The old adage is true. Time does indeed fly when you
are having fun! It seems like just yesterday I was talking to the Youth
Leadership Team through e-mail about all that we had on the calendar for
summer and here we are now on the other side of it all. It was a great summer,
not without its challenges, but God moved and worked in the lives of students
and adults alike no less.
Our summer began with the Ichthus Music Festival in Wilmore, Kentucky. About
sixty of us loaded 2 buses 3 trucks, and 2 cars on a Wednesday morning and
we were off to hear some music. The festival organizers had done an amazing
job of putting together a great line-up of bands and speakers to bring the
truth of the gospel to us by incredibly varied and diverse means. We spent
4 days going from stage to stage hearing the truth through great music and
message. God clearly moved and, as has been previously shared, one of our
students accepted Christ. This student credits the testimony of our group
and the love and acceptance he felt from them as a major factor that helped
lead him to Jesus.
Throughout the summer many of our students attended Camp Cowen. These students
range from first grade all the way up to college. Younger students attended
as campers, college students helped as counselors and I had the privilege
of serving as a counselor at Sr. High Camp. Camp is a special place. Many
many people come to Christ, recommit their lives, and hear the call to full-time
ministry through the quiet and chaos of camp. 1 heard my call to full-time
ministry at a church camp. Many of our students made commitments to go deeper
in their relationship with Christ at Cowen this summer. My hope is that
next year we will send even more students and adults to Cowen to experience
the Holy Havoc that is a week of Camp. I assure you God is in that place!
We ended our escapades with a mission trip to Camden, New Jersey. This was
an eye opening experience for all who participated. Camden is a city that
has been devastated by poverty and abandoned by our country We observed
things that, while present In our area, are not as-apparent in our community.
As we talked with the men and women whom God has moved to minister in Camden,
and as we played with the children and learned their stories, it became
clear to us that God is moving in that place. It also became clear that
the reason God had called us to take that trip was to open our eyes to ministry
opportunities and needs in our own back yard. The trip ended with a drive
to the Atlantic Ocean and the baptism of the young man who had accepted
Christ back at the beginning of the summer.
Now it's back to the real world for all of us. Today is the first day of
school for our students in Kanawha County and Putnam County begins on Monday.
It is the hope of myself and my adult leadership team that the lessons God
has taught us this summer will impact the way we live this fall and into
the future. In James 1:22 it reads "Do not merely listen to the Word,
and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (NIV). We have heard and
experienced the truth of God's Word this summer. Now it is time for us to
get busy living that truth out in St. Albans, West Virginia!
Rev Jeremy S. Myers