This is one of my favorite moments! This is Elijah. He's 11-years-old. He came up to me at camp and gave me the wooden cross. He said 'I made this for you in Arts and Crafts.' On the cross he wrote, 'Turn to God. Trust in God.' A priceless gift indeed from a cool kid!!!
One of the highlights of this busy summer of ministry was being asked to be the Youth Pastor at a Christian Camp. They asked me to fill that role two different weeks this summer and I’m happy to report that God did amazing things!
This camp draws campers from both churched and non-churched families!
I had the privilege of preaching twice per day, and the gospel message was reinforced through devotional times every day.
I believe that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16), and a lot of children heard the message clearly many times. I praise God for that!!!
I am pleased to report that a number of campers told me that for the first time they realize that they are a sinner, and that they have repented of their sin and trusted in Jesus Christ alone to save them and adopt them as a child of God! That’s so exciting! I ask you to pray that they will prove to be those who had the gospel seed planted into good soil. As Jesus said, these are those “who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:23).
Also, I am excited to report that more than half of the campers told me that, though they were saved before coming to camp, this week at camp God did something special to them and they committed their life to follow Jesus above everything else!
I thank God for the privilege to be able to minister to these precious kids, and I thank you for praying! Let’s rejoice together!!!
Below are some photos and some videos from the weeks at camp. I hope you enjoy them and are encouraged and are moved to pray…
https://picasaweb.google.com/102024819319825275847/2013Camp
Here are what the paintings looked like “AFTER” I preached them for the 5-part series on “Creation”:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102024819319825275847/2013CampCreationSeries
Here are what the paintings looked like “AFTER” I preached them for the 5-part series on “The Final Week of Jesus”:
https://picasaweb.google.com/102024819319825275847/2013CampFinalWeekOfJesus
Here are some videos:
This is the message “Lord Save Me” that I preached on Friday night. It’s about a half hour long. This message teaches about Jesus feeding 5,000 and walking on water, proving that He is Lord God. It also teaches that He gave His life on the cross and rose again, so that if we turn from our sin and trust the good news, we will have eternal life!
At the end of the week is “Skit Night” at camp. It’s a time to be goofy and ridiculous. My 10-year-old son, Caleb, and I were up to the challenge! Here’s the skit Caleb and I wrote, directed, and starred in. It’s about a minute long. I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
My 12-year-old daughter, Juliana, realized that she knew the “hand gestures” for one of the songs the Camp Band was playing. So they invited her up in front of everyone to teach all the campers how to do it! This video is of Juliana teaching everyone the hand gestures for the song, “One Way, Jesus.”
I hope this post has encouraged you. God is working in the next generation!!! Thank you for your partnership and prayers!!!
all for Jesus,
Mark (and family)
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