With all my props in tow, I headed to Baltimore for one last service as a Children’s Missionary Consultant. It’s been a wonderful experience and I’ve been blessed by the time spent with the leadership, the kids and the people I’ve met.

Today was a reminder that as leaders we have a profound impact on the kids we teach each week. We need to be constantly reminded that our words our powerful, even more so in the mind of a child. Let me share why I make that comment on this particular day.

As I entered the children church room, I entered with anticipation and excitement. I chose to share a topic about “Simplicity” and how clutter in our lives gets between us and God.

It was my goal to help them understand Luke 18:22.¬† Jesus is asking them to help the poor by giving up or selling ‘stuff’ that clutters and then they can follow Him.
A few more points and object lessons later the service ended with prayer as parents came to pick up their children.

One little girl and her mother waited patiently afterward to ask me a question. I bent over and the little girl said she had brought her mother so that she could buy something from my garage sale. It was a pure and loving request. I had to gently explain to her that I was pretending. She had gotten my point and realized that she could make a difference, if not by selling then by buying from my garage sale. She knew that the money would go to the poor.

Kids take to heart what you have to say and respond to the needs of others. We could easily overlook this lesson for ourselves that’s why I believe in training and the importance it plays in our effectiveness as teachers and leaders. Children have amazingly giving hearts. We can’t dare miss the opportunity to help shape that heart into one that recognizes and acts on that compassion for others.

God shows up in the most wonderful of places. Atop the mountains of Gore Virginia you’ll find Pine Creek Camp. The setting of Potomac District Kids Camp for the next 5 weeks. As week two of camp commenced I was excited to be part of a team that would help kids have fun, make friends and connect with God. Camp started out as most camps typically do with the arrival of 230 kids, 50 chaperones, hundreds of suitcases, sleeping bags and pillows. As they unloaded their luggage from vans, buses and cars the only thing missing was the kitchen sink. Kids scurried in all directions as they excitedly looked for their assigned room. Sleeping bags were unrolled as everyone anxiously settled into their new surroundings.

Time for the fun to begin. As the chaperone’s were ushered into an orientation meeting the kids were escorted to the field house where all 230 would commence playing a myriad of games in hopes of burning off some of that pinned up energy before their all camp orientation.

From this point on the schedule would have the kids going from the pond to the pool, from the mess hall to clubs, from the field house to the camp store and finally to their rooms to freshen up for the evening service. This is where the kids really connected with God. Adam Schmidgall was the speaker for the week and he not only captured the kids attention through illusions, tricks, audience participation, ventriloquism, but he also captured their hearts as he shared the words of God with the kids and brought them to a place where they could meet with God. Adam’s beginning object lesson always challenged the kids to expect and to want more of what God had to bring. The services brought spiritual refreshment to the heart, mind and soul of everyone there, kids and adults alike.

As God was blessing the kids, God was also blessing me with a very special gift. I had the opportunity to pray with two girls in particular that received the baptism in the Holy Spirit for the very first time. As I prayed for and with them, God’s Holy Spirit fell on both of them. What an exciting moment for each of them. As I moved away to allow them intimate time alone with God I couldn’t help but think about the gift God had just given me. We spend hours preparing and planning for the kid’s arrival at camp for the few moments at the altar when a child meets God face to face. All the time and energy exerted throughout the week seems minuscule in comparison to what God does through a child at the altar.

As the weeks of camp continue, I hope that we all remember that we can never give too much to the Lord because what He gives in return is by far greater than anything we could imagine. His blessings are awesome and although we don’t deserve them, He gives them anyway because of the enormous amount of love that He has for each of us.

This past weekend at 19:30 hours Baby bird was kicked out of the nest. That’s code for Girls Ministries Stars Retreat began 7:30 pm when I showed up for the evening’s service. Along with the other baby birds we landed in Grumpy Cat’s territory. That’s code for 130 girls (Stars) were in the proximity of the enemy. As I received orders from Headquarters, we started our mission to deliver the necessary supplies to a nearby MASH unit. The choices we made along the way were critical to the success of the mission.

Fortunately, the troops had been trained well and the choices led us to the exact location. We knew that we needed to “Hold on Tight” to our instruction manual, the Bible, if we ever hoped to help ourselves and those in need. You see, we were “In Hot Pursuit of God”. Our commanding officer made sure that we memorized the following from the instruction manual to keep us focused on the mission. “I’m single-minded in pursuit of you; don’t let me miss the road signs you’ve posted.” Psalm 119:10. For the first day of our mission, things went well. We found the MASH unit and held on tight to our instruction manual to keep us on track.
The following day as the sun peeked out between the clouds it became obvious that if we were ever going to see the signs that were posted for us we would need to “Open our Eyes”. And open our eyes we did. Grumpy Cat had been seen during headquarters surveillance of the area and we heard bombs in the distance. We took cover and prepared for the worst. Fortunately, it was only thunder and Grumpy Cat was no where to be seen. It was time to review with the troops the importance of responding to the warning sirens. Sometimes the siren is obvious, other times the siren sounds in our heads as we are making a choice. The siren in our heads is actually our conscience and we can’t ignore the warnings it gives. “Open our eyes” is exactly what we did that day as we looked for the signs posted for us and listened to our conscience.

Saturday evening we were joined by another platoon who helped with our mission. The other platoon were actually the parents of those girls being crowned an Honor Star. It was fun to include them in the evenings debriefing and have them as part of our mission. One very brave parent, was volunteered to play God as we re-enacted the story of Joshua assuming command of the Israelites. Joshua, one of our girl volunteers, listened intently to God’s instructions. She didn’t miss a detail. In the end, because of God’s encouragement to be “Strong and Courageous”, Joshua accepted the task of leading the Israelites into the promised land.

How often do we need encouragement as we pursue after God? Good thing God never gives up on us and gives us continual encouragment. It was an evening to honor all that God had done in the girls lives and for their accomplishment of becoming an Honor Star. Just like Joshua spent years learning from Moses, these girls have spent years learning in Stars. Both would one day use what they’ve learned to lead people to their promised land, heaven.

As the next day dawned it was time to tell the troops, mission accomplished. and that it was time to leave. Packing up to leave proved to be more difficult than expected. All of the excess equipment and baggage began to bog me down so I couldn’t imagine how the troops were feeling. Upon examination of the items I was trying to carry, I realized many of them could be left behind. Things like lying, cheating, R-rated movies, drugs & alcohol, disobedience and making fun of others were just a few. We realized that we needed to “Toss the Trash” and get rid of all the things in our life that would hinders us from pursuing after God. We needed to follow our instruction manual when it said in Heb. 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” When faced with a boobie trap that took 12 girls to untangle, we realized that it requires a team effort to help one another throw off the things that hinder us and the sin that entangles us. Once we tossed the trash it was easy to move forward and run the remainder of the race.

Saying good-bye to the troops was an emotional time but I know that they are more prepared than they were when they arrived. Now if they encounter Grumpy Cat they have tools and practical experience to one day say “mission accomplished”.