Wednesday, June 11, 2008

risk, fail, fall...you are still loved

June 1-6 Michi-Lu-Ca

Stories are important! We are all built on stories and we come with stories and we make stories. We share our stories with others along the way. At Camp Michi-Lu-Ca in Northern eastern Michigan, the staff shares their stories as well. A common theme in each story is the sense of God’s call in their being at camp for the summer. A call from God is sometimes hard to describe. Most camp staff has been encouraged to apply by another friend, a former counselor, a pastor, or sometimes the director himself. I have heard the camp staff talk about the feeling they get when they are at camp and the sense of ministry being done to and for the children.
The model of Christian community that Michi-Lu-Ca strives for is a care for each camper’s physical health, emotional health, and spiritual health. This mission helps create the camp environment that lets you risk, fail, and fall, and still be loved. At camp, people love you for just being you: a person of God!
I was inspired by so many wonderful people at Michi-Lu-Ca and realized that even though it was a different camp it was God’s same creation, they are different people, but the same relationships exists among them, and that there are many manifestations but the same, one God! As we talked about life, I hear the effect that camp has had on these young people as they continue to seek God in their lives and listen for God’s call as they leave high school, college, or sometimes even their career. They come to camp. They share their stories, and they help so many others see God in the midst of these stories calling each of us by name. I pray that we hear God call us in our own stories!

From Adam Berndt, Outdoor Ministry Ambassador (OMA)

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