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Andrew’s story


Andrew was one of our campers for our last week of camp, for 9-to-12-year-olds. Our plans to go out to Village Bay Lakes had to be changed at the last minute. Instead, we headed to a campsite only minutes from Black Creek. It was a drizzly week, but with huge tarps and some creative planning, the week went by quickly. Under the tarps, the kids learned how to worship and praise God in a radical way.

When the camp finished on Friday, we invited the kids who were going into grade 7 to come to our youth group activity that Saturday night. Andrew came from a non-churched home, but he and his buddy Levi were excited to come.

A few days later, his mom phoned me to confirm some of the details of the upcoming youth camp that we had invited Andrew to. I’ll never forget what she told me next. She said that Andrew was so different when he came home from camp. He was a young boy with a hot temper. His mom and the whole family had been braced to be careful around Andrew when he got home. She had warned everyone that Andrew was going to be tired, so they should be careful to stay out of his way. She was amazed to see that he wasn’t angry or grumpy, but pleasant and happy. The next night, when he went to youth group, again he came home happy. His mom wondered aloud what was different about what we do at these camps that her son was so affected.

We don’t know if Andrew accepted Jesus that week. We do know that God has begun to move in his life.

Kathleen Klassen and her husband Stan are youth pastors at Black Creek (B.C.) MB Church, which operates its own camping program called Campfire Ministries.

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Last modified November 21, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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