Our 'Laser Beam' God

What a week so far. It’s mid way through our first week, packed full of surprises. Most obviously, it’s been the hottest days of the past 2 decades. We have 7 nuns as adult guests. We have 6 campers or work crew who are children of significant people in my life from the past. Hot hot hot. Imagine welcoming 9 groups of busses spread out over 3 hours in 110 degree temps. That’s what we did. The work crew, program and speaker (Tanita) were champs as kids were welcoming into the best, and hottest, week of their lives. In the tail end of a pandemic after a year and a half of restrictions and separation. It’s epic to say the least. Three kids are here, originally from Colombia. Apparently they had their guard up, assuming they’d feel out of place. Their first stop was to get some ice cream where they were greeted by summer staffer, Aisha. Within the first words they connected in Spanish, realizing they were all native of the same South America country. The two campers told their leader, “okay! I feel safe and that I belong here.” That morning, Tanita (speaker) I led the whole camp staff (WC, SS, assigned team and property staff) in a message about putting Jesus at the center of our life, community and our serving here, and that we aim to create a strong sense of belonging for each other and campers who might feel left out. Tanita shared about how deeply that Generation Z longs for ‘safety’ and that although God doesn’t promise life will be safe, he is ultimately good in every way. As the Beaver said in Chronicles of Narnia of Aslan, the Christ figure, “Is he safe? No. But he is good.” Many kids came in to camp with their walls up and unsure if they’d feel safe and like they’d belong. The past year has heightened this with isolation from real conversations, division all around them, and a combination of a shaming, cancelling and judging culture seeking to conform people to overlording patterns of thought. When they arrived, our goal and prayer was for softened hearts and lowered walls in order that kids would experience the love of Jesus.

One girl I met turned out to be a daughter of one of Tanya’s and my first ever YL kids in Everett. I asked ‘*Evie’ about her parents and she shared that they were out of the picture and that she lives with her grandparents. My heart broke. Fast forward to that night. Our camp musician, Etu Vala, played a special music song with the line written for a girl, “your father didn’t say you’re beautiful, mother didn’t say I love you.” And the lyrics expressed the love of God for them. Then Tanita spoke directly to kids’ hearts about the things they use to try to fill their lives up, apart from God. She shared about the woman at the well, how she wanted life to the full, and Jesus looked past her rough story and into the possibilities she had ahead.

After club and cabin time, her leader Angela said that Evie felt that Etu’s song and Tanita’s message was like a ‘laser beam straight to her heart’ and that ‘something broke open inside her that never has before’. I asked Etu about that song he wrote and sang, he said he was praying just before club and felt God prompt him to change the song he planned to be that song. Friends, we have a laser beam focused God at work. *Evie is an alias.