door yesterday and in between discussing Shakespeare, he was also speaking life and hope to those lovely teens.  Because he was on campus, a teacher with her son and two other students came by to talk to us this weekend – life is hard and we are so thankful we are nearby for such a time as this to speak life and hope and point them to a loving heavenly Father.
 
We also were invited to consider partnering with a group in The Location in the poorer section of town.  Dan went one time already and this past week the kids and I also went to meet people and talk.  It was really good and this visit we met a lady who has really great English skills which will help tremendously.  This type of partnership will grow with time and we look forward to going again next week to talk more about what they think the community needs and what they envision a partnership looking like.  
 
Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our family.  We love being a part of what God is doing in this beautiful community.
 
With joy, 
Janell and Dan