The Gospel

We've been showing this video every week. 

Good stuff!

Prayer Requests

We have an amazing group of high school boys with us this week... we are actually in our last 2 of 10 days with them!

Join us in praying for our counselors: Brady, Keith, Tyler, Andy and Chris as they lead, disciple and love these young men.

Pray for safety and health.

Praise for a great time of bonding during the backpacking trip.

Pray for good communication for our campers who's first language is not English.

Pray for our final 2 days with these boys and that they would seek out every opportunity to know and experience God.

2 Stories By 2 Staff

Story #1

By Maddie

When talking about home I expressed with some of the staff that I was pretty sad I would be missing the beginning of harvest and all the excitement that comes with it. I tell you this because after this story you will realize as I did that an Iowa harvest is nothing in comparison to having the blessing of witnessing a Jesus harvest.  Allison was a wiry blond haired girl filled with spunk and so much charisma it was practically coming out her ears! I was excited to have her in my cabin and get to know her better. She jumped right in being very vocal during cabin times and praying when volunteers were needed. I didn’t give much thought to this when past staff began to tell me that she had barely spoken two words to them in the past 3 years she had attended camp. I still can hardly imagine an Allison that hardly speaks. It was awesome to see how much she had grown in the past year into a young lady seeking out the truth in all ways she could! Fast forward to a cold, damp tent filled with 6 exhausted girls huddled together discussing the nights Bible lesson. The girls were beyond tired and conversation was running low when I threw out the question “Okay girls what’s going through your heads what has this week got you thinking about?” “ I have a question.” Allison said as she raised out of bed so fast we all couldn’t help but start laughing! She then began to tell me about how she has heard all her years at camp about Jesus but she didn’t realize she could ask him in her heart. “I always thought I was good, I said I sinned but really I thought what I did wasn’t that bad but after this week I just feel gross cuz I know how much sin I really have.” She accepted Christ right there in that musty tent with the sound of rain drops for applause and hugs from her cabin mates. I sat there shocked, to shocked to cry or hardly move although I managed some hoots and hollers that could have shook the mountains. God is so good, he never ceases to amaze me. I was telling the male counselors all about it when they came to visit us that night and I was jumping up and down for joy when Keith stopped me and said, “Hey ya know how you said you were sad you were missing harvest? How cool is it that God let you witness a harvest this summer.” WOW! I hadn’t even thought about that and am so blessed to not only be able to witness a harvest but to have an amazing CBX family to not only enjoy it with but savor and thank God for every minute of it. I may never see Allison in person again-but boy it’ll be a great day in heaven when we are reunited!

Story #2

By Maria

This past week I had the privilege of having five of the sweetest and most ingenious young ladies. My girls ranged in age from 12-17, so I had been praying for cabin unity the first few days of camp, and I was assured that it would happen during our backpacking trip. During our morning lesson on Saturday the rain started to come down so everyone rushed inside the tents until we could come back out. During this time, one might think that since we are in Jesus lesson mode that our discussion would be based on the scriptures we were reading. Well, that idea lasted approximately 4 minutes and consisted mostly of me reading the Bible until God answered a prayer. Due to the inclement weather, the temperature was rather brisk so I was in my sleeping bag trying to keep warm. I don't know how this next series of events transpired, but before I knew it there were four girls on top of me, one running to the kitchen area to get rope, then I was zipped out of the sleeping bag and hog-tied. I like to think that my cries for help were drowned out by the howling laughter of my girls because no one came to the tent for the five minutes I was inside. Just when I thought I would be shown mercy I heard, "Let's take her outside!" Within about 30 seconds of that idea being born I was in the middle of the camp hog-tied in my penguin onesie. After all of the other tents had their windows opened and got a few good laughs my girls threw my rain coat on my head and ran back in our tent. I did my best to waddle and roll my way over so I was finally back inside and by some miracle and strong teeth I untied myself. It was the story that all my girls, plus the whole camp talked about and so I learned two things: God answers prayers and God has a sense of humor.

A Story of God's Plan - Girls Red Hawk

Written by Counselor Carley

            This past week I was able to council five high school aged young women.  I was so excited for this opportunity, yet extremely nervous.  Going from the falcon camps, in which I was working with very young girls, to Red Hawk seemed like a huge jump to me.  I was worried about how to be a counselor to my girls without seeming to baby them.  However, things seemed to be going pretty well for the first couple of days.  My cabin didn’t open up as quickly as my younger ones had and I was finding myself discouraged.  I felt like I wasn’t getting through to them at all and like I had failed them as a counselor.  I took my feelings of discouragement to God and tried to keep in mind that he doesn’t need me to work in these girls lives, I am just given the privilege of doing so. God is going to do what he wants to do and I’m just along for the ride.  With this in mind I devoted myself to simply loving these girls and asking God to work through me. 

