I struggled as I processed what I wanted to write this time. This Blog may be a little longer than usual but God has been teaching me a lot that I want to share. The theme for camp this year was “Multiply”…not sure if preparing for camp. God’s Spirit, or both has laid this on my heart but this idea has been on my mind tons lately. My friend, Edric, wrote a wonderful blog about this and I felt led to write something similar because for the past 2 weeks (from Palm Sunday to the Sunday after Easter when camp ended) these 3 themes keep coming up: learning to trust, being patient and seeing God work to multiply. I have never been a “Winger” or someone who just goes with the flow…I am very much, a planner. But we were on spring break during Holy Week and I got to be a “winger.” I went with friends to La Union. I was not the one to plan any of the trip. I just knew La Union was a beach where we could surf, hike, and cliff-jump and this was meant to be a fun road trip adventure. Not being the one who planned it meant I had to put a lot of trust in my friends and wait patiently to see what would happen. The first day we went on a hike that led us to this amazing waterfall. As we approached the falls, the tour guide was in the lead, then Edric, then me. Being last meant following the ones ahead of me but when Edric saw the waterfall he got so excited he forgot to point the way he took up and I did not get a good hold and slipped back down into the water. Don’t worry (Mom and Dad) all was good in the end! I was okay and could even go surfing the next day. But, it made me think about how I sometimes forget to show others the way
These 3 themes came back up as the first day of a camp arrived and we still had not finalized details for the Amazing Race the next day. This was not the only thing left to do, so we put it on hold until after the leaders meeting which meant staying up till 2:30 in the morning and finally finishing the last little bit about an hour before the race started. After the race started I told Edric that I finally felt like I could breathe as we were walking though the race stations but I spoke too soon. One of the girls had fallen off the monkey bars and the nurse thought to be safe we should get an x-ray. So Hans, her leader and I took her to the hospital. We had talked a lot leading up to camp about how camp is not about us but it is for the children. In route, I thought how did this happen? We had worked so hard planning the race and someone gets hurt? I got into the van wanting things to go fast so I could back as soon as possible but nothing seems to go fast when you want it to and here in the Philippines things just run slower. While waiting for the x-ray, Hans and I were reflecting on the things God had been teaching us… I told him that God had been teaching me to trust and have patience. Making sure that student was safe and able to reconnect when we returned was the real reason I was there. This was something I needed to process before I return in August to continue to serve at the church. For some reason I had to process it while sitting in the hospital. In the end, there was no fracture and the student was okay which was good. Later, I asked her what her favorite part of camp was and she said “the Amazing Race.” According to all the other leaders the rest of the race was a success.
After I slipped the first time at the waterfall, I got back up and trusted Edric, to make sure I understood the correct way. After the girl fell off the monkey bars, I did not want to leave the race but I did because I wanted to keep her safe. In both situations we needed to put aside things that were distracting us and remember we were there to lead someone else and keep them safe. As I said I am not a last minute person. I tend to plan things way in advance, and I tend to think through every detail. But, both on the trip and during camp I was forced to trust and be patient and watch God multiply. In my head I knew God was in control and that everything would work out in the end. I hear God’s command to go and make disciples, but that seems hard and some days I don’t feel like I am doing a good job reaching out. Sometimes I slip back into the water and am tempted to stop trying. But sometimes something happens that makes me stop what I am doing, sit patiently and wait. And while I sitting I can listen to what God is teaching me about trusting Him. Making disciples is not about me and how much I may know or how well I plan…it is about putting God in the center and trusting Him to multiply.