Instantly Progressively Better by Stephen Solan

   I was nowhere to be found; my campers for Youth Camp One arrived promptly at 3:00pm on Sunday.  I was in the middle of preparing the dining hall with decorations for our WWII theme camp.  After I finished I quickly scuttled to the office to find my housing; you see camp had started, campers had arrived, but my belongings were not in my assigned cabin.  After being informed that four of my seven campers were here I moved my stuff to the cabin.  This was the first week of camp that I had legitimately felt unprepared for the week. To best describe the day, I felt as though I was having that “underwear dream,” the one where you show up to school or work with no pants on. I felt confused, unprepared, stressed, disorganized and lost and I was the counselor! (Please keep in mind that I did have my pants on for this whole time.) Overall, I went into my week with the mindset that it was going to be all downhill from there.  I should have expected that God had a MUCH better plan in mind!

Stephen in Frontier Village

 After the first chapel session, I could tell the week was going to be amazing. God changed my attitude from being down and gloomy, to energetic and excited. My campers began to open up about their struggles in life from that very first day!  God used this and my life experiences to share the gospel and give them Godly advice. Despite being one of the worst teams competing in the games, our morale was uplifting.  Chapel was impacting and spiritually deep.  As amazing as each day was, none of them came close to how God worked on Thursday night. Tears came pouring out, boundaries were broken, worship was cried out, and ultimately kids became conscious of their need for Christ.  I have been working at Prescott Pines Camp for five summers, and haven’t seen anything quite like it before! God is good!  It goes to show that people can be lost, and nowhere to be found, but then God faithfully shows up and by His spirit makes things progressively better - if not instantly!   

Those of you who camp to Frontier Village or Youth Camp as a counselor or a camper, do you have a break through story to share?