Mighty to Save

Everyone needs compassion
A love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
A kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

My Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is Mighty to save
He is Mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

Shine your light and let the whole world see
We’re singing for the glory of the risen King…Jesus

This is my favorite song, as I mentioned in a previous post. If you haven’t ever heard it, you should watch the video in that previous post. Anyway, this song has become my favorite only recently. We sang it once or twice at Leadership Trek Quest this summer (my week of training to work at camp) and I thought it sounded familiar, but only vaguely.

The next time I heard the song was almost a month later at BigStuf, in Panama City Beach, Florida. I was walking around in the camp store and through the door I could hear the band practicing in the big room. They were practicing Mighty to Save. It was instantly stuck in my head…and stayed there for about a week. The only problem was that for a couple of days I could only remember a couple of lines, and therefore sang the same lines out loud over and over and over again. Throughout the week at BigStuf, I heard the song more, and gradually remembered a couple more lines, but the song remained stuck in my head. The funny thing was, it didn’t bother me at all that it was stuck in my head.

Then amazing things started to happen. The Daraja children’s choir of Africa sang Mighty to Save as their last song with us! What a way to end that time together! But here’s the thing, these are kids who have come from not-so-hot situations in Kenya…many of them orphans: everyone needs compassion, love that’s never failing, let mercy fall on me. Everyone needs forgiveness, the kindness of a Savior, the hope of nations. If that doesn’t describe these kids, I don’t know what does. But get this, these are kids who are NOT touring America for the people they perform for…they’re performing first and foremost for God. KIDS! You should hear their “favorite Scriptures”! Some of them recited entire passages off the tops of their heads in front of nearly 1500 people! My Savior, He can move the mountains. My God is mighty to Save, He is mighty to save. Forever, Author of salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave. That also describes these kids perfectly! They’ve been saved by the might of their Savior! He has done BIG things in their lives…even simply getting them to America…orphans have no birth certificates, and therefore, no passports, yet here they are, in the United States! That’s God. Shine your light and let the whole world see, we’re singing for the glory of the King, Jesus. This is exactly what this kids are doing; shining the light of their Savior, and singing for the glory of their King, Jesus Christ!

So that was Mighty to Save at BigStuf. The very next week I was at Grace Adventures as a CIT. The week was very challenging and even frustrating at times. HOWEVER (and this is the big part), as I blogged about before, the only three girls in my cabin who had not yet received Christ prior to camp, did so during the week! As I talked with Kali, the counselor I was paired up with, we both agreed that something was happening that neither of us could see, that the Holy Spirit was working. After a week like that (although an amazing experience) there was no way those girls’ decisions to accept Jesus as their Savior had anything to do with us! Mighty to save, my God is mighty to save!

So take me as you find me, all my fears and failures. Fill my life again. I give my life to follow everything I believe in, now I surrender. This becomes my prayer now. My Savior, He can move the mountains, my God is mighty to save. My Jesus can do anything. Anything! My Jesus can save girls. My Jesus can enable orphans to tour America in a choir. My Jesus can lead me to college. My Jesus can find a way for non-existent finances to come together for college. My Jesus can do absolutely anything. And He will. He will help me and lead me and give me peace and take care of me.

Everyone needs compassion. Love that’s never failing. Let mercy fall on me. Everyone needs forgiveness, the kindness of a Savior, the hope of nations. It’s so true! We all need compassion, never failing love, mercy, forgiveness, the kindness only a Savior can give. My Savior, my Sweet Savior Jesus, my God, is mighty to save.

Spiders, Missing Shoes, Little Kids, and Jesus

This past week I was at Grace Adventures as a CIT (counselor in training a.k.a. assistant counselor). I was paired up with a counselor and we had 10 girls age 9-11. It was a very challenging week and I definitely think my attitude could have been better throughout the week, but I just wanted to share some of the highlights of my week.

One night, while sitting outside the cabin talking to one of the counselors, we noticed two daddy long leg spiders on the porch railing and decided it would be very funny if they started to brawl. They moved closer and closer together and, sure enough, they started to fight! No kidding! Suddenly, one of the spiders moves under the railing and does this sneak attack on the other spider. They fought until one of the spiders fell off the railing and under the porch, where we decided it died. It was great, and very funny!

Another day, Steph was doing a cabin activity with Cabin 12 on the athletic field. They were playing with a parachute and all had their shoes off. As we passed by, we decided it would be very funny to take Steph’s shoes and see what her reaction would be. We successfully got the shoes into my backpack and continued on to the other side of the athletic field to play a game. When Cabin 12 was finished, they came over and Steph asked us if we had seen her Detroit Tigers Crocs. Kali (the counselor) and I had to look away because we were laughing so hard, while my girls told Steph they were in a tree somewhere. In utter disbelief and confusion, Steph took Cabin 12 to chapel and went to get different shoes. Much to her surprise, her shoes magically appeared as props in the skit at chapel that day!

On Friday I was able to get a tour of the house I will be living in during my internship…by the 3 and 4 year old girls that live there. It was great! They are very cute and I was impressed with the tour they gave me. Of course, when we were done they wanted me to move in NOW, and I don’t think they understood that it would be a couple of weeks. Oh well.

