The past 2 weeks, I had the privilege of serving at Camp Bahamas {with no internet...I was dying to blog from there}. Our sweet friends, the Alburys, run a Christian sports camp on the island of Eleuthera for the youth of the Bahamas. I know, I know…it does not sound like much of a mission trip. Sometimes it is hard to convince people that we are actually going to the Bahamas to work. It is a great opportunity to serve not only the youth, but also our friends who are faithfully serving in the Bahamas.
{Side note: I am definitely still processing this trip and all that happened. It is hard for me to articulate everything that I learned/am learning. I have been working on how to say everything that is on my heart/my mind…I hope that my words are coherent!}
This summer, my parents led a team of 15 from our church for a week long trip. Toward the end of the week, someone jokingly asked my sister {Elizabeth} and me why we just did not stay another week. Within a day, Elizabeth, our brother, and I had changed our tickets to stay an extra week. Best decision. I am so thankful for our extra time there serving. The Lord worked {and is still working} in my heart. Without that extra week, I do not know if I would have left with the same experience or growth.
It amazes me the way that the Lord teaches us and grows us. Growth in Him never occurs how I expect it. Times where I have grown the most in Him have been in the midst of hard situations. This trip, I was not experiencing anything that was particularly hard, just frustrating. Through the frustration, the Lord began to work in my heart. He showed me parts of me that were not of Him…parts that I was holding onto. Parts that I have to surrender to Him. As I come home and continue to seek after Him, I know that He will continue to work in my heart. I never leave a mission trip unchanged.
One of the things that really impacted a lot of our team members was seeing how quickly the campers were faced with the world after leaving camp. Specifically the temptations and sin of the world. When the campers leave, they take a boat back to Nassau. What a lot of our team members saw at the dock waiting for the boat was the way that temptations were shoved right in the campers faces. It was something that we all acknowledged weighed heavy on our hearts.
When we came back to America on Tuesday, I experienced something similar to what the campers experienced when they got home. It was not so much that I was faced with temptations, but I saw things that have crept into our American culture and have become acceptable. Things that are not acceptable. Things that our culture tries to make us think are normal. Things that the enemy tries to desensitize us to. It woke me up a little more to the reality of the world that we live in now. What have we compromised because our culture has told us it is okay?
As I have thought about this, I think about how we live here on earth, but we are not to be of the earth. We as believers have to be separate from things of this earth.
Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
It is a challenge we face daily as believers. Living here, but not claiming our citizenship here.
Every time I get the privilege to serve, I am so thankful that God allows us to partner in His work. I feel so blessed to be a part of His ministry. We are so unworthy, yet He works through us.
...for it is God who works in you,
both to will and work for His good pleasure…
Philippians 2:13
Camp Bahamas hosts short term mission trips year round. In the summer, camp counselors and mission teams help run the camp. Throughout the year, they have teams come in and work on the construction of the camp. One of the great things about working with the Alburys is that they have a place for every group…VBS opportunities, construction, camp counselors, support staff {think Young Life work crew}…lots of great ways to get involved and serve!
The Alburys have a great story. Take a look at their website and learn more about their heart for the people of the Bahamas and their desire to serve the Lord there.