             We left for the backpacking trip and overall came back a stronger, more unified cabin.  I was so pleased.  However, on Monday I noticed that one of my girls, Laura, was slipping into a really bad mood.  She began rolling her eyes, disrespecting me, and gossiping about me.  By this time I was exhausted and really struggling to put up with her antics.  On Tuesday I pulled her aside to try and talk to her about what was going on.  I knew that she struggled with depression and was on various medications so I was trying to find the line between disciplining her and also understanding that there was a lot more going on than just an angry attitude.  Our talk went horrible, at least to me it seemed that way.  Laura unloaded all of her angry thoughts and feelings on me.  I could see her really struggling with her home situation, her mom is a drug addict, her father is dead and she has to live with her grandma.  I knew that she was just an angry little girl who was taking out her anger and disappointment on me but it was still hard to not take it personal when she began attacking me personally.  She stormed off, leaving me in tears and feeling like an utter failure.  I again tried to give these feelings to God and decided to just love Laura like Jesus did.  God truly gave me the strength to be patient with her disrespect and to love her despite her attitude.

              The next morning I had said goodbye to all of the kids except for one named Grace.  As we were waiting for her to be picked up she started crying and saying she hated camp.  Both I and another counselor found out that our girls had been in fights for the last couple days of camp and that was what was upsetting Grace so much.  Her mom came to pick her up and I found that I had no time to address this new situation.  I gave her a quick talk about not letting others words affect her and encouraged her to remember her identity was in Christ and not in what these girls were saying about her.  I hugged her and she left.  Within 12 hours I had seen my cabin fall apart and had had no time to address the situation.  I felt like such a failure.

                Yesterday the boys Red Hawk camp began.  Grace’s brother was getting dropped off and she had come with.  I was leaving the staff lodging when I heard my name called out and looked up to see Grace running towards me.  She gave me a huge hug and was genuinely glad to see me.  She said she was excited for camp next year and talked to me about her summer break.  I was amazed that this girl who hated camp and had left crying was so excited and talkative just a week later.  It just reminded me that loving these girls is not in vain, even though at times I feel like it is.  My girls didn’t seem to respond to what I was saying or the love I was trying to show them, however, seeing Grace showed me that God is using me to make an impact on these girls’ lives, even if it doesn’t seem like anything is happening.   As the details of camp drama fade from my girl’s memories I believe that they will remember what is important, that I loved them and more so that Jesus loves them.

Maddie's Cabin

This post was written by Counselor Maddie about her cabin last week....

I had no idea what God had in store for me when I was first introduced to my campers Monday night-little did I know I would be blessed enough to watch God transform three little girls lives. On the first day of camp we talked about sin in all three cabin times and each time 3 out of my 4 girls thought they hardly ever sinned and had no need for a savior. I was desperately in prayer and discouraged by what my small mind thought the week might hold. After the lesson time on Monday, I had one on one time with one of my campers and she asked if she could ask Jesus to forgive her sins and come into her heart! I couldn’t believe my ears I was so stinking excited! She prayed an amazingly heartfelt prayer and immediately after asked if we could get to catching turtles. I could only pray and hope that her heart was truly changed, God was so amazing and gracious and revealed to me later how amazing and truthful decision she had truly made. 

The same little girl asked to pray for our night cabin time. To my astonishment she prayed for the other girl’s hearts in the room and that they would let Jesus into their hearts so he could make them white as snow like he had made hers earlier that day! I was overjoyed and thought that the night could not get any more amazing when I opened my tear filled eyes to another one of my campers arms raised in the air. She asked if she could ask Jesus to forgive her sins so she could be a child of God also! I was in awe of Gods amazing power at this point and could barely talk, but was so privileged to listen to an amazing prayer of a little Girl asking her Father to come into her heart. I spent the remainder of the night tackling counselors and showering people with excitement! Two of my girls who earlier could hardly recognize the sin in their lives had now become children of God by nightfall! God is amazing-but the story doesn’t end there. I had one last of my campers who questioned if God was real because her friends believe he isn’t. She thought it was unfair that sin is equal in Gods eyes because she doesn’t sin THAT much. 

Well, that night after I had read a story and just said "Amen," finishing our good night prayer, I heard a quiet voice coming from that same hardened little girl say "teacher, could I say something to God really quick?" well you can’t say no to something like that so I said of course and she then repeated this sweet incredibly unexpected prayer from her lips "Hey Jesus, I’m sorry for all the sins I’ve committed and I don’t want a black heart anymore, please come in and let me be a child of God. Amen." 

God is so good!! He is beyond good, and I should know that nothing is impossible with our God! I am so incredibly thankful to have been able to witness such an amazing heart change in my girls! It’s Thursday and all they have spend the entire day talking about is how they are now children of God! AMEN