This week I had a cabin of 10 4th and 5th graders from very diverse backgrounds. On Sunday night in our cabin devotional, it was clear that only one or two of them were Christians. Many of them had very bizzare and confused beliefs, from forms of mixed polytheism, to relativistic spirit ism. Sometimes these beliefs included some warped image of Jesus, sometimes not. A few didn't have belief of any sort.
Despite this challenging environment, the Holy Spirit really worked to confirm His word in many of their hearts. By Tuesday night, when I asked them again if they believed Jesus was the Son of God, 9 out of 10 of them said that he probably was. On Wednesday night we had the cross talk and explained the gospel to them. After this, I got to have several awesome conversations with these campers.
One of them actually balled as he explained how amazing it was for God to love him so much that he died for him. It's amazing to be a part of revealing the depths of God's grace to others!
Another started our conversation by explaining that he thought it was nice that Christ had died for him, but he didn't think that it was necessary for his "small" sins. I got to explain why even our smallest sins earn us eternal punishment and after some difficult questions, he saw that he too needed Jesus. I pray that God continues to give him a more accurate revelation of himself so that this child may know him in truth.
Another child was a very devout Jew, raised in Israel, fluent in Hebrew, and very knowledgable of the Torah. All week, as we talked often about trusting Jesus, he would constantly ask, "What if you trust in God, but not in Jesus?" During our conversation, we talked more about who Jesus was and what his purpose was. We also talked about how he would ultimately have to choose what to believe separately from his parents. He told me that understood this, and though he didn't have the strength to do this yet, he might one day come to believe in Jesus. As he continues to come to camp over the years, he will be given the opportunity to take this step!
Another boy came in saying that he used to believe in God, but now he believed in science. Since I study a heavy science field and I could talked with him a lot about the science topics he was interested in, he knew he could trust me as I explained how science couldn't take the place of God. In our continuing conversations, he asked a lot of questions and I did my best to answer them. I shared with him Jeremiah 29:13, which says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." I promised him that if he would seek God with all his heart, that he would find Him, and told him how God demonstrated this in my life. He said that he didn't care how long it took, but he would do this with all his heart!
Lastly, I talked with my camper from Session 1, who was in a different cabin this week. On the first night of camp on session 1, he told me that he was sure that he was headed to hell. On that Wednesday night, we talked about Romans 10:9 which says, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that Gid raised him from the dead, you will be saved." He told me that though he believed that God raised Jesus from the dead, he was not able to die to himself in order to confess Christ as Lord and that it would take more time. At the end of session 2, he told me that he was ready to confess Christ as Lord!
In the coming three weeks, the team will be spending a bit of time in Nairobi, a few weeks in Massailand, and a few days in Mombassa before coming back to camp. Pray that we can accomplish God's purpose for us during this time and bring hope to people who desperately need it.