A Dream Come True – Summer Camp Highlight

High School and Middle School camp at Dunes Bible Camp was incredible! I’m still in awe of all that happened in our youths’ lives. As a cabin leader I got the rare privilege of bunking with the high school girls and seeing their process day in and out.

I loved watching how one of the main speakers Yaz, who carried a real father’s heart, sat down and spent time with our kids at meals. Yaz and his wife Mo even gave words to several of my girls and prayed for them throughout meal times. I know that intentionality like that from a speaker changed my life in high school, so it was so beautiful to watch that happen for the kids.

A Giant Weepfest of Glory

I was blown away by how God met our youth in our worship times.  One evening specifically, Yaz the speaker shared about some places of pain that God had walked him through in his own life and it opened up something like a portal of emotion for our campers. Me and the other female leaders ended up praying and holding most of the girls as they wept in our arms for over an hour and received comfort in areas of family wounds, identity, pain and grief. It was incredible to watch as many of the kids saw their fellow youth in pain and came over to hug them and pray for them. We were witnessing communal grief and communal healing in God’s safe presence, all at once. It was a giant weepfest of glory and everyone walked away lighter and more connected. The sharing in cabin times after that were so phenomenal. 

Letting Go of Heavy Things

In one of the activations at camp, we had campers write on a rock any burdens or struggles they were carrying that they wanted to give to Jesus. As a prophetic act, we walked out to the wooden cross on the beach and placed the rocks at the foot of the cross. My girls shared what they were laying down and said that after that moment of surrender to Jesus they felt “so much lighter!” Several campers felt the Holy Spirit empower them to let go of heavy things they had been carrying and even to go home and share with their parents what they had been struggling with! Seeing the transformation at camp continue back at home in bringing kids and parents back together, was stunning! Yay GOD!

Experiencing Holy Spirit

The final night of Youth Camp was probably my favorite. Several of our youth responded to the invitation to say yes to Jesus for life, or to renew their relationship with Him! Later in the night campers were given the opportunity to come forward and receive prayer from their youth leaders to receive the baptism and filling of the Holy Spirit. We shed tears as almost every single youth in our youth group lined up for us to pray for them! One of our students received the gift of tongues for the first time, many others felt a physical or tangible experience of Holy Spirit, and others were weeping and praying for their fellow youth. We basically got to intentionally lay hands on, pray for and prophesy over every kid in our youth group that came to camp. The tears were flowing, the Holy Spirit’s presence was overwhelming, and the night ended in a wild joyful dance party in worship with all of our campers shouting and rejoicing- SO MUCH TANGIBLE FREEDOM.

I was baffled by how God was so faithful to show up for each person and to see how all the prayers made such an impact on our youth’s beautiful lives. It was a freaking dream come true to be a part of that!