Mega Sports Camp

Just wanted to give God some praise!!

It's been a busy week. Busy but good...VERY good! This week was our church's Mega Sports Camp outreach. It's a free sports camp open to the community, for kids ages 6-12. This year, the sports offered were soccer, baseball, and dance. Because my good friend was overseeing the organization of the camp, and because there was a need for coaches, I agreed to be a dance coach, which somehow then evolved into a 'head' dance coach. I'll be honest, I was pretty reluctant to do it. Not for any particular reason. I simply underestimated how awesome the experience would be. Now I can't wait to do it again next year!

I was continually blown away by the love these little children were so ready and willing to express, and were so desperately wanting to receive. Children I hardly knew, or didn't know at all, were gravitating to me and following me wherever I went. They were walking up to me and randomly hugging me - the biggest squeezes imaginable. It was so completely cool to see the smiles on their faces just because I gave them a hug, or a high five, or a little compliment.

I was also consistently amazed at the depth of the issues that these little girls are facing day-to-day. In our small group times, the things they were saying were not the kind of things I expected them to bring up. There were issues of death, violence, divorces, custody battles, physical illnesses, money issues, and on and on. I was heartbroken to get a glimpse into the messes that some of them are immersed in. I felt privileged, and rather humbled really, to have a chance to pray for these girls, to pray over them, to pray for their families, and even to pray with a few of them to ask Jesus into their lives. AWESOME!

As I was praying tonight in preparation for tonight's camp session, I really felt led to pray that this event, and that these moments and encounters would be a catalyst for real life change for these kids & for their families - and as families are changing, our community would also begin to change. I know it just looked like a sports camp on the outside, but at the root of this event is an element of God's great plan. I've seen before how God can enter into a closed-off family through the open heart of a child. I'm excited to see how He uses this camp to carry out His plan for us! What awesome potential we just experienced over the past three nights! He is amazing!