Fifteen Minutes with God

If you were given the chance to spend fifteen minutes with anybody in the world, who would it be? The president? Your wife? Michael Jordan? Nelson Mandela? The Pope? What would you say? Would you be nervous? Shy? Angry?

One of my favorite parts of the outreach camp schedule will take place in less than two hours from now. It is the fifteen minutes with God. Kids will be invited to sit in a one-on-one encounter with the maker of the universe. I often fail to recognize the wonder of that. Repetition does that to us. Let's pray that there would be powerful encounters tonight between kids and the Lord. Club should start at 9:00 and the Fifteen Minutes about 10:15. Following that, the leaders will round up their kids and have Cabin Time, in which they can talk about what they are experiencing.

Thanks for your prayers. This same thing will happen with a new group next Saturday night and one more time the Saturday after that. Keep praying. I look forward to giving you good news.

Kids arrive for Camp 3, 2013

It's day one of camp 3 in the summer of 2013. Kids have been arriving to camp for the past hour. There is a lot of excitement and anticipation in the air - as there should be. For most, this will be the best four days they have ever had. Below are some quick videos showing what their arrival to camp looks like.

Getting off the bus

The work crew welcomes them

They are so excited, they can hardly stand it!

Camp 2 Recap

Camp 2 was interesting, to say the least. As a ministry to kids outside of the church, many of the kids who come to camp are pretty rough. In fact, we know our leaders are focusing on the right kids when during camps we have to break up fights, help recover stolen property, and talk a kid into handing over the knife he stole from the kitchen for purposes more sinister than slicing potatoes. All of that happened this week. We also had 22 Haitian kids attend camp who live in the DR. There is a lot of tension at times between Haitians and Dominicans. When a tough Dominican kid pushed a Haitian too far and the Haitian gave him what he probably deserved, we were all on high alert, making sure the counselors were doing their jobs well to avoid anything more serious.

Yet in spite of the challenges, many of these very tough kids in the end decided they wanted their lives to be different - that the message of a God who deeply loved them sounded really appealing compared with the hardship of life in the street. In the end, about 60 kids made commitments to follow Christ. Some of their pictures are below. Over 20 others recommitted themselves after having fallen away from God in the past.

There are some great stories to share later. Stay tuned...

Camp 2, Day 1

Day one of camp two overall went really well. As of 4pm the day before they arrived, there were 108 kids and leaders expected to show up. When all the buses were here, there were 129 kids and leaders. Welcome to youth ministry in the DR. So lunch was 30 minutes late because we had to make extra food, but in the end all were happy, and more kids get to participate in camp and hear the Gospel. And I think our leaders brought the right bunch of kids. They caught one kid stealing a knife out of the kitchen. Someone stole another kid's flip-flops. A fight was broken up. Yet many of these kids will be attending Bible studies a week from now after accepting Christ at camp. That is the great news of redemption.

Arriving in the Rain

Once again, rain welcomed campers. San Juan Puerto Rico, about 300 miles to our East, had over nine inches of rain the day before - the second-wettest day on record. Fortunately we got off easier than that. Kids still had fun. The county fair was a big hit as always. Club was a lot of fun, and a great club talk was heard.

Enjoying the County Fair

Please pray with us that the Holy Spirit will work mightily in the lives of kids this week. Below are some pictures of them.

Pico Outreach Camp Schedule

Below is our camp schedule each week for the next 4 weeks.  We would love for you to pray for us and these kids during this time. We are currently on Eastern time.

Thursday
10:30 Kids start arriving
11:00 Official welcome
11:45 Program beginning
12:15 Introduction to Rafa as camp speaker
1:00 Lunch
2:00 Games
3:00 Free time & cabin "rides" (Giant Swing, climbing tower, challenge course)
7:00 Dinner
8:30 Club
9:45 Cabin Time
10:30 County Fair
12:30 Lights out

Friday
8:30 Breakfast
9:30 Role Play
10:30 Free time & cabin rides
1:00 Lunch
2:00 Pool Games
3:00 Free time & cabin rides
5:45 Talent Show
7:00 Dinner
8:30 Club
9:45 Cabin Time
10:30 Games
12:00 Lights out

Saturday
8:30 Breakfast
9:30 Role Play
10:30 Free time & cabin rides
1:00 Lunch
2:30 Volleyball & Basketball Tournaments
7:00 Special Dinner
9:00 Club
10:15 - 15 minutes of solitude* This is the time many kids decide to make commitments to Christ.
10:40 Cabin Time
11:45 Bonfire
12:45 Lights out

Sunday
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Group Photo
9:15 Role Play
10:15 Workshops
12:00 Lunch
2:00 "Say-So" & Final Slide Show
3:00 Departure

You may note that this year the camps are shorter. In previous summers, there have been many kids who could not attend because they couldn't get that much time off work.

Favorite Pics from Outreach Camp 1, 2013

A fun welcome to camp

Enjoying the "Pisci-lago"

Doing a trust fall at our challenge course

Processing time at the challenge course

Camp 1 Recap

Camp 1 Kids

Camp 1 was a success. It was not always easy. A tropical storm was heading our way, forecast to become a hurricane before it hit, but fortunately fizzled. Our camp speaker had to go to the local clinic the night before camp started, but ended up being OK. Over 1200 plates of food were served. Long hours were worked. But it is all well worth it. 76 kids along with their 18 leaders were able to attend camp. 94 people in spite of the threat of a hurricane were able to get here. On Sunday morning I went to a workshop for new believers. There were 43 kids in attendance. I heard today how more came to their leaders after going home to say they also wanted to follow Jesus.

