Kumbaya, Crickets, and Other Camp Cliches

There are places in our lives that are inherently special. The places where lives change and memories are made. The spots where the magic happens.

Kootenay Covenant Bible Camp is one of those places for me.

Jesus became real to me in a moment on the beach when I was thirteen. I've been back every year since--sometimes as a camper, others as staff. Even when it's a challenging week, it has always been a great experience for me. I love the times of laughter, of making new friends, of connecting deeply with the Lord. I love the chance to sit on that spot on the beach (or at least near to it, since it was underwater last year) and reflect on where God's taken me since that day six years ago. I'm not the same little girl, and I'm thankful for that.

I'm so excited to be heading back this Friday for a week of ministry. Sarah Floyd, my dear friend Hannah (who I'm so excited to have join us!) and I will be meeting up with our fellow (Canadian) staff on Saturday. We'll be sharing Christ's love with about 50 kids ages 6-12 starting Monday afternoon. We have plenty of planning finished, but what we could really use is plenty of prayer! 

Here are the specific ways that you can be praying for us:

1. Pray that I would speak well. I'm blessed to be chapel speaker and worship director for my third year at KCBC. Please pray that I would speak clearly and that God would open up the kids' ears and hearts. Pray specifically that my heart would be in tune with God's--last year I experienced some significant spiritual warfare. I'm thankful for the ways I grew through it, but it's easier to minister when I'm at my strongest. 

2. Pray for a unified staff. We work with some pretty awesome people every year. We're all different, though,  and we're all trying to pull together a strong team feeling in a very short period of time. Pray that the staff would work together well and support each other.

3. Pray for a focused staff. Because we work with such amazing people, it's easy to get distracted from the real reason we're there and hang out with each other (guilty as charged!). Pray that we'd be able to lay aside our own priorities for the week and focus on the kids. 

4. Pray for strong leadership. Sarah and I are stepping into some bigger roles than in the past. I'm confident in our abilities, and what God can do in and through us, but I'd never turn down prayer, either. 

5. Pray for flexibility. I've yet to have a year where the power wasn't out at some point, we got rained into one tiny building, the lake was twenty feet higher than normal, or some other factor messes with all those plans I talked about earlier. We expect it. We (as much as possible) plan for it. My Type-A personality, however, always gets frazzled by it. It's probably good for me, though.

6. Pray for safety. Safety in travel, safety during the games, safety swimming, safety hiking... If you can think of it, we could use prayer for it. While I'm thankful for excellent medical systems, I would much rather avoid anything resembling hospitals, ambulances, or doctors. 

7. Pray for the kids! I'm a living testament to the fact that God can use Bible camps -- and KCBC especially -- to change lives. I'm praying these kids meet God here in deeper ways than they've experienced in the past, whether they're Christian or not. 

It's a bit of a long list, but any prayer that you can send our way is much appreciated! 

Who wouldn't want to hang out with these crazies for a week?

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