Day 4

An incredible final day at camp. We began the day in the Word and ended in the Word. It is awesome to see students, many of your children, broken before the Lord. In our church group devotion time I asked them to share some of their commitments with me. Many of them are just tired of playing church. I am seeing a hunger for deeper spiritual things. I encouraged them that this is a process and not an immediate jump to spiritual maturity. But, they are hungry to taste the depths of our God. Parents, it is our responsibility to take them there. We cannot simply expect they will get there on there own. We must be there encouraging them and disciplining them to drink from the well of the Lord. This will encourage you to dive into the things of the Lord, because we cannot take them where we have not been. They are pushing us parents to lead them in the things of GOd. Let's take the challenge and guide them and model before them the truth.

What a fun day as well. We played dodge ball with sponges again, which is an awesome game. Bobby and Donna, we will never have to use water balloons again; just cut some sponges up and go to town. We also had a church basketball game. Our kids were awesome playing basketball. During free time the favorite gathering place was the waterfront and specifically the Blob. If you have not seen the Blob we have pictures and video you must see.

Pray for our safety tomorrow and pray for the commitments of our students to stick with them. Hold them accountable. Ask them what GOd did in their life this week. Don't let them just say, "nothing" or it was fun. Dig in there and share the time with them. Thanks for trusting us with your children. Our work is not yet done.

dale

Day 3

God was on the move today, or maybe it was we were listening. The camp pastor was able to deal with some great issues and was very straight forward with the truth of the Word today. Our students were greatly impacted and they were visibly broken. The main subject was the guilt of our sin. The truth of Scripture reveals that God sent Christ to die for our sin which rids us of our guilt also. The guilt many of our students deal with leads to the intense anger and depression most of them deal with. Many of them were set free from the guilt of their sin. Christ is freeing!

Today was our paintball day. Man, paintball was intense! We had safe and successful games and many of our kids want to begin playing more often when we get home. We also had a chance to play sponge dodge ball. THere are two teams, one on each side of the field with a water bucket of sponges. The whistle blows and then there is all out war; throwing sponges at the other team. The activities have been awesome because we are able to do these as a church group. This concept has really built community and fellowship in our group. Thanks for your prayers, please continue, because the Lord is moving and the students are listening. Praise Him!

dale

Day 2

Wow, today was a great day! I have seen immediate growth in our young people. We are in living arrangements that allow us to get very close to each other with 13 to each room. I have been excited to see relationships building not only with each other but also with God. I was able to ask them tonight, specifically what they had learned from the day. Sorry, if my expectations were a little low, but I was blown away at how God had spoken to each one of them throughout the day. THe God of the universe met with some of our students today and it was exciting to hear what God said to them. One of those thoughts was that God was eternal. We all know God is eternal, but it was the depth at which some of our young people now understand this truth that makes it so amazing. They are coming to know Him better.

It is an amazing thing that the God who created the entire universe; all of the galaxies, stars, the sun and moon cares intimately for us. The grace of God is that He speaks to us and allows us to know Him. This truth is amazing to me and I thank GOd everyday as I am allowed to learn more about Him.

The students have been challenged today to look at GOd as Father and to learn to trust what He says to us. This places a lot of pressure on earthly fathers, because it is our responsibility to represent fatherhood well to our children. Often times kids will equate traits of GOd the Father with traits of us as earthly fathers. How are we doing dads?

The day has run smooth and everyone is safe, praise Him. We look forward to an exciting day tomorrow as our church will be playing paintball as well as participating in waterfront and recreational games. All of the students seemed to enjoy their Quest Groups (Bible study groups) and learned a great deal from their staffer. Continue to pray for God to move in your child and others this week. It truly is an amazing thing when the GOd of the universe reveals Himself to us. Pray that He reveal Himself to us the rest of the week.

dale

Day 1 Quest

Man it was great to exit the interstate in South Carolina. After several miles of corn field, we saw the best site of the day, a sign for Camp Bob Cooper. We arrived safely, praise the Lord. We have enjoyed getting to know the staff here and it appears like it will be a great week of spiritual growth and challenges for our young people. I pray that our youth will be challenged so greatly that your child will be different when they return. I pray they are so different they will challenge your faith. Continue to pray that the Lord use the week away from distractions for them to focus on the Lord and draw closer to Him.

In the morning we will be choosing our activities for the week. We will also be meeting lots of new people in our Bible study groups. Pray God will place each of us with the staffer who will challenge our faith.

dale

We covet your prayers

Please pray for our youth and chaperones as they travel to South Carolina tomorrow to attend Quest Camp '08.
Pray that those who are not Christians will make a decision to let Jesus reign in their lives.
Pray that Christians will be encourage to live a consistent and bold life for Jesus.
Pray that this camp will operate efficiently to reach the most people for Jesus.
Pray that the Lord will guide and prepare all Quest camp staff, pastors, worship leaders and chaperones.
Pray that Youth leaders will be encouraged in their ministry and personal walk with Christ.
Pray that God will protect the physical safety of all Quest camp participants during the week and throughout travel.
Pray that God receives all the glory from the accomplishments in the lives of campers.

Thirty-seven youth from RRC will attend this camp whose purpose is to challenge students to discover a relationship with Jesus Christ and to mature in that relationship. Pray that our adult chaperones will also experience that growth and will prove themselves to be worthy examples of Christ in the name of our Lord Jesus. Pray that this group will grow in unity and develop a special relationship in Christ.

To see how our guys are doing, check out this blogspot to view photos from our days at camp.