Holy Moments 3!

Another 350 Campers showed up in the last hour and our team is ready.

Attached is a picture from All Camp Worship this morning. Typically Sunday Mornings are no different that Sunday Mornings back in Brentwood, TN. We gather with the entire team (Work Crew, Summer Staff, Assigned Team and Property Staff) for a morning of singing and a message. Today was no different.

If you could have been a fly on the wall, this is what you would have seen. The Club Room Wall became a miniature "Wailing Wall". Everyone in the room wrote down prayer requests and stuck them in the "crevices" of the wall, just like Jewish and Christian Pilgrims have been doing in Jerusalem (http://mosaic.lk.net/g-wall.html). It was amazing to watch our Camp Team approach the wall and lay their burdens down.

Later in the week, one of the favorite songs we will sing was written by our good friend, Ryan Long. Ryan is a talented and annointed singer-songwriter and friend of Young Life.

"Amazing Love
How can it be
That You, my God, would die for me
Amazing Grace
How sweet the sound
I come and lay my burden down" - Ryan Long

Pray with us as Campers this week (and all previous weeks) will learn the truth of the Gospel and "come and lay their burdens down" too!

Holy Moments 2!

We just finished our first week of camp. My heart is so full. As you may remember, I'm trying on a new pair of shoes. I have not only purchased and worn my Chaco's, but I have a new job, Camp Director. I've learned that shepherding a group of 100 volunteers (Work Crew and Summer Staff) is wonderful when you have competent, gifted and faithful folks on your team.

You, no doubt, know that I am being stretched, learning how to pastor and lead and praise and enjoy this new role. But I can't do it without you ... so thanks, for joining with me.

We did have a surprise "holy moment" when 25 kids/leaders from Puerto Rico were re-directed from Crooked Creek (YL Camp in Colorado) to Windy Gap due to their cancelled flight. So, instead of sitting in the Airport in Charlotte for 2 days, we found beds, added tables in the Dining Hall and saw the hand of God show up as kids met Jesus for the first time ... "a lifetime of Holy Moments" is what I've been praying for and last week there were plenty!

Holy Moments!

Soon the very hard work of getting kids to sign up for camp and stay signed up will come to end as we board the buses and head to Windy Gap June 5th. I know that you will join me in prayer for much more than just getting kids there. My hope that God will push back the darkness so my friends can see Jesus is your hope as well!

When the buses arrive, I will be ready for:


"… a lifetime of holy moments.
… in dangerous proximity to Jesus.
… filled with adventure, wonder, risk and danger.
… a faith that is gloriously treacherous.”
- Mike Yaconelli

Attached you will find a Prayer Calendar, one big enough to see and one small enough to print and stick in your Bible or on your mirror or close to the spot you talk to Jesus the most … thanks for remembering me/us in prayer!

Grace and Peace,

Eve

Friends

Friends ... for life!

Paul and Jenny Cleckner have been an amazing gift to me. When we started promoting "recruit by relationship" in our Young Life Area about 5 years ago (though we called it "recruit your own"), several leaders have been great at inviting their friends to join us in ministry. Holly Barnard and Katie Lazas in particular, but none have poured into potential leaders more than Paul and Jenny. Their life is a testimony for Community on Mission, something you may hear me talk about alot in the future. I've been wondering what the difference between YL and other groups I know and decided that alot of Christian Small Groups feed themselves (Mission Communities), but may not look out at the Mission field like we do (Community on Mission). Paul and Jenny have helped me realize in new ways that giving your life away is essential for growth and an integral part of the Gospel. Jonathan, Phillip, Billy, Karen, Danae, Nick and Thomas are a part of this group of mid-20 year olds that come around YL in Wilco to be fed and to give their lives away and have a direct path thru the Cleckners.

I realize more about Jesus when I am with Paul and Jenny.

The 2nd half of this post is to include a current that has been running in me this school year. Maybe it is because my girls are Seniors and that makes me pause and ask questions, but it's a new current. It is that question of my direct ministry effectiveness with teenagers. I've found myself asking "am I too old," "is the tide shifting in ministry for me," "do kids still want to be around me" "do I still want to be around kids"? This is unfamiliar territory for me. I have found myself wanting to send out spies to the land to survey the enemy of old age. Right now, 10 speak loudly that I am too old, but I'm still clinging to the whispers of the 2 that keep saying that the Father has given me/us the land.