Here are a few of their photos:

This morning we had a time with our entire outreach camp team to give God thanks for what he did in the first camp and to refocus for camp 2. There were several great stories. One was of a girl from Licey who wanted to come 100% on her terms. When her bus arrived to camp and the rest of her friends went running and laughing through the reception line, where everyone gives you a pat on the back, she informed the whole line that she didn't want to be touched under any circumstances. By the time she left, she was not only participating in everything, but she wanted to know how she could come back on work crew. She met Jesus last week.

Another story: There was a tough kid from Barranca on the trip that everyone just calls "El Nueve" - "# Nine". It surprised people he had even come. He was in a gang. He used and sold drugs. He was a thief. While this is the type of kid that most needs to come to camp, it worried the area director enough that he changed his plans and go to camp instead of staying with his wife and infant until the second session he was supposed to work. Nueve had never even been to YL club before. But he heard the Gospel last week and went home changed.

Thanks for your prayers. Please continue to pray for kids like this to come to camp this week, and that God would work on their hearts.

Week 1, Day 3

Role Play

Today was a good day. I got to start my day with David, then go for a mountain bike ride, do a little gardening, lunch with my family, then go to camp at 1:00. Not a bad start to a Saturday. I think the kids at camp had it better. After a big breakfast they went to role play. This is where different assigned team members play different types of teenagers in a question and answer time that helps kids process many of the big questions and roadblocks they often use to not seriously consider life with Christ. After that, there was free time and cabin activities (challenge course, climbing wall, and giant swing). In the afternoon there were basketball and volleyball tournaments. While they were having fun, our work crew and staff were preparing a feast for them and decorating our dining hall for our special dinner (think about Thanksgiving dinner and add a Dominican twist, and you will be pretty close, except kids get way more dressed up than my family on Turkey day).

Work Crew kids dressed to serve the special dinner

After dinner, kids went to club to hear the final club talk, in which they are told about the solution to sin - Jesus' sacrifice for us. At the close of club, they are given 15 minutes to go off on their own to consider a life with Christ. Many kids accept Christ as their savior during these minutes. Others do so in the "cabin time" afterward, in which they can discuss things with their friends and counselors. They are in cabin time right now. One final surprise awaits them tonight: a bonfire with the best hot chocolate in the universe.

Time for bed!

Outreach Camps Begin

Work Crew kids ready to welcome campers

Today has been a fun day, full of lots of work, but also lots of excitement. It is the first day of camp. All of the areas actually got here early. Dominicans don't arrive early for anything. That tells you something about kids' level of excitement.

Arrival of the kids looks basically like this:

Buses pull up to our gate.

Kids get off and run through the gauntlet of fun.

Then they get a snack

Then they go to the "Gran Bienvenida" - the Grande Welcome, where they are introduced to colorful program characters,

who draw their attention with great entertainment.

And set them up to hear from Rafa Alejo (our national director and camp speaker for this summer's camps) about the best news ever told.

It is going to be a great week!

Tropical Storm Chantal Update

Thanks for all of you who prayed for us with the approach of Tropical Storm Chantal. Thankfully it petered out before it got to us. We still got a lot of rain, but it has mostly moved beyond us now, in time for the arrival of kids to camp. The main damage that it did was that a few parents decided not to allow their kids to come to camp. In spite of the best efforts of our area directors to convince them that the danger had passed, many could not be swayed.

Tropical Storm Chantal

Courtesy of NOAA, July 9, 2013

It is always fun when you are expecting the arrival of 135 kids to camp and there is a tropical storm heading your way as well. Chantal is forecast to come pretty much straight over camp about 8 pm Wednesday. Our work crew and assigned team should get to camp 10 am Wednesday, and then kids are supposed to get here at 10:30 Thursday morning. Please pray that in the next 24 hours it would either diminish in strength or change direction. Pray also for wisdom in deciding whether to delay the start of camp.

Summer Work Teams

Members of Knollwood/Redeemer teams take a break

We just finished with another successful work team season. I want to thank all who participated or enabled participants to come. We had teams from First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, Scottsdale Bible Church from Arizona, First Reformed Church of Grandville, MI, and two churches from my hometown of Winston-Salem, NC: Redeemer Presbyterian and Knollwood Baptist. These teams play a crucial role in our ministry to Dominican teenagers. They do significant projects at camp. They pour into our local field ministry areas. They share their lives and smiles with lots of people they meet, building relationships in spite of language and cultural barriers. They also give new energy and perspective to those of us who work here every day, reminding us that we do, in fact, get to participate daily in some powerful things that God is doing in this country. Familiarity can leave you jaded to even the things you hold dearest. Thank you, friends, for reminding us of the blessings of being here.

It is hard to express the full impact of the work of these teams. The easiest thing to show is the physical impact. Following are some pictures of the projects they worked on. Several projects were started with teams in the Spring. Summer teams continued work on our new maintenance shop...

 ...and the fence along our entrance road...

...did some great landscaping...

... continued work on our kitchen extension...

  ...chopped wood for outreach camp bonfires and cookouts...

...and made way for a new gazebo at our challenge course.

These projects have a significant impact. Our small kitchen made it necessary for us to use the adjacent screen porch as a food prep area. Not ideal, but necessary.

This year we were able to expand and upgrade this space. The photo below was taken from the same place as the one above. We are not 100% finished yet, but already the space is a big improvement over what we had previously.

Our camp maintenance facilities were split between three different small shops. Two of them were located in places where noise and dust created problems. The new shop centralizes everything and makes way for future development of a national ministry office at camp and additional housing in our main lodge.