UCSA camp

This is probably going to be really long, but it’s going to be awesome, so if you’re willing, stick with me.  My pictures are not uploading unfortunately:(, so stay tuned for those!

These past 5 days have been absolutely incredible. Perhaps the best in my life. I feel like maybe, just maybe I have found my calling in life. The base that all of us are staying at is called UCSA. It is a Christian organization that does outreach and puts on all sorts of camps and things. The UCSA people were hosting a 300-person camp and needed extra leaders so 18 of the Americans helped with the camp. Side note: the 18 were pre-chosen, we didn’t have a choice. So, we were a little frustrated about it, being thrown into an African camp as leaders not knowing what to do and not having a choice in the matter.

I signed up as a small-group leader thinking that I would be good at it, and that it would be a fun experience. What a great choice this was. SA camps are similar to American camps in the way that they have small groups, times of worship and teaching sessions, meals together, but different in the way that only about 50% is planned in advance. TIA is all I have to say about that (This is Africa). The leadership team gets together multiple times in the day to hear from the Lord and see what he wants to do with the day, so you never really know what’s going to happen next. It through our team for a loop.

So now to the good stuff. My group of nine 11th graders was outstanding. I couldn’t have asked for better students to walk along side during this time. They were white South Africans who spoke Afrikaans as their first language, but spoke only English while at their camp since I was their leader. They had a good knowledge of who the Lord was, but their faith and understanding grew immensely as the days went on.

My proudest moment was on Saturday when we went to do outreach in JBay. A big AIM thing is ATL-ask the Lord. Just as the camp leaders ask the Lord each day what will happen, we waited on God to show us where to go and who to speak to that afternoon. The students weren’t really familiar with it, so we just continued to pray. I gave them a lot of authority in the matter and really tried to take a step back. So, we began to walk around JBay finding people to speak with and pray with. We ran into a few car watch people. What this is, is men and women who guide your car into a space, watch it while you are in a shop, and then guide you out of a space and them ask for tips. The need for this is virtually obsolete. So, a few of my students prayed for them and were so encouraged and proud of themselves for taking a leap of faith and for God allowing it to go well.

To make a long story a bit shorter, we probably prayed for about 5 people. I sat my group down and we debriefed a bit and a young Brazilian couple approached us. They saw that we were praying and wanted to see what we were about. We explained about the camp and invited them to the service that night. It turns out they are on their honeymoon and wanted to find a church while they are on holiday. So, we were able to pray for them, and they in return prayed for us. That night, they showed up to our service! My students were ecstatic!! We tried to find them afterward and speak with them, but they left a bit too quickly. The next morning in our session, one of the leaders told the whole group that he had met the Brazilian couple and they wanted to thank him, because this service was the best time that they had had while on their honeymoon!! My kids were awestruck and excited. What an awesome gift from the Lord. It was so cool to see fruit from their ministering. 

My group of kids just blew my mind. I couldn’t stop telling them how proud I was of them. Many of them recommitted their lives to the Lord, and made other commitments about their lifestyles. They kept telling me how much they enjoyed me as their leader and said I was the best group leader ever (aww!). A couple of them will return to UCSA in January for a leadership camp and they said I HAVE to be their group leader, that they want no one else. It was so sweet. Who knows if I’ll still be in JBay at that time, but it would be so fun to see them again.

Today when they were all leaving, I was so sad to see them go. I looked around and saw them praying for each other. It was such a blessed moment. They really taught me a lot about the Lord and showed me pieces of his heart. After they had all left, I cried my eyes out. I gave everything that I had, I really did. No one in our group invested as much as I did, and I only say that because I feel that’s what the Lord required of me. I gave everything.

I just pray that these campers will look heavenward because of all that happened this week and see that it was not because of me, and not because of this camp. This was because the LORD is faithful in all things and he met them where they were at.