Last week was jammed full with a lot of beautiful things, and knowing I was on camp for the weekend, I’d intended to schedule a post but never got to it. Instead, I was present with a few people who prayed over me and filled me up to send me out well on camp, and I had another filling experience on camp when eight youth and an awesome leader surrounded me and prayed over me before going to bed on Saturday night.
I don’t take lightly the chance to work with young people who are starting out on this journey following Jesus. I don’t know the end of the story for any of them, but the glimpses I have of what is developing are exciting for sure.
This particular camp last weekend is put on by CCCNZ which is a network of churches that RCC is a part of. We gathered youth from five churches and had encouraging sessions learning how to hear from God and how to understand ourselves well so we can be good leaders of others. The highlight of this camp is the solo time session where we send youth out to do the most important part of leading well – spending time with Jesus. My first year on this camp, at the end of solo time, one of my youth felt God told him to pray for my miraculous healing. This camp another youth shared the same sense from God, and I got to sit at the same picnic table having another young person lift me up to Jesus.
I spent my solo time at that picnic bench thanking God for the number of people who have joined in my journey of healing and been a part of praying for me. God’s not done yet. There have been a lot of beautiful touch points through the past twelve years, but especially in the past few weeks I’ve seen God stir up some really cool encounters. What I love about the Holy Spirit movement is that it’s often subtle, but it’s definitely present if you’re looking.
I got to spend a lot of time looking last weekend, and it set me up to see some pretty good things through this past week. I had lots of moments of God showing up when I needed help through the hard work, and I had a few precious moments with just me and Jesus. Bonus, I tricked a young adult into driving me to the beach to have a coffee, and I got to spend time enjoying the waves.
Though I’m still aiming for the weekly posts, I’m conscious that the important work is being present where God has called me each day, and last Sunday that was being present with youth as we wrapped up camp and headed home before I sat and enjoyed the evening service. I’ve got a lot of loved ones here in New Zealand, but I also am called to do some pretty beautiful stuff with TCKs and loved ones in America as well, so this Friday I’m hopping on a plane to spend a week in Chicago before a couple brief stops in Colorado and Oregon. Details will come, I promise, but for now, I’m going to be present in the work here in Christchurch.