The Prayer Room and Other Stories

Well, camp ended a few weeks ago but it's taken me some time to gather my thoughts on the week. I was extremely ill the week after camp and it took a while to recover. I had a great but stressful week. I thought I was only getting four campers in my group but arrived to find that I had eight. However, to balance out this little surprise I also found that I was in a leaders dorm with my best friend Emma and my trainee Sarah - what a blessing! God is good. Lynn and I went through two days early to begin working on the prayer room. The plan was to get the four gazebos up to begin with and then start all the walls and decorations. However, it took us over two hours to get two gazebos up and we were both almost in tears after the third one simply refused to fit together. We went home closer to midnight than we had intended feeling somewhat defeated. Many a desperate prayer was uttered before we headed up to try again the next night. God gave Lynn a brainwave for measuring the gazebo poles and lo and behold - the last two were up in a matter of minutes! We were so relieved. Several hours and lots of material later the room was up and ready. I have to say it looked fab and I was so excited to see what God was going to do there. If you want to know more about what was in the prayer room just let me know and I'll explain it!





Over the week the kids went in to the prayer room alone or with friends and spend time exploring, looking, watching, thinking, reflecting, praying, creating, wailing, crying, learning and praying. Each day there were new things up on the walls - all honest outpouring of what was going on in their heads, hearts and lives. A couple of days I went in to spend some time with God and it was so fulfilling. With all the worship to organise I got a bit stressed out and it was so good to have a little corner of quiet where I could rest with God and seek His council. The room had that feeling that one cannot readily describe but the room felt covered in prayer and filled with the spirit. It was a place for healing, for listening, for learning. Several times I was brought to tears just looking at the evidence of prayer and praise that had been happening throughout the week. All our effort was truly worth it and more.





Apart from the prayer room many good times were had at camp. The campers were responsive to the worship and praise party on the Friday night just blew my mind. Leading the whole thing was truly exhausting and I had to keep it together and hold in a lot of emotion. I could see lives changing, God working and the spirit moving. The kids worshipped with true abandon and the commitments made were a testimony of God's grace and love sweeping through their lives. These times always serve to remind me of what a privilege it is to be involved in the work of SU because I get a glimpse of God at work and am reminded every time of the way in which Christ loves us. It was hard work - but oh so worth it. I want to say a huge thankyou to all those on the team who made it such a special week for me. You know who you are. =)

Hope and Prayer in Troubled Times

I've been praying a lot for some very close friends recently. There seem to be so many things going on at once with various people and I find myself asking God to carry the burdens which are just too heavy for the rest of us. Sometimes I find myself saying, "There's nothing we can do but pray..." and I get frustrated by that. Prayer is one of the most productive things you can do and saying that makes it seem like a last resort. What better to do than to bring the problem to the almighty creator of heaven and earth? However, I do understand that in a time of crisis we like to be able to 'do' something practical to help. When my friends present a problem and I'm not sure how to help sometimes it's best to just ask, "Is there anything I can do?". However, I struggle when it comes to non-christian friends. When there's nothing practical to be done, and we can only pray for them, how do we present them with any hope? Though they may doubt it at times, Christians will most likely understand that God has a plan and a purpose for them and that He will not let them carry more than they can handle; but with our non-christian friends how do we offer any kind of hope or solice in desperate times? Sometimes I tell them that I am praying for them but does this help? Is it a comfort? If they don't believe in God, much less the power of prayer, I suspect it doesn't. So how do we help? How do we really show that care and compassion in our outreach? How do we convey that we are doing the best thing that we know we can do, when their own beliefs may be a barrier to them understanding what we mean? More questions than answers I'm afraid. I confess that I am neither confident or consistent when it comes to praying but deep down I know that doesn't matter. When it comes to my friends I pray with honesty and hope because I want to see God moving in their lives. I just wish that people could understand more clearly the love and compassion that goes in to prayer and that, although to them it might not seem like much, some times it really is the best I can do.