“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (I Peter 2:4-5 ESV)
Dear Friends and Family,
We were nearing the end of the opening chapel service on Monday night of Work Week. I had the privilege of leading worship and now our Executive Director, Pastor David Price, with whom I serve as Associate Pastor at New Prospect Baptist Church, was finishing up the sermon. As he asked for a show of hands to indicate the Lord’s moving in the listeners’ hearts, hands went up throughout the chapel. The main push of work week was the building of the new chapel, but it quickly became evident that the Lord was doing more than just building a physical building that week. He was building in the lives of His people! It was a very special week.
The Lord has been doing this all summer long! We had a fantastic Jr. Staff made up of college students from Moody, Trinity, and Maranatha Bible College as well as local Jr. High and High School students. Nine young men from my cabins accepted the Lord and two rededicated their lives to Him! A total of forty-three campers accepted the Lord this summer! Thank you so much for your prayers and giving that make this ministry possible! Thank you for your “spiritual sacrifices,” that are, “acceptable to God through Jesus Christ!” You are a vital part in these young men and women coming to know the Lord! Thanks for being used of God to make an eternal difference!
Not only is evangelism a huge part of the camp season, but so is discipleship. One of the great joys of working at camp in the summer is working with the Jr. Staff all summer long and seeing them grow, seeing how they are being built. I think of one young man who I had the privilege of meeting with as he prepared to “guest” teach devotions in his cabin on two occasions. This is a great step for a High School student! Or, I think of Steve and Diana Smith’s nephew, Caleb Carlson, who just finished High School. I love getting to work side by side with Caleb as we lead worship together and rejoice to see what the Lord is doing in this young man’s life. Please pray for him as he heads to college to further train for ministry!
It is also clear to see the Lord’s building in the lives of campers. I love seeing familiar faces show up at camp and taking note of the work God is doing in their lives! This is true not only of our Teen and Elementary camps, but also of our Sunshine camps for special needs. I talked with one Sunshine camper about how much his behavior had changed for the better over the years and encouraged him to keep it up! He replied, “Yep, you just have to keep going with God, don’t you?” You can imagine how thrilled I was to hear that!
The Lord continues to build at New Prospect Baptist Church as well! We have some new folks attending and four new students have joined youth group on Sunday nights and I am very excited about this! One has just now become youth group age, one has just moved to our area, and two have just recently started coming on Sunday nights. This past Wednesday I had the privilege of filling in teaching for Scott Brandenburg at the Bear Track Youth Group. When Scott and Amy are there I lead the worship time before Scotty speaks. They are a great group of young people!
In closing, I want to say, “thank you,” again for your prayers and financial support. Due to medical and “life” expenses and some of my supporters suffering their own medical expenses and/or job loss/change, it has been a difficult year, but God is faithful! “My” ministry that the Lord has entrusted me with is truly “our” ministry that the Lord has entrusted us with. I am so thankful for each of you and am praying for you. Please pray for some of your fellow supporters who have faced extreme difficulties this past year but have praised God throughout their storms. Their examples are amazing and I know they would appreciate your prayers!
Thanks again!
-Sam
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