Adam went to camp as a student last year…this year he went as an adult leader.  I truly hope you enjoy reading his life change story.

I would like to start this out by saying that God blessed me this week with some of the best experiences of my eighteen years of life! Going into this week I knew what I was going to be teaching on, the location, and the people in my group, but other than that I had left it up to God and knew that He would show me the rest of what I needed to know as I served as leader this week. I had prayed for weeks before for the words to say and for unity and He provided both as each day we went into our family groups and did our devotions together! The group that He blessed me with was the best group I could have asked for because I was able to pour into them and them into me. The Camp was called “Audacious” and the theme verse for the week was 1 Corinthians 16:13 which reads, “Be on your guard, Stand firm in the faith, Be courageous, Be strong,” and each day we would read scripture and go over a section of the verse. Each day was so Spirit filled and it was amazing. In our groups, the students would read and listen intently and then talk about how they saw a verse and converse on it while still inserting the occasional joke or two. As a leader, it was amazing and uplifting to just hear how the Lord was moving in their lives through their prayer time and their quiet times. There was even one night where my group and the pretty much our entire Church group brought me to tears. During Corporate Worship, we were led in song by the band called Unhindered and as they led worship, I turned around and saw the students worshiping! And not just singing along with the occasional hand up. They were worshiping unlike I had seen from them. As I said then, it was the kind of worship where arms were high and hearts abandoned. Then when the walls started coming down and more hearts began opening up, some students needed prayer and the students began praying over each other and then more and more students began praying. You could feel the Lord putting His healing hand on their hearts. But as we learned this week as well, we learned that when God’s kingdom makes advances, the enemy fights back and he did. He attempted to foster disunity, to cause injury, to cause pain, but we refused to let him win and we stood firm and the day this occurred, we all came closer to each other and God. We could all feel is immense love and the Godly peace he provides. It was powerful. The enemy even tried to foster some doubt in my heart because of my past. Most of the students that God had allowed me to lead this week had been saved longer than I have. I accepted Christ on June 6, 2010, and because of this, I felt that I didn’t deserve to be leading, but God reassured me and gave me a peace of mind and taught me so much on this trip. He called me to lead my group and gave me the strength to do so. To all those who feel called to leadership, God will give you the strength to do so. It may not be easy at times, but following God’s will is the most fulfilling thing on this earth and i have felt this fulfillment first hand. The last full day I felt God calling me to pray over each of my guys and after I did so, they actually asked to all pray for me and even missed part of service in order to do so. It was simply amazing and only God could have made such an impact in all of our lives.

A song we all sang at camp was called “I Am Not the Same” and it talks about how in God, we are a new creation and the chorus sings, “I am not the same, I’m a new creation, I am not the same anymore. I am not ashamed, I will not be shaken, I am not the same anymore.” and to those who are in Christ, we are not the same, we are a new creation, we are strangers and exiles in this sinful world and that is because of our saviour, Jesus Christ. It was amazing to see our students audaciously proclaiming that during heartfelt worship. Seeing the students worship and grow closer to God and being Audacious for God was and is so amazing and fills me with immense joy and I encourage all Christ-followers to be Audacious for God; it is not only for our students.