My boss Bev, had told me an encouraging story at training camp which happened last summer. If you read my blog from last summer, you might have remembered that there was a kid called Anders at my Camrose camp. He is actually the grandson of Phyllis (Bev's sister). Anders grew up in a non-Christian home despite his grandparents being Christian. Bev and Phyllis would always try to reach out to them but Anders father was strongly opposed to it. He told his kids that the Bible and all its stories were just like fairy tales, and that they didn't actually exist.
Fast forward to the first day of camp at Camrose. Anders was one of the kids in my small group who didn't acknowledge God or his existence. But through out that week I could see a gradual opening of his heart. He really enjoyed coaches corner. He loved the Bible skits that we did, and most of all he was genuinely intrigued by all the coach testimonies. He must have wondered why did this Jesus character have such a big impact on all of these coaches lives. When it was near the end of camp, he had told me he felt like he could trust God. He must be real, how else could he have impacted so many people.
Well fast forward again, after camp was over (and I had left town already) he went home and told his dad. Bev was actually there at the time of the exchange and it went something like this:
Anders: "Dad, God is real"
Dad: "what? No he doesn't Anders, God is something your grandparents believe in, not us"
Anders: "Well you're wrong dad, Coach crunch (that was my name at camp) told me at camp, and I believe him"
And since then Bev says he's been asking his parents to read him Bible stories every night. He's also been bugging his dad for a Bible for months, and I think he finally got one for Christmas this year. His hunger for the word was so contagious, his parents started questioning and they started reading the Bible to see what it was all about too.
Bev told me that Anders was crying a few weeks ago when he was told he couldn't go back to soccer camp this summer. (he had to go back to sweden for the summer) She said Anders told her "I wanted to go back and see coach crunch, and tell him I still believe in God"
After that, my heart just melted, I sorta wanted to cry..from all the happy feels. It was just such a great example for me personally, of God's faithfulness. That the holy spirit continues to work.
I'll be praying for you Anders, maybe I'll see you next summer bud.
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Some of the ways you can pray for my team!
My team consists of 4 people (myself included). My team members this year are Ty (first year coach), Kim (first year coach) and Katie (head coach).
Some of the things you guys can pray for is:
-tremendous spiritual growth, in terms of our walk with Jesus and living as children of light
-total surrender to the Lord so that he may pour into us and in turn we can pour out into the
communities we go to
-open hearts from campers, volunteers, and billets
- the courage and the boldness to take every opportunity to share the love of Jesus
- wisdom and discernment
- safe travels
-energy and rest
-weather
- the mosquitos
I truly believe in the power of prayer. I was greatly encouraged by a great prayer and support team I had last year and I realized the importance of prayer in any ministry. From the bottom of my heart, I really am thankful for every one of you who supports and prays for me.
Training camp (June 23rd -27th)
So I had coach training this week in Alix. Once again I was amazed by the sense of community and unity that the body of Christ brings. This year we had coaches from BC, AB, and SK. We had about 18 coaches in total compared to 8 last summer. I was able to meet and chat a bit with most coaches and find out what they were all about.
Training was led by head coaches and returning coaches. Since I was a returning coach, I was put in charge of leading stuff like devotions as well as on field training. Even through just a few days there is a TON of stuff to go over and it can be overwhelming, but the group of coaches we had were pretty good and learned pretty fast. Actually they did pretty much everything really well.
A typical day would start at around 8 am for break fast. That's a double negative for me as i mentioned on twitter. Waking up early and eating breakfast are two things I do not enjoy. After that we would have worship (lots of musically talented coaches this year too), followed by a devotion. After that we would usually have a head coach or returning coach go over stuff we need to do in small groups or volunteer orientations...basically the important spiritual aspects of camp. That would usually go to lunch.. mmmm my favorite part, and I must say the meals there were delicious. Home cooked meals kinda thing there ya know? At this time I usually had to make a very difficult choice. On field training was after lunch and usually having a second or third helping was usually not the best idea. But....sometimes the food was too good to pass up on. So yea after lunch we'd head out onto the field (we got pretty lucky with no rain for the most part) and run some drills, teach some skills and go over a typical day of camp. After the first day we let the first year coaches to run it like the real thing and we give them some feed back. On field is the best because we actually get to play the games or stations we're running sometimes and I don't always get to play during actual camps so...yea! We usually fit some team time after that right before dinner. That's usually just to go over which coach would be teaching what skill or running what station/game on what day or what day they're doing their testimony...etc etc. Then comes dinner and dinner is great because I can eat as much as I want without worrying about throwing up all over the field! After dinner its usually some more worship time and we go over more coaches corner (our 5 day gospel presentation to the kids). Usually that goes until 9pm ish and we just get free time for the rest of the evening. That usually results in a large game of mafia with all the coaches which is pretty fun, and then bed time! On the second last day/last day we have communion and we pray for hours in preparation for the summer and sending out coaches.
I'm usually pretty tired after training, its an intense few days. But I'm glad I have this weekend to rest before my first camp on tuesday. I'm super excited for this summer and know God will do great things.
Training was led by head coaches and returning coaches. Since I was a returning coach, I was put in charge of leading stuff like devotions as well as on field training. Even through just a few days there is a TON of stuff to go over and it can be overwhelming, but the group of coaches we had were pretty good and learned pretty fast. Actually they did pretty much everything really well.
