Week 5: Relying on the ultimate Counselor

After Challenge I was pretty tired, and didn't feel physically or mentally prepared to take care of six 5th and 6th grade girls for a week. Sunday night I prayed, "God, I can't do this. Grant me your strength, grace, and wisdom. Work through me this week. It's all you. I'm the glove and you're the hand." The very next day I saw His response to my request. He faithfully sustained me Monday and the entire week. Even with little sleep God enabled me to be alert, patient, and fun for my campers. For Himself. When we need help with something we're doing for God, He ALWAYS comes through. That's a cool thing about living for Him. If we're doing our own thing, disregarding what God wants, He might not give us what we ask for. But if we're obeying Him and acting according to His will, of course He will empower us!

This week was difficult because my campers disagreed and argued with each other a lot, and with Rachel and me. My three previous groups of campers were amazingly well-behaved, so it was more trying for me to have that disunity last week. However, I did enjoy each of the girls for different reasons, and we did have lots of fun. I am so thankful God put me with them because it caused me to rely more on Him. I trust He will continue to work in their hearts, reminding them of all He taught them this week about Himself and His longing for them to engage in a relationship with Him.

God is the ultimate Counselor because He is gracious, strong, patient, super fun, always prepared, wise, loving, and so much more. He cares genuinely for us, His campers. He gets us where we need to go. He knows what's going on. He sacrifices Himself for us even when we argue or disobey. Thank you, God, for Your perfect example. Help us to follow You wholeheartedly because that is Your desire for us, and it is the only way we will be fulfilled.

Challenge '08

God did so much in everyone who attended the week-long conference in Salt Lake City. Here are some things that He taught/reminded me are super important:

-Seeing Him more clearly: not so casually because He is SO holy and awesome (as described in Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Revelation).

-Reaching out more purposefully to the hurting and lost.
-Sharing Christ with my nonchristian friends.
-Praying as an effective warrior.
-Living passionately for Him so others catch that passion too.

Clap for God.

Week 3: Closer

Hola, everyone! My deadline for finishing this is closer than usual because I'm leaving for Challenge in like 45 minutes! (Which I'm super excited about.) So I can't say everything I want to, but I'm praying God guides me in saying what will bless you most.

This week was AMAZING. There were over 400 campers; more than any other week in Hidden Acres history. So lots of staff members were pretty stressed/nervous beforehand about how stuff would go because camp is crazy even with just 200 kids. Thankfully though, God gave me lots of rest over the weekend, an optimistic spirit, incredible peace heading into the week, and confidence that more kids would just mean more of His power displayed in mighty works. Which, of course, is exactly how it went down.

In Johnson Lodge (J Lo) room #5, Abbey Hanish and I were blessed with 10 fantastic 7th-9th grade girls. Every one of them became visibly closer to God in those 5 activity-packed days. I got closer to them than I have to any other campers, and closer to Abbey than I have to any other senior counselor. God was so good. It was super fun, really powerful, and God is now more glorified in more hearts. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

E-mails

Hey, here's the sitch with e-mailing me at camp:

The office couldn't process the hundreds of e-mails that used to come each day, so they've outsourced to a company called Bunk1. It costs $1 per message, and you pay online for packages of various sizes with a credit card. So sending me letters or postcards is cheaper, but if you still want to e-mail here are the steps: (actually really easy)

1. Go to the Hidden Acres website at www.hacamps.org
2. Click the flashing "Camper E-mail" button
3. Click the "register Now" button
4. Enter the code 89459HNA
5. Fill out required info.
6. Purchase Bunk Note credits
7. Send me an e-mail!

OR, just write to me at kimpossible1331@hotmail.com and I will read it on the weekend. =)

Week 2: 3's

This past week at Hidden Acres, I encountered the number three a lot. For example, there were three of us counselors in cabin #3, and we were on Quad 3 for team games. More importantly though, I saw the work of all three persons of God.

Father showed me His ever-abounding love by...
-giving me two fantastic counselors to spend the week with: Katy and Molly.
-bringing five wonderful girls into my cabin. Abby, Nicole, Taryn, Tessa, and Shannon were cheerful, entertaining, and open to what God wanted to teach them throughout the week.
-using two of my friends to bless me with a kick-awesome care package full of fun camp counselor necessities. It was a great encouragement.
-sprinkling excitement/humor into our lives by way of a bat in our cabin the first night.
-enabling our cabin to work together and win the all-camp game on Monday night.
-rewarding us (for the win) with homemade ice cream and a late-night swim.
-providing amiable guys to help us set up our campsite for an out-of-the-cabin overnight on Monday.

Son Jesus
-created the magnificent universe: the rocks and dirt on which to walk, the trees from which to pick mulberries, the sunset at which to marvel, the stars under which to sleep... It is all glorious indeed.
-set the example of perfect human life we strive to imitate: kind, compassionate, selfless, humble, patient, wise, powerful, peaceful, gentle, joyful... He never messed up and always acted out of love.
-died in our place, taking upon Himself all the punishment for everything every person ever did wrong. This made it so we can be forgiven for the bad things we do, simply by admitting we messed up, believing He is real and died to save us, and choosing to do what He wants for us.
-rose again, conquering death, to prove He was God and give humanity hope for eternity with Himself.

Holy Spirit accomplished His purposes in the lives of the people He created by...
-softening hearts of campers and staff to respond to His promptings.
-convicting individuals about areas in which they are falling short of His standards.
-strengthening the weak to overcome obstacles.
-comforting the broken and instilling hope.
-guiding His followers to make wise decisions.
-revealing the work He is doing around us and showing us where we can join in.
-bringing many campers into a relationship with Himself.
-speaking to us through the Bible, Chris Rollman (speaker for the week), other followers of Him, and even through some of our own experiences.


