Faith like Elijah

Camp is coming up fast! I am leaving Monday to work at Brookhill Ranch in Hot Springs, AR, again this summer: it will be my third year to be on all-summer staff (fifth year to work here), and even though it has taken me a little longer to get excited this year - probably due to distractions with stuff happening in the fall back in Fayetteville - I can finally say that I am ready for camp to be here! I still need to finish painting some posters and tie-dying my sheets for my bed, as well as some unpacking (from school) and repacking (for camp), but mentally I am ready. I will have a new cabin this summer that is twice as big as the one I had last summer, which kind of scares me but at the same time will be such a blessing from God because I can reach twice as many girls. 

The other night, I was reading in 1 Kings 18, and I got my "vision" for camp. Each year all of us counselors come and share our goals for the summer, what we want God to do either in us individually or as a staff or with the campers. I have had a lot of things swirling around in my head, but I really loved this story and I wanted to make it my vision for this summer. Verses 16-46 are the account of Elijah on Mount Carmel when he challenged the prophets of Baal to see whose God/god was the real God.

1) Elijah believed in God for big things: when it came his turn to call on God and ask Him to answer by fire, he first doused his altar and his sacrifice with water - and not just a little water, but four large jars were filled with water three times. Similarly, I want to believe that God can change the hearts of campers despite any circumstances or stubborness against Him. I know that I will have difficult girls in my cabin or in my activities, girls that don't want to be at camp or are really good at faking their Christian walk, and I know that God will do awesome things in their lives in the six days they are at camp.

2) Elijah was not afraid to confront Ahab, even though Ahab wanted to kill him. He spoke the truth to Ahab that it was his fault Israel was without rain, and he was confident in that. I want to speak truth into these girls' lives, not being afraid of what they will think of me. So often there is a present desire to sugarcoat the truth so that they will still love me, but I am not put into their lives to please them and try to be their favorite counselor; I am there to grow them and to point them in the right direction, show them how much fun it really can be to be a Christian and what a real relationship with God looks like.

3) Elijah was persistent: he had his servant go back seven times to see if the rain was coming. I am not giving up just because the campers do not seem to get it one night; I am going to go back and continually wait for the promise that God has given that His Word does not return void.

4) Finally, Elijah did this not for himself, but for God. Verse 37 says, "Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." I want that to be my prayer as well.