Transformed Student Camp Video:
Transformed Students "I Am Second" Camp from Dane Blankenship on Vimeo.
It seems like no matter who you are in church, you always have memories of church camp. The same was true for Transformed students this week as we attended I Am Second Camp at Camp Riverbend in Glen Rose,TX. Let me just begin by saying an incredible thank you to our adult volunteers who accompanied us on this trip. Stephanie Ferguson, God is doing a mighty work in your life and using you to reach many young ladies for Him in an awesome way. My wife and I both consider you to be a friend for life. Brian Prater, thank you for allowing God to use you this week,because without you, I would have never made it. You are truly someone I can count on, and this week, you showed our students that you truly desire to invest in and be a huge part of their lives and their walk with God. So to both of you, my wife and I are truly grateful and cannot say thank you enough. To my wife Jessica, I would not be who I am today if it was not for you. God truly blessed me with a virtuous woman who desires to serve Him and desires to follow and encourage her husband in every way possible. I also must say an INCREDIBLE thank you to those of you in our church who allowed God to use your finances in sending a student to camp. If you have seen the video and read below, you will see that God accomplished more with your money than you could have ever imagined.
As a new church, new youth group, and new youth pastor, my wife and I really did not know what to expect this week at camp. What we did know, is that we truly desired to see our youth group gain a fire and a passion for God, as well as a love for each other. As I am sure many parents and many church members were, my wife and I were praying for weeks before camp that God would move in an incredible way through our youth during camp. We left Thursday morning at 11:30 AM for what would be one of the most amazing weeks of camp I have ever experienced. Between the worship and the teaching, it was impossible to not be moved. By the second day of camp, we had just finished our morning service and were heading to our personal Bible studies. I had this book with me to teach out of with the boys, but by the time we arrived at the ampitheater where we were having our personal study with our own boys, I knew God had something else completely planned. The same was true for my wife and our young ladies.Once the boys were seated, I continued to tell them that I thought I would be teaching from a book, but that I believed God wanted me to share something else. A few moments later we found ourselves deep in a conversation about salvation and being a Christian, and before all was said and done, 11 young men from our youth group prayed the prayer and stood up to profess in front of each other that they had accepted Christ into their life. I have never felt more humbled by my God than in that exact moment. What an incredible God to allow me to take part in such an amazing event. My wife was able to share her personal tesitmony with the girls, and they found themselves opening up and bonding like never before.
These two events set the pace for the rest of the week, as we came to have two young ladies also accept Christ as their Savior. All I could think the rest of the week, was how God is a God of impossibilities. In my mind and heart, I was truly praying to see a few students saved during camp. God showed me that my limits are not His limits, and that my goals are nothing compared to His goals. We were blessed to see our students bond in such a way, that you would have thought they really were brothers and sisters. We were blessed to see them come to the realization that life without cell phones, television, myspace, facebook, and media in general, allowed them to get to know each other better and ultimately allowed them time to get quiet and let God move in their lives.
The icing on the cake came on the last few nights during the services. I was getting into the worship music as always and singing as loud as possible, when I decided to stop for a moment and take a look around me. As I opened my eyes, I noticed that the majority of our students had their hands raised to God and were singing at the top of their lungs, "Hosanna Hosanna Hosanna in the Highest! Hosanna Hosanna Hosanna in the Highest!". In that very moment, all I could think was that this is what heaven is going to be like. Thank you God for an unforgettable week of church camp. Thank you Pastor and COC Metro for allowing us to take such an awesome group of students to camp. Thank you to those who prayed prayed and prayed for us before, during, and after church camp.
"God is first, and I AM SECOND"
In His Service,
John Theisen,Jr.
Student Pastor
COC METRO
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