Sunday, June 19, 2011

Oh Life =)

Well. It was bound to happen. After 5 weeks of no sleep, driving 14 hrs for a wedding in two days, and continually pouring into people's lives, I was due for a major breakdown.  

After banging my leg, getting locked out of my friend's house where i planned on napping and resting, and trying to sleep in a sauna with the light on - I gave in unashamedly to the natural woman's response to such frustrating circumstances... buckets of tears!

What a week. I started it by becoming deathly ill and ended up spending tuesday in bed with a fever and chills. Still sick, I lost my voice screaming in the river and yelling for the Revelation skit on Thursday. That night i drove 2 hours to Annika's, slept 4 1/2 hrs and drove 4 hrs that morning to a rehearsal lunch. My sad attempt at sleep came after a wedding and a drive back to camp!

To God, it was a perfect opportunity to teach me to rely fully on Him! (Isn't it always like that?) I opened my Bible in desperation, only to be met with Heb 4 "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God". Tears coursed down my cheeks. Oh how I long for that eternal rest!

"We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses... let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need".

 This week, I have been struck by the realization that the gospel is always the proper response to life. It is the answer to a 12 yr old's question of how to live for Him, the friend who struggles with inadequancy in ministry, the woman who's husband is cheating on her, and my own frustrations and need for encouragement.

It is so simple yet so profound. Christ died to give us life, breaking the power of sin and death! He is all we need for life and Godliness - His gospel is the balm for every wound and the strength we need for each trial. It is the reason we can have true joy!

And so, we "present our bodies as a living sacrifice" for that is our only "reasonable act of service" to a God that has saved us and changed us to be like His Son! We are fellow heirs with Christ - the curve balls that life throws cannot overpower this truth.. if we are immersings ourselves in it!

So I have decided to thank Him for entrusting to me His ministry of reconcilation, especially to those in middle and high school... and to eat a massive steak and maybe some chocolate!!

May the gospel give you encouragement this day as we join together to live for Him!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

This is Week 2

My life at Snowbird..
Today: Lorelei and I hiked up the mountain next to camp to do our devotions. Our 360 degree view of the brush covered mountains around us was simply amazing! Cliff jumping was next - It just so happened to be raining as we jumped 40 ft off a rock face into the lake below =) We swam across the lake, played with the rope swing and had a fabulous time. We ended the day with coffee, volleyball, and Hercules. Simply amazing.

This past week was very different than the first. The girls that were in my group were 19 yr old youth leaders. Instead of sharing the simple gospel, we dug into the Word to challenge them to live for Him! God taught me so much through our study of Hebrews 1 and the last part of 10. It is not enough to simply look back on how God has changed you and what He has saved you from, one must be faithful and persevere to the end!

If we call ourselves believers, we must strive wholeheartedly after the gospel, immersing ourselves in His word and living each part of our lives in surrender to His will. What a challenge and encouragement! At the end of the week, one of them even became a Christian! She came depressed and discouraged, and left with the joy of the Lord. It was so beautiful to see =)

If I can summarize the week's lesson, it is this: mind, body, soul, and strength should be devoted to serving the Lord. He is so gracious to save us from the pit of sin and self and transfer us into the Kingdom of His light! Living for Christ and through His power is best - in every aspect of life!

Never stop abiding, never stop learning, never stop serving, never stop fighting. In this is life =)

"Be Killing Sin or Sin Will be Killing You"

Sunday, June 5, 2011

The First Week

The first week of camp is over! I am so exhausted but yet so fulfilled; there is nothing like sharing the gospel. I have learned so much already and heard the Lord's calling on my life more strongly than I ever have before. Hopefully, it will encourage and uplift your hearts!

This past week, I have fallen in love with six 12 and 13 yr olds =). Most of them come from families who only use Jesus' name in vain - yet they had such a thirst for the knowledge of God. In our small group times, they asked all kinds of questions: How is God 3 in 1? What is hell like? Why did Satan think He could win against God?

But the question that got me the most was "How do missionaries know that they are called?" I explained that God lays a burden on their hearts, and they can't imagine doing anything else - they MUST share the gospel. The camper than asked me "Ellen, were you called to Snowbird?" I stopped.

God had called me here and laid it on my heart to share the gospel to young women! In fact, He had been calling me to that through high school and college. As i knelt before the altar on friday night, tears streaming down my face, I finally acknowledged that this is what He has created me to do, I must share the gospel to the women of this world. Do I have a clue where that will lead? Nope. But I know that He will lead and guide me all the way.

After the sermon on missions, I held six weeping girls in my arms. Their families are not Christians and destined for hell. As we talked, I challenged them to be missionaries to their families, to read and study His word so that their lives would be a reflection of Him! I write this so you may be encouraged; God is working in the lives of young people even today. They promised to read and study - the book of John first. Pray that the Lord would continue to grow them even amidst adverse circumstances!

My favorite part of the whole week was studying the first chapter of Mark with them. 12 girls came to me and asked if I would do a biblestudy with them! For a whole hour, I taught about John the Baptist, Jesus and His ministry, and how we can correctly respond to His words. What a blessed time! After a semester studying the Life of Christ in Israel, I cannot help but smile - He has prepared me for this. I showed them pictures of Israel that pertained to the chapter - the wilderness where Jesus was tempted, the synagogue at Capernaum etc.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is changing people's lives, even before my very eyes. Is it changing yours? 

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Welcome to Snowbird Camp! In the last week, I have danced, dressed up, and shared the gospel more than I ever have in my life. It has been a crazy roller coaster but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else =) God has certainly called me to this place.

Snowbird is different than any other camp I have experienced. The staff is committed to sharing the true gospel, and not pressing campers into emotional decisions. We are entrusted with the gospel, and we preach it to them multiple times a day!

A brief schedule so you get a feel for the camp.. Mornings we have a worship/sermon time - so fun because we get crazy and dance while they enter in! -  and then breakout sessions for extra learning (how to study the bible, hell, preaching the gospel, modesty etc). Lunch is next! After lunch, the students leave for recreation - hiking, biking, canoeing, horse back riding, white water rafting etc.

I work the skeet shooting rec and guide down the Nanahala river - white water rafting. So much fun! After dinner is another session for woship and preaching. Each night we have a different activity after our sermon: tues night we do a slam dunk contest, wednesday we split up the girls and guys and have a talk.. with a girl dance party in-between! Thursday night is a re-enactment of Revelation 17.. Satan and his demons kill the martyrs and Christ comes to save his people and throw Satan in the pit! More on that later!

The staff here is a gift from God. We learn, serve, and love one another for the sake of the gospel. Every week we are so exhausted, but we find encouragement through our fellow brothers/sisters in Christ. It is a blessing to be apart of the body of Christ.

Each week, I am assigned to a specific church and the girls they bring. Our job is to spend time with them and pour into them for the purpose of sharing the gospel. We lead share groups after each night session with those girls as well. It blows my mind how open they become after you share a solid week with them!

I have already learned so much from 2 weeks of staff training and 1 week of camp.. but since my intro has been long enough, you'll have to stay tuned for lessons learned!