I don't have time (or enough sleep ha ha) to do this blog justice today, but I know that those of you who are praying so hard for these students and this camp love hearing what God is doing, so I am going to do my best.
Yesterday the theme for everything from recreation to bible study to evening worship was "relate". We heard about how our good works should be a natural overflow of the love and change that is in our life. Neil really was concerned about the current trend for students to use good works as a cover-up for what ever sin and defiance is in their lives. They might be willing to raise money for a cause or spend a week in Haiti before they are willing to follow Jesus in baptism or give up their pet sin. He emphasized the importance of letting people know we are Christians by our love, all the while letting God be the source of that love. Our students responded well to this message and some translated it quickly to their own lives and how they can let God use them to make an impact in their homes and school. At the end of the service there was a short presentation about Compassion International, which is a ministry that's mission is to eliminate poverty in children's lives. Many of our students are excited to go home and talk with their parents about contributing to this work. Check it out at http://www.compassion.com/ and be praying about how you too can help. The really powerful thing about the Compassion presentation was that it was given by a man from Kenya who God spared from a life of poverty by his being sponsored as a child. He is now a pastor and youth speaker and is completing his college degree, none of which would have been possible without people giving!
Please pray as the students have started to learn about how to "remain" in God today, all leading to the worship service tonight. This is our last full day, so please pray that God uses this time in amazing ways and sends us home tomorrow new people, ready to walk with Him and shine everywhere we go!!