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Camp went well. I’ve been telling lots of people about how much I learned to make next year better, and loads of these encouraging humans have reminded me to celebrate what went well this year. First of all, I have an awesome team that I work with, and I don’t think I ever want to do camp without Serena who runs our Sunday middle school program. She’s an incredible young woman, and I am particularly grateful for her camp experience, initiative, and passion for young people hearing about Jesus.

I could fill this whole blog with praises for the different members of my leader team, but I’ve got two weeks of events to cover in my life as well. The week leading up to camp was hard on my body, and I also struggled to focus on some of the key tasks which I found particularly frustrating. Hannah stopped by to help me out moving my gear to church on Thursday and took me for an impromptu drive to pick up her two year old while telling me that I was “emotionally constipated” and attempting to give me a “spiritual enema” because she’s such a good friend. I still get pretty frustrated with the limitations my disability puts on my capacity, but by the grace of God I’m surrounded by people here who care enough about me to check in and find out what details I need support in and proved the practicalities for me to thrive. Hannah’s contribution was to tell me, “You need Jesus because you don’t know it all.”

Another friend had asked some key questions to line up back up plans on camp that exponentially reduced my stress because of my current bladder situation. A different friend made key preparations to keep me healthy and fed (and caffeinated) on camp. I still wish my body had done better, but I know it was enough. Serena had planned a part of our program where young people chose a spiritual engagement activity, and on the list was reading the Bible with me. Several youth and leaders came around to open up the Bible and ask questions and think carefully about how it could apply to their lives.

Afterwards, one young guy who’d told me he’d like to share something at youth group on a Bible verse sat down to show me his typed out sermon outline. I was blown away. Originally, I thought this kid had like a three minute reflection to share. No, he’s got stories and illustrations to go along with his personal testimony of ongoing impact from John 16:33. I’m so pumped about how these young people are seeking God and seeing a positive transformation in their lives. This is a privileged place to live and serve.

My immune system crashed at the end of camp, and I took a full day to recover, but I also chose to work this whole past week and end the term strong before taking this coming week as a holiday to read and rest. This week ended with a worship night planned by one of my youth leaders which was so encouraging to be a part of. He set up a worship team in the centre of our auditorium and curved a couple rows of chairs around it. One of our youth shared some reflections on 1 Peter 5:8-9 before Matt gave a short talk encouraging young people to be aware of the struggles in their choice to follow Jesus. Young people then dispersed to stations engaging in worship in different ways through prayer, colouring, or communion. As I reflected with another leader afterwards, we noticed that plenty of leaders and youth came into that space distracted, but that a handful of them chose to put their phones and burdens down and be present to the Holy Spirit in that space. Not everyone got there, but a handful did, and I’m calling that a massive win in the face of an enemy that wants every young person distracted.

One last piece of my job this week was the year 8 graduation from the intermediate program. I got to show up with my four year 8 leaders and celebrate ending well for a few young people who will begin coming along to youth group on Friday nights in a couple of weeks.

My week was full on with those rich and beautiful local service moments, but I also had a handful of really positive overseas calls that reminded me of the lasting impact of my work. One young person in particular sent me a lengthy message inviting me to her wedding with an encouragement that I was influential in her faith journey and that she still prays for me regularly. Another special young adult called me just to be on the phone with me while she was feeling sick because we each sleep irregular hours and she knew I’d answer if I could. A third precious child planned a call with me to catch me up on the past few months of her life and joked that she mentions me positively at least once a day to people she’s talking to. It’s a privilege to still have a connection to the lives of these young adults who are living in all different time zones and on purposeful discipleship journeys that look radically different based on their personalities and experiences.

There are still things I’ve left out of my recap, but I don’t have time for every story. I have to wrap this up to cross a few tasks off my to do list before I head to the evening service to listen to Phil share about his recent connections with global mission partners. I don’t take lightly the fact that I write this as an American living in New Zealand with a primary audience in the northern hemisphere. In so many ways I’m the one who’s far away, but from where I sit, the stories of Gospel transformation in lives across North India, Kenya, and Thailand are incredibly encouraging alongside those transformation stories I have connection to across America, Germany, and Switzerland.