Shocco Springs Conference Center June 8th to 12th
CAMP • 6.11.09
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The youth group at Alice Drive Baptist Church in Sumter, SC have a love for serving others and each other. One student said she loves to watch how eager the group is to have God work in their lives so they can change their community. One of the students’ favorite local mission project is delivering cookies in an under privileged neighborhood at Christmas time.
Less than two years ago, one student was constantly bullied by one of his classmates. Thanks to a conversation with his parents, the student made a decision to faithfully pray for the boy who bullied him. One of the houses the student delivered cookies to was the bully’s. Within a few months, the bully became active in the youth group and one year ago he gave his life to Christ at camp. Today, the student and his former bully are best friends and they continue to grow together as brothers in Christ.
God has continually worked through the efforts of the youth at Alice Drive Baptist Church, and the more they see God’s hand, the more they are driven to serve him. The group even uses their key deposits from camp to sponsor their Compassion child. They already sponsors and invests in one child and at the end of this week they will have two more. The students are excited to begin writing letters and pouring into the lives of their newly sponsored children.
The group not only loves to serve, but they love to have fun. They are constantly helping to plan events to help bring those who may be apprehensive toward church into an environment where they can experience the love of Christ. The group also loves to be competitive. They even participate in a flag football tournament every year. The students love that they can be competitive and full of energy, but then when the times comes, be raw and open with each other and intimately worship God.
God has already blown every student’s expectations for camp. They felt like every single night had the depth they normally find only on the last night of camp. One student said she was encouraged to see students come to camp with a somber attitude toward Christ, but leave filled with his joy. They are all hoping that everyone will follow through with the decisions they have made while at camp. They pray these same attitudes and life changes will continue at home when the environment proves more challenging and the pressure to turn away from Christ increases.
