The Sun Stands Still

This is the fifth and final week of Camp BlueSky for the summer of 2012. We have the pleasure of hosting 160 campers this week. I believe that God desires to move in big ways in the hearts of these campers. This summer we have seen God the work of his mighty hand. Heaven has gotten bigger as we have already seen over 50 kids come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord!

 

This past week at camp, I was given the opportunity to pray with 3 girls who decided to trust Jesus for the first time!! These young girls each come from families who practice the Hindu or Islamic faith. One camper is 11 years old and comes from an Islamic family. She shared with me that she believes in Jesus, and after her experience at Camp BlueSky she wants to have a relationship with him. However, there is an extremely high risk involved for her faith. If her dad finds out about her new faith, she will be punished and is in danger of being physically hurt. I was blown away by her bold faith and that she still desired to become a Christian with so much at stake. This story strikes straight to the heart for me because she is about the same age as my little sister, Darby. My roommate, Lexi and I asked this camper if it would be safe for her to have a Bible in her house. (We wanted to give her a Bible since she did not have one of her own.) Get this… the young girl wanted to have God’s Word so badly that she went out of her way and came up with a risky plan to do so. (Remember, she is only 11!) Her face radiated with excitement as she explained that her family is building a new house and she had already asked the architect to build her a secret compartment underneath her bed so that her parents would not know about it. She planned to ask the architect to destroy the receipt and proof of the extra work so there would be no evidence for her parents to see. This secret compartment is where she will hide her new Bible, and where she will store the treasure of God’s Word in her room. This is just one example of the many miraculous stories that have happened this summer because of encounters with God’s love and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is moving in powerful ways and many names are being added into the Book of Life! Praise Jesus!

Will you please join me in prayer that each one of these 160 campers would experience the love of Christ this week, and have a real encounter with the Savior? Will join me in praying a ferocious and bold prayer that each one of these kids would leave Camp BlueSky having entered into a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ? In faith, I don’t think that is too big of a prayer. Bold? Yes. Unattainable? No. I’m encouraged by the story in Joshua 10. Joshua and his army are marching into battle. The Lord says to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you” (Joshua 10:8). So, Joshua leads his army as they march all night, and the Lord fought for them. It says that God sent down hailstones from heaven. Crazy! But the battle is not over yet. Joshua sees that the sun is about to set. So, what does Joshua do? Joshua shows audacious faith in the Creator. He undoubtedly believed God’s promise that he would grant them victory. Joshua fearlessly believed God’s words which causes him to ask God to make the sun stand still... Joshua asked God to stop the sun from setting. Seriously, who does that?! Amazingly, the Bible says, “The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day” (Joshua 10:13). In the same way, I expectantly hope and believe with audacious faith that he will answer our prayers like he did Joshua’s on that day. I want to have the same kind of hope and faith in our Creator, so much to the point that if we pray big prayers that seem unattainable to us, like for the sun to stand still, that it will happen. Because with Jesus nothing is impossible.

“Now to him who is able to do IMMEASURABLY more than all we could ask or imagine, according to his power that at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” 

Ephesians 3:20-21

Kakamega and Bungoma, Western Province of Kenya

In Western Kenya our team split up into pairs to stay with families for a week. We lived in mud huts with them, ate with them, and shared life together. It was a stretching week, but also a lot of fun. During the day, each team would go out to different churches and orphanages to share the Gospel and to serve in various ways. 

Each morning our team would play with the children at the churches for the Early Childhood Development programs that the churches have. Then, we would plant trees for the churches to provide shade, lumber for building houses, and fruit to eat. This is Alec and Pastor Ben planting a tree in front of the church. 

Me and Corbitt planting a tree 

During the afternoons our team had the opportunity to go from home to home to pray for people in the neighborhood. We prayed for healing over families, sicknesses, invited people to church, while encouraging and sharing the Gospel with them. The Holy Spirit was evident in his leading. 

The kids love to eat sugar cane.

Our team in the matatu...our van for the week.

Pretty farmland covered with clouds.

The Swahili song we sang for the church (: 

 

Melap, my Kenyan mom for the week, and our dinner (:

This is the Wanyama family. We stayed with them in their house for the week. They were so hospitable, generous and kind! We learned so much from them. We were delighted to share life and the love of Christ with them. Laughter was abundant throughout the whole week as we shared stories, meals, and life together. 

Our team

At Rehema Orphanage

Eunice! Reunited at last. I met Eunice back in 2010, and it was such a fun surprise to see her again this year at Rehema again. 

Melap and Lawrence, my family for the week. So thankful! 

Pastor Ben

Swinging and having fun with the kids at the orphanage.

God's beauty displayed over the Nile...Crazy to think that it was once all blood! 

Me and Lexi on the "boda boda" (motorcycle)

Mt. Suswa, Masaai Land.

Between camp sessions there is a 3 week break where our team is given the amazing opportunity to serve in different parts of rural Kenya. This year we were blessed to spend 4 days with the Masaai tribe at the foot of Mount Suswa in the Great Rift Valley. The Masaai are very traditional people- they are cow herders, minimalists, and are known for being strong warriors. They live very different lifestyles than we do as Americans...But we all learned so much during our time in the Valley.

 Our Covenant Group on the way to the Great Rift Valley

 ACU Grads, 2010. 

 

During the week our team served by working on the road leading to Mount Suswa for the Masaai Conservancy. We moved rocks, filled in pot-holes, dug up more rocks, and got stronger as we worked. haha (: We were happy to help as this community desires to build a road to the mountain for tourists to come visit, get exposure to their culture, and to create some revenue for the people living in the crater of the mountain. There is a beautiful campsite that we camped in, that when the road is finished will be open to the public for many people to come and visit the Masaai people. 

During the week, we camped in tents outside a church. Pastor Jackson hosted us- their church cooked for us, and blessed us by sharing life with us during the week. This is Pastor Jackson's wife, Esther. She is a kind friend, a beautiful woman and an incredibly hard worker. They have three children who are adorable! Pastor Jackson leads a church near Mount Suswa, and is a great example to me in the way he trusts God with everything, is joyful, thankful, and generous in every situation. God is using him to share the Gospel to many people in the Valley. His church has planted a large number of other churches throughout the region to reach many people. Pastor Jackson disciples these other pastors. 

 

When we were not doing road work, we got to play with the kids in the community after school. We played soccer, sang songs, made lots of new friends, and were able to learn some of their language which is called Ki-Masaai.

The soccer game ended with an intense shoot-out! haha 

 

 Me, Andrew, and Lindsay

The last night, we were so excited to stay on top of the mountain! This was our beautiful campsite!! We all woke up at 5:30 the next morning to hike to the top of the mountain. It was an incredible experience.

 Here's our team!

View from the top of Mt. Suswa

 

O Lord, our Lord, 

How majestic is your name in all the earth!

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise, 

because of your enemies to silence the foe and the avenger. 

When I consider your heavens, 

the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars,

 which you have set in place, 

what is man that you are mindful of him, 

the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor. 

You made him ruler over the works of your hands

you put everything under his feet: 

all flocks and herds, and the beast of the field,

the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord, 

How majestic is your name in all the earth! 

 Psalm 8