Nashville camp update

from Suzanne Williams
Capernaum's Southern Coordinator


hello friends-

we've returned from our camp trip and i can't thank you enough for praying for us while we were at windy gap! we had an incredible week, my mind is still reeling with the great memories that we got to share with our friends!

i have been asked a handful of times what my favorite part of the week was. that's a hard question when i got to watch my friends do the ropes course, zip line, screamer swing, water slide multiple times in a row, ride horses and drive the nascarts. it's also hard when i think about watching them make new friends, mingle around camp, get scared that the evil program character really is going to take over camp and then screaming for joy when the good guys win and participate in all camp activities. it's even harder when i think about the great questions that they asked about jesus, what everything that they heard means to their life and when i think about them having great conversations with others about jesus.

so it was hard to come up with my "favorite part", but i think i did it....

through all of my second favorite parts of the week i was reminded of the truth that god redeems our whole story. it's a truth that i have known, but like everything else, a good reminder is always needed. god spared nothing on reminding me this week.

i thought about how we often have names that describe us, from childhood on, whether they are true or not (scared, fat, ugly, peace maker, black sheep, skinny, etc). this week i watched a bunch of those names become false in my friends and watched them realize who god has truly made them to be....one of our friends thought she was deathly afraid of heights- this week she slept on the top bunk, did the ropes course and the zip line! another friend thought she was afraid of horses- this week she rode one, leaving her wheelchair in the stable! another friend was afraid of the water but he got in the hot tub! another thought that to be cool she had to act like someone different than who she really is- this week she learned how much people love her for exactly who she is and that she doesn't have to pretend anymore! one friend has grown up thinking that she has nothing to offer- this week she was a student helper and beautifully served all of her friends throughout the week! the list goes on....

i also decided to do something new this year, every night after we got everyone to bed, i would send an email out to the parents with a recap of our day and some pictures. it enabled the parents to process along the way with us, constantly amazed at what was happening. each update was quite simple, but the words and pictures seemed to communicate far more than i could've imagined. a couple of mom's said that they forwarded each email to everyone in their address book!!

not only did god use our week at windy gap to redeem parts of my friends stories, but he used it to redeems parts of their parents stories as well. some parents rested for the first time in years, some went out on a date (one for the first time in three years), some weeded their garden and enjoyed it....all rejoiced that their child was experiencing a week at camp with friends and adventure- a dream that many had given up on a long time ago.

god redeems and brings dreams back to the surface...and then makes them come true.
money back guarantee, that's what we promise. no one has asked, i don't think the ever will. nor will i.

suzanne