i know what you did last summer...

i know what you did last summer...

student ministry's summer '07

by: jessica lawrence and the student ministry team

after spending the summer with the youth, we can’t say enough how much we love our students. we went to camp, did a couple of service projects, had a retreat and spent some time just hanging out. each time we were with them they amazed us more than the last. of course we’re partial, but not only are our teenagers fun to be around, they are also an example of Christ that we can all learn from.

they were up for everything we asked of them and then some. when it was time to pray for our staff and elders, they prayed. when we went to the women and children’s shelter, they served. when it was time for fun, they played hard. God has used each one of them to show us more of Himself. if you get the chance you should get to know them. you won’t regret it, we promise!

when we told them that we wanted to do a highlight story about their summer, they were reluctant at first. but as always they rose to the challenge. after debriefing the entire summer it was clear that their time at jonathan creek (where we took them to youth camp) was one of their most influential experiences. as you can imagine, youth camp is full of crazy times and serious times. from Bible study to playing in the lake we had an amazing time doing it all. here are two of the things they learned, one serious and the other not so serious, in their own words…

chuck norris who?

written by matthew wilson and friends

back story: imagine 5 middle school boys and their pastor sharing a room for a week. at first the boys didn’t know if they were going to like josh being their leader. but a bit of free time and a few bedtime stories later and they wouldn’t have had it any other way…

what happened: throughout the week andrew and isaac played jokes on matthew. one of which was to lock matthew out of the dorm and creatively “alter” his sleeping quarters. well, matthew decided that he was tired of this joke and was no longer going to wait for the door to be unlocked. so, he took matters into his own foot and pulled a chuck norris and put a round house kick through the window thus, destroying all evidence of the existence of the window, nearly taking pour nick’s head off. and then in his continuing fit of rage he continued his chuck norris onslaught and gave andrew a smack in the face.

how we thought josh would react: we thought josh would banish us, never to return, to the frigid, frozen tundra of Greenland. like on monster’s inc.

how josh really reacted: he made jokes about it and he also asked if we were ok. and then he made up a story (just like every night) about it. we would love to tell you any of the stories in a heartbeat... ask us when you see us... we dare you...

what we learned: we learned that it is better to approach people with grace rather than lose your head. we also learned that jokes are not always funny when they single someone out.

come back to me

written by kirsten chapman

the theme of camp this year was ONE... one truth. one Lord. one hope. one call. only one. on the last night the camp pastor, rob turner, preached a sermon on the Bride of Christ and how we need to view her correctly. it was a pretty heavy sermon with some pretty hard concepts, but we found out that our kids related to it more and on a deeper level than we anticipated. rob preached from the book of Hosea and this is kirsten’s take on it...

then the Lord said to me, “go and get your wife again. bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery. for the Lord still loves isreal even thought the people have turned back to other gods, offering their choice gifts."

so i bought her back for 15 pieces of silver and about five bushels of barley and a measure of wine. then i said to her, “you must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. during this time, you will not have sexual intercourse with anyone, not even me."

this illustrates that isreal will be long without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, temple, priests, or even idols! but afterward the people will return to the Lord their God and to david’s descendant, their king. they will come trembling in awe to the Lord, and they will receive his good gifts in the last days. Hosea 3

this passage represents how the church turns away from God, but he keeps calling us back.

our preacher from j-creek told us a story abut how his friend was very different. hw showed his feelings unlike other men. he met this amazing girl and they started dating. he proposed and they got married. he would sing her to sleep every night and just watch her. he would tell her he loved her every second he got to spend with her. and one night she slept with another man. the husband wasn’t mad. he just said, “come back to me. i love you.” so the wife came back. and a couple of weeks later, she slept with another man. but again, the husband wasn’t mad. he just said, “come back to me. i love you”

in this story the husband is Jesus and the wife is the Church. so, whenever we turn away from God he just says, “come back to me. i love you. come back to me.”