Two sessions in...

I am finally back in North Carolina, and to a place that I have consistent internet access! I apologize for the delay between blogs but have no fear, I should have internet for the rest of the summer. I am already two sessions into summer camp! I can't believe it. What a great two weeks with kids I have had.

Our first camp session was in Lynchburg, VA at a camp and conference center. It was a beautiful place, but it was perched right on the side of a mountain. Now you may be thinking "That doesn't sound bad at all," but when you think that everywhere on the campus that we went, we were either climbing a steep hill, or walking down the steep hill. This became problematic when we as a staff were extremely sleep deprived and could barely function. When the first group of kids showed up at camp, it was the most exciting and exhilarating moment that I think I've ever experienced. I've learned that when kids are around, it makes every situation that you think is terrible, great! The first week did not come without it's challenges though. I did not expect that managing 3rd and 4th graders would be such a hard task. I knew it would be hard, but I had no idea. I have had my Bible study material for several months now and I thought that I had every thing mapped out before I got to camp and had everything figured out but was I extremely wrong. Everything that I thought would be easy for the campers to understand, they completely did not get, and everything that I thought they would have a hard time understanding, they got the very first time that I explained it. It's amazing how that works. It was also very hard to keep their attention for the hour that I have them in Bible study. I hate to compare children to dogs, but they kind of reminded of the dog in the movie "Up," with its short attention span. Through all of the challenging moments, I saw God's hand working in the children's lives. On my team, we have begun to call them "Jesus chills," and thats when something so spiritual happens that we get chill bumps. God has shown up at PassportKids! in a very powerful way! But hey, I didn't expect any different.

The second session of camp was much easier than the first week. This session was located in Heartfield, VA at an RA's camp. The camp was situated right on a river that was a part of the Chesapeake Bay. It's amazing to me that two groups of children that are the exact same age could be so different. I am not going to lie, my first group was pretty wild and crazy, but my second group, where they had their moments, was pretty calm cool and collected. On the third night of worship, our camp pastor gave a challenge to the children that if they had made a decision during the week, whether it was to become a Christian or anything that God had laid on their hearts, that we as their Bible study leaders would be in the back of the worship center to pray with them and talk to them. You remember when I was talking about Jesus chills earlier? Well I got a major case that night. Just some of the things that 8 and 9 year olds were coming up to me and saying just completely overwhelmed me and it was obvious that the Spirit was present in that place.

Like I said, I am back in North Carolina and have a couple days off ahead of me. My parents are coming for a visit tomorrow and I am extremely excited about seeing them and spending some time with them. It's also nice to be back where there are other Passport teams. My team and I went to the Passport Youth teams opening celebration tonight and it was awesome! I look forward to hanging out with them throughout the next couple of weeks. The third session of camp begins on Wednesday and hopefully by then I will have caught up on my sleep and will be able to function. Continue to pray that our ministry be strong. Also pray that our team continues to bond and that we become closer so that the support that we receive from each other be strong and genuine. I have been blessed with a great team and I am thankful for them and the friendships that we have formed.

Until the nets are full,
Zeke