Time for a meaningful blog.
um... this is from a while ago so if it say "last week" anywhere ignore it
I spent a week during in Greystones with a church from Dublin called Crosspoint. What an amazing week it was! I really think God wanted me to be there. First of all, He gave me that week open, even before i knew about. ya see, i WAS going to do the School of Rock thats been goin on in my town for a few years, but i completely forgot about about the sign-up meeting in school, i even went running round school after the organiser, but couldn't catch him. By the time I'd found out about the audition, my friend had already asked me to go to the church camp, and it was on the same week!(turns out it was doubly good that i didnt do the school of rock, cz im off again today to a Christian youth festival). Secondly, I kinda wanted to lead at a camp in ovoca, but i was too scared to ask, and didnt really feel like i was ready for it, but God gave me the chance to serve him by helping out at the kids camp.Despite the fact that i frequently go to Christian camps, and have always loved them, i was REALLY nervous. I only knew three people there and only one of them half-way well. I felt sick for a day before it and i didnt really think id enjoy it. The first two days were kinda tough, cz i didnt know anyone and i was really tired(and withdrawing from caffeine) and cz i somehow ended up either helping prepare for or wash up after every meal... even if i wasn't supposed to. i didnt really mind though. There were only about ten teenagers there, and i guess i kinda got to know some of them. we did some fun activities over the week, none of which i thought id enjoy, all of which i did! A water fight. A photo safari(competition, which my team won! woo! the prize was a big bag of sweets..eww), a quiz(my team won again! a lot of thanks to josh and his ultimate knowledge of biblical things Prize:NOTEBOOKS!!!). We played mad games like empire and apples to apples and mafia(fun!), we went down to the shop too(big highlight) when i realised just how close we were to the sea, and where i FINALLY got a bottle(or two) of my beloved Jones! we also watched The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe cz it was raining.
From Monday to Friday we ran a kids camp, themed "Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of God". It was awesome! There'd be kids songs with cool actions, an "Indy" skit, an object lesson(object always help) from kevin. and then we'd have go n entertain them for a while. playing games, doing craft, and learning memory verses! I was with the 5-7 year olds, and ok some of them couldnt quite get them, but a couple couple just rattle them off really quickly. i dont know any of them! i really thought i wouldnt like it at all, but it wasnt too bad(except for the fact that little kids have WAY too much energy). It was actually amazing to God work in those kids, which He did. Even if they didnt realise it. I did. On friday the kids were asked if anyone wanted to pray, and this one little 3 year old started praying. i couldnt hear what he said, but it was really cool.
A few days we had talks in the afternoon. Im pretty sure they were all based around Daniel 1. and maybe 1 Timothy. About setting ourselves, as young people, apart from the world: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will" Romans 12:2. You know, we get warned ssooooo much about giving in to peer pressure and temptation, about drinking, drugs, promiscuity and all that that it gets ignored a lot of the time, it falls on deaf ears because its lectured to us by adults who just try to force their authority on us and dont relate. and while there was a bit of that, it was a kinda different angle, from people who werent too much older than us, from people who still had to make the decision to not give in to pressure. from the angle of Daniel and Timothy, young people who, in order to serve God, had to be courageous. Timothy 4:12:"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." not that we should go beat up people if they look down on us because we're young, but that we should act in such a way that it would be impossible for others to judge our youth. and even at that, i dont mean not to have fun. we're young, and we should enjoy it, but we do need to be responsible. we should set an example, not only for other young christians, but for young non-christians, and for older non-christians. And EVEN for older christians, because they will be encouraged by our fervour and zeal for the Lord. It's not that it's easy to be set apart, to "in the world but not of it"(if someone could tell me where thats from itd be great). It takes courage. We have to resolve in our hearts to be different, like Daniel "resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine"(Daniel 1:8). here was a young man at the mercy of a great empire, who's identity(much of which was in his faith) was being stripped away, who knew that by his defiance he could easily be killed, STANDING UP FOR WHAT HE BELIEVED IN. Daniel was an example to the other israelites who were in the same situation. He IS an example to young people in Christ. Daniel was a hero, and that is what we as young Christians are called to be. I think we have some of the greatest influence in our friends' lives, simply because we are the same age. Now I am far from being a hero, im not the best example for the believers either, but because of these talks, opening my eyes up to what i need to do, and because of the other young people at the camp, most of whom were great examples of the faith, in my eyes at least, i am challenged to become a better example to my church and to my friends.