As you can tell, God is doing great things at Hidden Acres (and everywhere!) as we speak. The lyrics of this song describe my feelings toward Him better than I can:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!


“How Great Thou Art”
by Carl Gustav Boberg

Week 1: Bad Turns Good

Sunday, June 8th my first ever campers arrived. Eight fifth and sixth grade girls moved into cabin 6 with Marcie Brinkman and me to begin a super week of games, swimming, cheering, learning, and experiencing God's glory. I'm having trouble deciding what to write, so I'll just fill you in on a couple high/lows of the week.

Romans 8:28-29-- "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Needless to say, God basically turned all the lows into highs after all.

The first night I was awakened multiple times for a sick camper, and ended up taking her to sleep at the infirmary. Not so surprisingly, God enabled me to have a gracious attitude and enough energy for the next day. The theme for Monday was God's love, and already at 12:15 AM I was privileged to participate in His work by sharing His love with Miss Katelyn, whom I had only known for a matter of hours.

Part of my responsibility as a JC is to get all the girls up in the mornings and have them to flagpole by 7:45. The senior counselors have a daily meeting at 7:00 AM and then meet us at flagpole. So Thursday morning my alarm went off at 6:00 as usual, I turned it off really fast so no campers would wake up, and the next thing I knew, Marcie was at my bedside saying, "We're really late! It's 8:10!" I jumped out of bed, feeling terrible for oversleeping. All of us were ready by about 8:30, and I was afraid we would miss breakfast and be late for chapel, but as always, the hand of the Lord was on us. We missed flagpole, but most of the breakfast was still out, and we even got to chapel before it began. Thursday's theme was humility, and once again, God taught me the lesson of the day first-hand, right off the bat.

I don't have time to recount all the awesome ways God worked throughout the week, but hopefully this has given you a taste of what I'm experiencing here at Hidden Acres. Perhaps the most significant highlight is that one of my campers this week came to understand that Jesus is the only way to heaven, and accepted Him as Savior and Lord! Praise God for this and all the other things He accomplished. I am so thankful for these opportunities to join Him and experience His goodness and power. We stand in awe of the One who is Mighty to Save.


*Special thanks to Kelsey Dietrich for staying up late letting me use her computer.

Training Complete

The past week consisted of going over rules and safety procedures, doing activities and games, eating awesome camp food (seriously, it's good), getting to know each other, and most importantly: meeting with God. He shows up everywhere from quad skits, to campfire talk, to cabin assignments, and He is glorious. Here are some things He impressed upon me this week:

-I need to be humble in transitioning from the role of a more mature leader (at youth group, school stuff, etc.) to a less experienced junior counselor.

-We serve a 24/7 God, so we need to be 24/7 soldiers. Since our Commander is here and working all the time, we have to honor Him and take part in what He's doing all the time. Not just when it's easy or we feel like it.

-Taking encouragement from Romans 8:28-39, we can't just wait around and react to whatever satan does. We need to be proactive for the Kingdom, going out to spread life before satan can spread death.

-My connection with God is vital to my connection with everyone else. If I am not walking closely with Him, I will not be able to overcome hard circumstances or deeply impact anyone positively for Christ.

-When I am a servant-leader, others will be servant-followers.

-God will do amazing things when we're focused on working for Him.

-I will do just fine as a counselor if I rely on God to give me His wisdom and strength.

Thanks for reading, guys! I am praying for you, and it would be awesome if you'd pray for me.
This week I'm counseling with Marcie Brinkman. Our cabin (# 6) consists of 4-6 grade girls: Grace, Nikki, Adrienne, Meredith, Lauren, Emily, Sydney, and Katelyn. I'm excited!

Happy summer!

3 more days!

Camp preparations are coming along nicely. Thursday I got various things like new sandals (Teva), big plastic bins for storing my stuff, shampoo, etc. Today I picked up trail mix ingredients and a toothbrush travel holder thingy. Next on my agenda is laundry. Then I will pack my clothes into bins, make trail mix, take my one semester final, and head out!
Staff Training is this Tuesday through Friday. Saturday our parents are invited to breakfast and chapel to "send us off," so to speak. On Sunday afternoon the first campers will arrive! Needless, to say, I am extremely eager. I know these two months will go by much too quickly, but God is going to do amazing things in me and everyone there.
Tomorrow I will spend time praying and reading God's Word to prepare mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for my time at Hidden Acres. I have actually been doing that since I applied to be a JC, but this will be another couple hours to really focus on God and realign myself with His will before leaving home. Thank you so much for praying with me and seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.

CHRloveIST,
Kimberly

Camp Weblog!

This summer I will be a junior counselor at Hidden Acres from June 3rd to July 26th. Lots of sweet stuff will happen, but I won't be able to tell you about everything at the end because there will be so much. So I will try to keep you updated semi-regularly using this blog! (Yes, I know, you're shocked because I haven't posted anything here in over a year. But now's the time for Kimberly Chronicles to reawaken!)

To keep in touch, you can write to me at this address:
Kimberly Leister
c/o Hidden Acres
3837 Union Ave
Dayton, IA 50530

You will also be able to send me e-mails at camp, but I don't have the address for that yet. I will post it up here when I know. (I will only be checking my regular e-mail on some weekends.) I want to know what's going on in your lives while I'm gone, and I will definitely write you back! =)

Also, your prayers for me during this time will be much-needed and very helpful! Here are a few things I will need consistent prayer for:
-focusing on God and strengthening my relationship with Him
-building healthy relationships with the other staff members
-bonding with campers and impacting them for Christ
-energy and patience with campers
-joy and perseverance through trials of many kinds

Thanks, guys! Have a stupendous summer!