A typical day would start at around 8 am for break fast. That's a double negative for me as i mentioned on twitter. Waking up early and eating breakfast are two things I do not enjoy. After that we would have worship (lots of musically talented coaches this year too), followed by a devotion. After that we would usually have a head coach or returning coach go over stuff we need to do in small groups or volunteer orientations...basically the important spiritual aspects of camp. That would usually go to lunch.. mmmm my favorite part, and I must say the meals there were delicious. Home cooked meals kinda thing there ya know? At this time I usually had to make a very difficult choice. On field training was after lunch and usually having a second or third helping was usually not the best idea. But....sometimes the food was too good to pass up on. So yea after lunch we'd head out onto the field (we got pretty lucky with no rain for the most part) and run some drills, teach some skills and go over a typical day of camp. After the first day we let the first year coaches to run it like the real thing and we give them some feed back. On field is the best because we actually get to play the games or stations we're running sometimes and I don't always get to play during actual camps so...yea! We usually fit some team time after that right before dinner. That's usually just to go over which coach would be teaching what skill or running what station/game on what day or what day they're doing their testimony...etc etc. Then comes dinner and dinner is great because I can eat as much as I want without worrying about throwing up all over the field! After dinner its usually some more worship time and we go over more coaches corner (our 5 day gospel presentation to the kids). Usually that goes until 9pm ish and we just get free time for the rest of the evening. That usually results in a large game of mafia with all the coaches which is pretty fun, and then bed time! On the second last day/last day we have communion and we pray for hours in preparation for the summer and sending out coaches.
I'm usually pretty tired after training, its an intense few days. But I'm glad I have this weekend to rest before my first camp on tuesday. I'm super excited for this summer and know God will do great things.
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Day made
My head coach from last summer came to training this week to share a bit of her wisdom. Before she left, she left me a package which looked like this:
Item #1
Item # 2
Last summer we got lots of starbucks gift cards from churches. Lane and I never went to starbucks and we never had much use for them. We said that it was probably way more popular with girls than guys and that we would probably just give them away. Coach told us to hold onto them so we could use them when we got girlfriends. Which according to her....wouldn't happen for a while haha.
Item #3
Item # 4
Lane just bought a $20 frisbee prior to volunteer orientation. We waited in the church parking lot in Camrose and decided to toss it around while we waited for the female coaches to arrive. As soon as coach arrives she sees the frisbee and wants to throw it. Lane gives it to her and we both warn her "DO NOT THROW IT ONTO THE ROOF" After several minutes of warning and of coach reassuring us that she wouldn't, she finally decides to make her first throw. As soon as the frisbee left her hand we knew it was bad, and of course....it landed onto the roof. We didn't get it back until the last day of camp almost and it was a lot of trouble to ask someone to climb the church roof to get it for us. I guess this paper airplane WILL be less trouble.
Item #5
This comes back to the point of Lane and I always eating junk food. Every time the team was deciding where to eat Lane and I would always say McDonalds. We would always go on Mcdonalds runs in between camps and at midnight much to the horror of coach. She never took us up on any of our invitations because as I said earlier, she's a health nut! Also she goes to sleep at like 9. Despite the many warnings from coach that my heart was going to explode, Lane and I always went and it looks like she's finally come around.
:D
Last summer my teammate Lane and I would always eat junk food and skip our veggies. Our head coach Kaitlyn (coach) on the other hand, was a health nut and ate as healthy as possible. She would cringe every time she saw the things we ate, she would always try to sneak something healthy into our meals or snacks. She worried about us...sort of like a mother hah.
Last summer we got lots of starbucks gift cards from churches. Lane and I never went to starbucks and we never had much use for them. We said that it was probably way more popular with girls than guys and that we would probably just give them away. Coach told us to hold onto them so we could use them when we got girlfriends. Which according to her....wouldn't happen for a while haha.
Item #3
This verse refers to an adventure we had at our rocky mountain house camp. There's a video on facebook of coach attempting to scale a wall which took her 10-15 minutes. Through perseverance and amazing coaching from Lane and I she was finally able to do it. We had a good time laughing at her earlier attempts.
Item # 4
Lane just bought a $20 frisbee prior to volunteer orientation. We waited in the church parking lot in Camrose and decided to toss it around while we waited for the female coaches to arrive. As soon as coach arrives she sees the frisbee and wants to throw it. Lane gives it to her and we both warn her "DO NOT THROW IT ONTO THE ROOF" After several minutes of warning and of coach reassuring us that she wouldn't, she finally decides to make her first throw. As soon as the frisbee left her hand we knew it was bad, and of course....it landed onto the roof. We didn't get it back until the last day of camp almost and it was a lot of trouble to ask someone to climb the church roof to get it for us. I guess this paper airplane WILL be less trouble.
Item #5
This comes back to the point of Lane and I always eating junk food. Every time the team was deciding where to eat Lane and I would always say McDonalds. We would always go on Mcdonalds runs in between camps and at midnight much to the horror of coach. She never took us up on any of our invitations because as I said earlier, she's a health nut! Also she goes to sleep at like 9. Despite the many warnings from coach that my heart was going to explode, Lane and I always went and it looks like she's finally come around.
:D
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)