As PassportKids! East team 2011 huddled up after closing celebration for the last time, our director spoke the most gut wrenching words I have ever heard. "On July 31st at 1:38 p.m., our summer here at camp is officially over." We said goodbye to our last group of kids as we all held back our tears. I don't think they were tears of sadness for they would come later. I think that they were tears of gratefulness for a summer full of blessed conversations, great kids, and great fellowship with the BEST team that Passport camps has ever put together! I am truly blessed to have been on such a great team.
I believe that I have said this over and over again but I have learned so much about myself and the calling that God has placed on my life this summer at camp. God also reviled to me things that He is not calling me to. I am not saying that I was not supposed to work with PassportKids! this summer, but instead I believe that God was refining my calling. I loved the kids so much, but they came with their challenges and I struggled to adapt to children's ministry. It was quite intimidating to walk into Bible Study that was full of 3rd and 4th graders everyday! With that being said, I now have a new prospective on the importance of children's ministry, and how most churches drop that ball in that area of ministry. We were talking to the kids this summer about the Kingdom of God, and what it means to be apart of the Kingdom. Believe it or not, the kids that we ministered to understood theologically challenging concepts. PassportKids! does a great job in that category. I got to see the light bulbs go off in the kids heads when they understood or caught on to something. I got to try and answer the questions that were challenging their childlike faith, and I got to see, first hand the transforming power of Christ in each child's lives. PassportKids! blessed me beyond words can describe. For that, I am grateful for the opportunity to be apart of their ministry this summer.
As I return to school in a few days, I will take with me all of the memories that time will never be able to erase, all of the friendships that I will never forget, and most importantly all of the things that I have learned either about myself or what God is calling me to. I look forward to great year at GWU and another great summer with Passport Camps. Is it summer 2012 yet?
Until next summer...or the nets are full,
Zeke
