Every Wednesday night at camp this summer, each cabin had a bonfire after that night’s chapel. We always had so much fun making s'mores, even though there were always a few marshmallow casualties! After that, we had our CrossTalk at the campfire, and it was a time where we really encouraged the girls to be vulnerable and open. The theme of Wednesday night’s chapel was the Gospel, and the speaker would always explain Jesus’ death and resurrection, and tell the campers how they could get saved if they wanted to. I was always really thankful for that night, because even if a camper didn’t get saved, they had heard the story of the Gospel, and knew how they could get saved if they ever wanted to. Personally, I grew up in church, so I kind of had heard it my whole life, but for a lot of kids, this was the first, and maybe even only time that they would be told about it. So, the impact of this night definitely goes past that week of camp; I’ve even heard about the impact years later!
So, at the campfire, us counselors like to sum up what we learned, and give the girls plenty of space to make the conversation their own. Some weeks it goes really well, and the girls are really able to open up about anything that they need to. Other weeks, the girls have a hard time focusing with all of the distractions and the late-night giggles, but that’s okay too. I had to learn to not expect every single moment to be this big, ground-breaking thing, and to also appreciate the fact that they all have this space at camp where they feel comfortable to be silly and authentic.
One particular week, at the end of our campfire CrossTalk, we told the girls to go inside and get ready for bed, but that if they had a question, then they could stay back with some of us. A few of us had to stay back anyways to make sure that the fire fully went out, and for some girls, they feel more comfortable opening up in a one-on-one setting, so this gives them the opportunity to say anything they were too scared to say in front of the whole group.
So, most of us counselors and support staff would go inside with the campers and make sure that they were getting ready for bed, and a few of us stayed behind just in case. This week, one of my campers came up to me and told me that she didn’t understand what the message that night was about.
Let me take a side note really fast to tell you how happy it makes me when a camper asks me this. Firstly, it means that they were paying attention at the chapel, and wanted to learn more, and it also means that they trust me enough to ask me this question, even if it made them feel kind of silly. I love seeing curiosity, and these moments are proof that they are searching for answers.
Anyways, I had her come sit with me by the fire and tell me more. That night, we were going over the parable of the sheep, where the shepherd (symbolizing Jesus) left the 99 sheep to find the 1 that had gone astray. In addition, we read the parable of the coin, which is pretty similar. This ties in well with the story of the younger brother from the Prodigal Son story, because it teaches the campers how much Jesus loves us, and how much He will do to find us and seek us out.
So, I began explaining these parables to her, and trying to phrase it in a way that is more relatable to her. I’ve learned that often, when a camper doesn’t understand a story, it is because they don’t feel like it relates to them, which can easily make it more confusing. So, putting the parable in a paraphrase, or connecting it to something they are familiar with, helps them to fully grasp it. Of course, though, I did that crazy thing that happens whenever the Spirit gives us the words to say. I began rambling about something that I was not planning to talk about, and I began telling this sweet girl all about her worth. She was about twelve or thirteen at the time, which is the age where I feel like a lot of girls begin becoming self-conscious about themselves, and it really is a big transition time between naive childhood and seeing a lot of ugliness in the world.
After I finished rambling about whatever it is I was talking about, I asked her if she understood. Honestly, whenever the Spirit gives me the right words to say (which is so cool, by the way, I don’t want to say stuff that doesn’t make sense or doesn’t matter), I feel so confused because that is definitely not where I was planning on going! But it always works out better that way, because randomly recalling verses we didn’t know we had memorized or saying things we didn’t know we knew is how we know that this is not us and our own power. Then, you know that what you just said was that more powerful because it was totally God!
We talked some more about that parable, and she was able to share some beautiful parts of her life, and I remember just being so happy to have been able to tell this girl how much she was worth in my eyes, and in the eyes of her heavenly Father. These words can make a big impact, but sometimes, they can make an even bigger impact if someone never grows up hearing those words!
This is why I loved being a counselor; I just got to shower these girls with love, and make sure that they know that in God’s eyes, they are flawless and beautiful. Praise the Lord for that!
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