Upward Challenge 2017

This summer I had the awesome privilege of taking some of our youth group kids to a camp called Upward Challenge.  This was a weeklong camp in North Carolina at the same location that I've been to several times this year for my inner healing and deliverance ministry class.  It was a great experience for myself and the youth and I can't wait to share about it with you!

On the way down we stayed at a friend's house in Kentucky in order to break up the long 12 hour drive.  The kids enjoyed banana splits (some for the first time) and pancakes made by Al.

We were very excited to finally make it to North Carolina, especially me because my back was really out and stiff from all the driving (I'll talk more about that in the next post).

The Community of the Cross is PRMI's headquarters, it is beautiful and on 25 acres of mountain land.

Around 50 campers came from youth groups all around the country. 

At the beginning of camp most of my youth were feeling well out of their element.  They hardly leave the city and only one had ever been out of state.  We found out that there would only be one shower available the whole week, that we had to use outhouses, and that there were bears on the property (and of course our girls saw one right away!).  I thought there was going to be a revolt, a mutiny of epic proportions.  But I urged them to give it a chance and to be open to trying new things.  I am thankful that God made it possible for them to do just that, and he worked in their lives in amazing ways.

Each day we had a large group gathering in the morning and evening.  As a leadership team we felt that there was a great need for sharing the father heart of God for the youth as many were questioning if God exists and if so why it would matter.  So we focused a lot on this and sprinkled in some of the original topics having to do with how God works through the Holy Spirit and the spiritual gifts that He has for us.

Many testimonies were given by young leaders and their stories really connected with the campers.  The testimonies reminded us that we aren't the only ones who have experienced pain and brokenness in our lives and that it is God who wants to heal us from those things and set us free in Christ. 

There was a lot of healing that took place in these group settings.  Truth is powerful when coupled with the love of Jesus.  Having these experiences during the large group prompted many to seek to have a prayer appointment.  These are a time spent with 2-3 leaders where Jesus is invited to speak and work in the life of the one receiving prayer.  I will talk more about this in a future post as we have been working on launching this type of prayer ministry at Gold Avenue Church, and this is what the training I have been going to in NC is all about.  

Several of our youth had wonderful experiences in their prayer appointment.  One accepted Jesus for the first time.  Another felt burdens lifted from her and has been much lighter and joyful since.  One was able to let go of anger and anxiety when Jesus showed up in a vision and showed her that he is with her.  In the same vision he also gave her a glimpse of her mom, who had died unexpectedly a couple years prior.  He let her know that her mom is ok and that she doesn't have to worry about her any longer.  These are significant encounters that will help shape their faith and their walk with God.  This is what we yearn to see happening in our youth group on a regular basis here at Gold!

Worship was a wonderful piece of the large group meetings.  On our way home a couple of the girls looked up the songs on their phone and were singing along.  This is another thing we'd like to incorporate back into youth group at home, and are praying for the right opportunity.

We also had small group time where one of the students was the leader.  Then there was a young adult leader and an older wiser leader - guess who that was :-)  These were good times for us to process what happened in the group and to pray together.  This is my group here.  In addition to helping lead this group, I also participated in early morning prayer, helped lead prayer appointments, and was the official camp photographer.  In addition to sleeping in a tent with the boys it made for a very busy and exhausting week.  God got me through though and I am thankful for his grace!

I was very fortunate and thankful that our friend Jaci came with us.  She is a leader in our youth group and wanted to come to experience this with the youth.  It was also great to have a helper for driving especially because I was having back issues on the way down and I was beat on the way back.  We all had a really great time together.

We also enjoyed free time and games each day - swimming in the river was fun...  

Joking around and laughing a lot was fun...

Arts and crafts were fun...

And, well, I didn't experience this one, but I heard that nail painting was fun too!  This is our friend Stephanie who was one of the co-directors of the camp.  She has been a part of our Gold Ave Church family for almost a year since she moved up here from Florida to do ministry here.

Games were fun too, this was sock wars, basically capture the flag but to get people out they had to be hit with a sock full of dirt.

Here is the whole group of campers and leaders, it was a great group!

At the end we prayed for each group that left and blessed them for the trip back home.

On the way back we were able to stop at Chick-fil-a, one of our favorite stops along the way.

This was an amazing camp experience for me and I know it was for many others.  Many people were praying for this for quite some time and I believe those prayers were answered!  Now we move to continue discipleship for our youth.  I appreciate prayers for this and for protection, because the evil one would like to steal away this progress!