Sunday, August 9, 2009
I thought perhaps I'd take a break from writing about camp. It's a subject that needs motivation to write about, and right now, I'm motivated in another direction. In a way, though, I guess I am sort of gonna talk about camp anyways, or at least something I learned while I was there. I want to talk about evangelism.
Every time I hear that word, I shutter. Perhaps it is wrong of me. It's not that I don't enjoy seeing people come to know Christ! I can think of no greater thing to be excited about! The process of sharing the gospel with someone, though, is, truth be told, less than that. (Now, before you write me off as a heathen and a heretic, let me finish.) I will be the first to admit that I do not have the gift of evangelism. When it comes to explaining the process by which we come to God, I am left fumbling for words. It's embarrassing for me to say that I am no good at explaining something that is such a big part of my life! Perhaps that's why I shutter: because I'm embarrassed. Perhaps it's because I'm fearful of what people might say or think. Whatever it is, it is something I have been faced with this summer, when I realized the need for the gospel in the lives of these kids.
It seemed like we had a schedule for everything at camp this summer: wake up, go to sleep, eat food, play games, go swimming, take showers... you name it, we had a time slot for it. I guess I kind of assumed then that sharing the gospel should have a time slot as well. It only seemed appropriate that it be shared on the fourth night of camp, just like it's done in VBS and every other organized church event. However, after it had not been shared for two weeks after the first week, us counselors kind of figured we were expected to pick up the ball that had been dropped. I tried sharing the plan of salvation in my cabin during our devotion time before bed for a couple weeks, but we didn't see any fruit from it. The next week, I shared the gospel during the campfire, but again, it was fruitless. It was discouraging to see nothing happen. Nobody was saved, nobody was convicted of sin, nobody cared. It was that night after the campfire that I cried out to God asking Him for help. I knew that I could never come up with the right words to say to reach these kids. I knew that there was nothing I could do to make them draw close to God. but I knew that God was able to open up hearts and fill my mouth with His word. So I asked Him to do just that. I surrendered all of my planning and strategies and asked Him to guide every action, every conversation, everything that would happen the following week.
The next week i had no plan as to what to do my evening devotions on. I would think of a couple ideas throughout the day, and ask God to lead our cabin conversation in the way he wanted it to go. Oh boy, did He take us places! Starting the first night, my campers bombarded me with questions about God and salvation and baptism and creation and everything else under the sun! I hope that God spoke to their hearts, because I don't even remember half of the things that came out of my mouth in response to many of the tough questions they were asking. This happened every night, but through it I was able to speak about what it meant to be saved and what it meant to have a relationship with Christ. The second-to-last night (may I just say that God is so good! He knows what He's doing!), all of our conversation and questions led right into a gospel presentation. Unlike the other weeks when I felt like the conversation just dropped after I was done speaking, though, they continued to ask questions and share thoughts about salvation. It was so exciting for me to witness how God was working in their hearts! We stayed up an extra hour and a half talking about God's free gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of His Son.
You know, sometimes it amazes me how shocked we are when God does what He promises to. I had asked God to take over the week and lead it toward Him, and He did exactly that. I gave up all that I had planned and expected to DO and let Him MINISTER to these kids. I was so caught up in the schedule of things that I had not relied on Him to take us where we needed to go, but when I surrendered myself to Him to do what He pleased, then He did great things not only in the lives of these kids, but it my life as well. I am so excited to be able to say that God did amazing things that week. We were able to talk to many of the campers that week about what God was doing in their lives and found that He was working in their hearts and convicting them of many different things. It's exciting for me to say that we even saw some come to know Christ as their Savior!
Through all of the happenings of that week compared to the weeks prior, I learned that "evangelism" is not a specific speech you say at a specific time. Instead, it is the constant lifestyle and conversation that points to Christ and what He has done for us. I learned that, though it is important to be purposeful in your speech and manner, it is also important to be mindful of God and where He is leading and to rely on Him for all sources of wisdom and strength. It is Him to does the work anyways. We are just privileged to be His tools.