These are some great highlights of the week, but there is something even better that happened in Cabin 11. While doing one-on-ones with Kali (technically making them two-on-ones), we learned that one of our campers had accepted Jesus during her morning devotions AND I had the opportunity to lead two other girls to Jesus during their one-on-ones! It was SO EXCITING!!!! I’ve never had an opportunity like that before, and it was amazing! Jesus is amazing! So many things could have gone so much better throughout the week, but what does that really matter when all three of the girls in the cabin who have never asked Jesus into their hearts and lives decide to make that decision at some point in the week?? It doesn’t.

Back from BigStuf 2008

Yesterday at about 12:30 pm we arrived back at the church from BigStuf. The exciting part of that statement? We were supposed to arrive around 6:30 or 7 am. What happened? Well, roughly a half hour after we left BigStuf, the air conditioning broke. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal until the bus started to get hot. Really hot. We finally stopped for a really long lunch, and ended up killing time in Office Depot while we waited for the bus to get fixed. When it didn’t, we went to Walmart to get water, ice, and coolers, and later, Propel packets, snacks, washcloths, and a thermometer. I was more dehydrated than I have ever been in my life! It was miserable. The bus, we soon found out, was 98 degrees! The other bus couldn’t meet up with us until Cincinnati, Ohio. We were on that bus for 10 hours. I will never forget that bus ride! And, I now appreciate air conditioning a whole lot more!

Anyway, as for BigStuf itself, it was AMAZINGLY INCREDIBLE! Actually, I’m not sure there are words to adequately describe BigStuf. But I’ll try. When we arrived, we were greeted by a couple of interns who welcomed us and gave us some instructions. After we were settled and had dinner, I was able to meet up with a friend of mine from BigStuf two years ago and just visit for a little while! So fun!

Stuart Hall spoke at the first session, talking about the theme, Broadcast, which is this idea that just like TV, radio, and other media, every person broadcasts something, and that something is our heart’s deepest desire. When that desire changes, so does our whole life, and therefore, our broadcast. There was more to it, but that’s the basics. After the session, Danielle and I and some other people from our youth group were checking out the camp store when some of the interns were asking us where we were from. They were surprised to hear we came all the way from Michigan, which sparked more conversation. One of the interns, Courtney, stuck out her hand and, with a smile on her face, asked my name. There was something special about that smile though. It was more than the typical first-night-really-excited-for-BigStuf smile. It was more of a Jesus-is-my-Sweet-Savior-and-I-love-Him-with-my-whole-heart smile. I don’t know if you’ve ever met someone like that, but if you have, you probably know that that is someone you immediately want to get to know better. I was able to talk to her and get to know her more throughout the week, and she just shows the love of Jesus in everything she says and does–even when she’s in the middle of a heated championship volleyball game or just goofing around with other interns to entertain BigStuf campers! That is the kind of broadcast I want to have.

The band and speakers were excellent, as usual. The worship time was amazing, the beach devotions were awesome, and our youth group really united at BigStuf. We also saw and illusionist and heard some of the interns talk about their experiences in Kenya. We met a guy named Ben who was sponsored through Compassion when he was a boy and how it changed his life. Now he is a senior in college and will be heading back to the school he attended as a boy to teach physics and math! And we met Jack, a guy also from Kenya who lost his right hand and left arm, leaving him completely helpless until a couple of guys decided to provide funds for Jack to get an artificial hand! And my favorite part was meeting the Daraja Children’s Choir of Africa, who came to America to perform for God in front of us! Not only did they perform, but they shared their favorite Scriptures (some whole passages!) and LED us in worship! It was UH-MAZING! Check this out:

This is my new favorite All-time favorite song. I was in the camp store Monday afternoon (Day 2) and I could hear the band practicing this song. It has been stuck inside my head ever since then, and have yet to grow tired of it! I love it!

So much more happened this week than I could ever describe to you, but those are (in my mind) some of the highlights from the week. Up next is another week of CITing at Grace Adventures, which I am very excited about! Of course this means another week of no internet access, but that is okay.

Peace out!

Last Sunday, just after noon (right in the middle of church) I received a phone call. No worries, I was anticipating the call and had my phone on vibrate. I still find it funny that it was during church though. Anyway, the call was from Ben at Grace Adventures. When I returned his call as soon as church let out, he offered me the PACE position I had applied for. Basically, I got the internship I wanted and will be spending 10 weeks this fall at camp! This will essentially be an opportunity for me to “try on” camp ministry and see if it’s REALLY what I want to do with the rest of my life, and hopefully discover (as my mom put it) my “sweet spot” in camp ministry. I am WAY excited for this!

However, before I head off to the internship, there are some other exciting things happening. The first of which, is BigStuf. I leave with my youth group tomorrow on a bus headed to Florida where 1500 or so other teens will gather in a hotel on the beach for a week of worshiping, praising, and learning about our wonderful Creator. Not long after returning from BigStuf, I head back to camp as a CIT (Counselor-In-Training). I have already served one week at camp as a CIT and cannot wait to be back for a second! I’ve met some great new friends at camp already this summer and can’t wait to get back and see them, as well as have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the campers I will meet!

So far my summer has been excellent, and there is so much more to come! God is so good!

Happy 4th of July!

Peace out!