It Begins!

Right now, I am sitting and listening to a camper activity going on below me in the Grand Chalet. As I hear the kids laugh and talk with one another, I am comforted with the knowledge that God grows His church regardless of age or circumstance. These campers are not afraid to ask tough questions, and as usual, the camp has given them an opportunity to ask them. Here is a sample of some of the many questions the campers submitted to the camp staff:

- What happens to infants who die? Why does God allow this?
- How can we know Christianity is right? What about Buddhism and Islam?
- Why does it seem that God is silent? Does He care about us? Why?
- Why does God allow disasters to happen?
- Why did God create us?
- My brother has skin disease. My family and church have been praying and fasting for years and exhausted medical resources. Why is he not cured?
- I recently read the book of Leviticus. Must we apply the laws God gave to Moses as Christians?
- Do you believe Jesus is God? Please prove it Biblically.

The final two questions are topics I have studied personally in recent years, and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to help campers dig deeper into Scripture and logic. I will be assisting in a small group discussion on the question of the Law, and a one-on-one discussion on Christ’s divinity. I am deeply encouraged (and also overwhelmed) by the depth of questioning these campers have. It is my firm belief that asking tough questions is one key way God grows our trust in Him. After all, if we are too afraid to ask the tough questions and genuinely seek truthful answers, how can we justifiably say we have faith to begin with? Would not being afraid to ask questions show a lack of faith? As such, I welcome such questions and subsequent times of intellectual trial – I know that without them in my life, I would have (at best) very shaky grounding for my faith. As my faith is my ultimate and guiding joy in life, I wouldn’t trade the pain and confusion I felt when asking those questions myself for the world.

In other news, my video workshop is going well, and we are on schedule thus far. Day one I showed the campers a film noir (Laura, from 1944) to give them a taste of the genre we would be making, and today, I taught them how to storyboard and use a camera to emphasize mood, meaning, and most importantly, continuity. Hopefully some of my teaching rubs off and we come out at the end of camp with a pretty good product. In any case, pray first and foremost that the campers would have the energy and focus to work diligently on the project and grow through the process. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and a lot could go wrong, so pray that we could be patient with one another, glorify God, and have fun at the same time.

Chelsea and the kitchen team are still churning out quality food for the campers, despite some hiccups along the way. Day one, we did not have the potatoes necessary for a side dish, and yesterday we were missing capers for Chicken Piccata, and in both cases, Chelsea had to improvise a solution. Per usual, the meals she created in lieu of her original menu turned out wonderfully. Also per usual, Dustin and Kelly were flexible and made what could have been a painful process into one of laughter and mutual joy. Chelsea is truly blessed to have two people so servant-hearted to work with her.

Camp Director Tom spoke on the doctrine of God this morning (Who is God?), and there is a full slate of topics to cover over the course of the two-week camp. Pray that God would move and soften hearts, giving us all the words to speak and an attitude worthy of Him.

God bless,
David