Every time I hear that word, I shutter. Perhaps it is wrong of me. It's not that I don't enjoy seeing people come to know Christ! I can think of no greater thing to be excited about! The process of sharing the gospel with someone, though, is, truth be told, less than that. (Now, before you write me off as a heathen and a heretic, let me finish.) I will be the first to admit that I do not have the gift of evangelism. When it comes to explaining the process by which we come to God, I am left fumbling for words. It's embarrassing for me to say that I am no good at explaining something that is such a big part of my life! Perhaps that's why I shutter: because I'm embarrassed. Perhaps it's because I'm fearful of what people might say or think. Whatever it is, it is something I have been faced with this summer, when I realized the need for the gospel in the lives of these kids.
It seemed like we had a schedule for everything at camp this summer: wake up, go to sleep, eat food, play games, go swimming, take showers... you name it, we had a time slot for it. I guess I kind of assumed then that sharing the gospel should have a time slot as well. It only seemed appropriate that it be shared on the fourth night of camp, just like it's done in VBS and every other organized church event. However, after it had not been shared for two weeks after the first week, us counselors kind of figured we were expected to pick up the ball that had been dropped. I tried sharing the plan of salvation in my cabin during our devotion time before bed for a couple weeks, but we didn't see any fruit from it. The next week, I shared the gospel during the campfire, but again, it was fruitless. It was discouraging to see nothing happen. Nobody was saved, nobody was convicted of sin, nobody cared. It was that night after the campfire that I cried out to God asking Him for help. I knew that I could never come up with the right words to say to reach these kids. I knew that there was nothing I could do to make them draw close to God. but I knew that God was able to open up hearts and fill my mouth with His word. So I asked Him to do just that. I surrendered all of my planning and strategies and asked Him to guide every action, every conversation, everything that would happen the following week.
The next week i had no plan as to what to do my evening devotions on. I would think of a couple ideas throughout the day, and ask God to lead our cabin conversation in the way he wanted it to go. Oh boy, did He take us places! Starting the first night, my campers bombarded me with questions about God and salvation and baptism and creation and everything else under the sun! I hope that God spoke to their hearts, because I don't even remember half of the things that came out of my mouth in response to many of the tough questions they were asking. This happened every night, but through it I was able to speak about what it meant to be saved and what it meant to have a relationship with Christ. The second-to-last night (may I just say that God is so good! He knows what He's doing!), all of our conversation and questions led right into a gospel presentation. Unlike the other weeks when I felt like the conversation just dropped after I was done speaking, though, they continued to ask questions and share thoughts about salvation. It was so exciting for me to witness how God was working in their hearts! We stayed up an extra hour and a half talking about God's free gift of eternal life through the sacrifice of His Son.
You know, sometimes it amazes me how shocked we are when God does what He promises to. I had asked God to take over the week and lead it toward Him, and He did exactly that. I gave up all that I had planned and expected to DO and let Him MINISTER to these kids. I was so caught up in the schedule of things that I had not relied on Him to take us where we needed to go, but when I surrendered myself to Him to do what He pleased, then He did great things not only in the lives of these kids, but it my life as well. I am so excited to be able to say that God did amazing things that week. We were able to talk to many of the campers that week about what God was doing in their lives and found that He was working in their hearts and convicting them of many different things. It's exciting for me to say that we even saw some come to know Christ as their Savior!
Through all of the happenings of that week compared to the weeks prior, I learned that "evangelism" is not a specific speech you say at a specific time. Instead, it is the constant lifestyle and conversation that points to Christ and what He has done for us. I learned that, though it is important to be purposeful in your speech and manner, it is also important to be mindful of God and where He is leading and to rely on Him for all sources of wisdom and strength. It is Him to does the work anyways. We are just privileged to be His tools.
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