Awakening -- Day 1

After months of preparation, the big day has finally arrived. We have 26 students at camp this year, and we are confident that every one of them is here for a reason. After greeting the youth and their parents at registration, we spent some time hanging out with them, getting acquainted with each other. Most of the team is new this year, so they enjoyed getting to know their soon-to-be Scottish friends, and the students seemed to enjoy getting to know a new batch of Americans. More southern accents to make fun of!

After everyone arrived and got settled in, we gathered them together to share the all-important camp rules. You can't have a church camp without reminding students not to drink, smoke or take their friends' prescription drugs. But as we said, it's not about denying them; it's about helping them leave behind things that prevent them from encountering the Lord and hearing what He has to say to them this week.

After the initial meeting, we had a fire drill to ensure the kids knew where to go in the event there was an emergency that required such an evacuation. We were efficient in our execution. We had 2 people with clipboards checking off names -- verifying the safety of everyone on site. It was a maneuver of precision -- something a Swiss clockmaker would've marveled at.

Then it was time for dinner. We were treated to an American dinner of hot dogs and chips or "crisps" as they say here. The varieties of crisps are rather interesting. Worcestershire and Prawn Cocktail are just two of the more notable "flavors" from which we had to choose. When in Rome, right?

After dinner, we settled in for some worship and a great message from Ernie Wagoner III. Ernie shared his testimony and encouraged the students to put aside the inadequate substitutes on which we rely to provide our sense of worth or our identity. He reminded us that Jesus doesn't call us to put aside those things that don't sustain to leave us with nothing. He calls us into a relationship with Him -- a life of abundance and excitement and joy. As Ernie said, we think that Jesus is boring, but it's not Him who's boring. We're the boring ones. Jesus is anything but boring. It was a great start to the week.

We are excited to hear what else the Lord has for Ernie to share with us -- as well as what Kristin and Elizabeth will share throughout the mornings this week.

We will post more tomorrow about Sunday night's activity: The Assault Course. The pictures will amaze and astound. You will thank us that they are not scratch-n-sniff!

The morning messages are at 10:00 a.m. local time or 5:00 a.m. EDT. Monday night's evening service will be at 8:00 p.m. local time and 3:00 p.m. EDT. You can watch them at the top of this blog if you like. Thanks for looking in and for praying for everything that the Lord has done here and will do for the remainder of the week and beyond.