Our First Day at Camp

When the kids’ buses pulled through camp, they were greeted with cheers and smiling faces…and so were we! They found themselves a bed, got freshened up and spent the rest of the afternoon in an array of activities: soccer, volleyball, crafts, and face painting. It was awesome to spend this first day getting acclimated with the kids (and their energy levels), the schedule, and the competitive nature innate in all of them!

After dinner (there’s no need to mention the awesome rice and beans, chicken, sausage and dessert cooked by the staff of Hope Unlimited), we were off to our first worship service with the kids.

Our team experienced worship like never before. The story of when Jesus welcomed the children to Him and told us that we need to be like them in order to inherit the kingdom of Heaven came to life in front of our eyes. The angelic voices of the Hope kids reminded us of the freedom we are to have in worship. We were dancing, shouting, and praising without boundaries, without worrying about what the person next to us was doing.

You have to remember that these are kids who don’t have families to go home to during their winter break. These are the kids that were abandoned by their families, only to find life in their Heavenly Father through Hope Unlimited. These are kids who understand from whom their next breath is coming. Pastor Derli reminded the children in service to go back to their first loves, remember their innocence and have true freedom through Christ. They were also reminded this night that they have a champion living inside of them (Isaiah 19-20) and that they don’t have to walk with their heads and shoulders down. They should walk tall, heads up, and with confidence because of who they are in Christ.

Can’t wait for the rest of the week…