Just completed my first Youth Camp since overseeing our youth ministry. After much prayer and seeking the Lord, we arrived at the theme of worship, what it means to worship as a lifestyle, and to glorify God with our lives.
The camp committee creatively came up with the title “More than merely,” a word-play of “me” and “rely,” that life is more than just “me”, as well as that worship is “more than merely” or just going to church or youth group on weekends, or more than just praise and songs, more than just going through the motions of doing our QT, reading our Bibles or praying. Lastly, it also meant instead of focusing on ourselves, that we needed to “rely” on God. Hence = “More than merely.”
The focus of the committee was not just on programs and planning, but also on praying, seeking the Lord and relying on Him to lead and empower them through the whole process. It turned out to be our largest intake ever, 134 campers (we targeted 80), and it was more meaningful too, as this was our last camp in our old church building.
God answered our prayers and revealed Himself in many ways throughout the camp. Before the camp, I fell sick 3 times. On the first night, first message, all the electronic equipment stopped working. I felt led to share with the campers about spiritual warfare, and challenged them to intercede on behalf of myself, the comm and the camp. Since then, God blessed all the worship sessions, messages and response times. Most were touched, convicted and re-committed themselves to God, there were even moments during an outreach briefing that God spoke powerfully through one of the youths sharing, and we had to stop the programs to spend time responding and praying for our community, as God convicted and burdened hearts for the lost.
I really thank God and give Him the glory for His grace and empowerment through this camp, and am really proud and give all the credit to my trusted camp committee, led by 2 faithful and committed leaders, Jie and Germaine. God gave us a bonus, when on the last message, 2 youths even prayed to receive Christ! Praise the Lord, and all glory to His name!
