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.