Ready.

Our 2nd camp starts today. We will have close to 400 students here. I'm ready! I've been here for this group the last two years and it's been tough for me! But I know that God is going to do big things here and through our staff and through our students! I'm just praying that God is in this place and on this mountain! We are inviting Him here! Lord, we are here for you!

Prayer requests: energy
Staff 1 and the shocco/Laguna turnover
Weather
I miss some people and I don't want it to be a distraction.

Global 2011

Mountain top beauty. Something that I have been given the joy of experiencing for the past two summers and for the past 6 months. This is my 3rd summer with Global Youth Ministry and it is already blowing my mind. This past week was my staffs first camp. And i had high high hopes for it. I knew some of the groups that were coming so i was very excited. And that first night, I hit a wall. Or maybe it was the whole camp. Satan had a foothold in some of the students and it was so very evident.
I met a few students who burdened my heart and absolutely broke me. I can say that i have never prayed so hard for certain students in my life. Through some of these students, i was revealed that I had a purpose on my staff and that I was on home staff for a very distinct purpose, and through another I was able to see the power of prayer and welcome a new sister to the family of Christ. I was able to spend time with some adults that showed true love and compassion for their students and it was so encouraging to see. I was brought back to the heart of worship and i saw what happened when things were striped away and It was about Jesus. & it is beautiful. stunning. breath-taking.
God has chosen to use me this summer and with that comes a lot of things. Satan has been attacking daily through different things. I have been letting him win. My faith has been so little lately even though God has provided in abundance. God has big things for this summer and for both staffs. Just wait & see:)

Community.Generation.Blessed.

Im sitting in my room, on the verge of tears, not knowing why. This week including the weekend has been an emotional rollarcoaster for me, but probably some of the best days of my life. After a weekend of sweet precious life changing time with God, i came home for a few days, and was drained but then went to my second home in the lovely town of winter garden, and let me tell you, if you want to meet the best people in the world, thats where you need to go. Never have i laughed so hard in my life, never have i felt so at home. But goodbyes, had to happen, but guess what? Goodbyes arent forever. My time down there made me realize something, well a few things, I HAVE THE BEST FRIENDS EVER! But also, how community is so important for a Christian. and two, we are blessed beyond comprehension. we really are and all we do is complain.

We are a generation of complainers, and ya know what? God still loves us, and even though the whole world has given up on us and thinks we are a bunch of slackers, God hasnt given up hope on us. & i think i know why. Ive met some teenagers that have a passion for life, and for people, and for God. and thats all we need. I dont know why we lose sight of that, but we do, and we do it often.

1 year ago today, Haiti was hit my a tragic earthquake that shook their country, literally. I watched a video on cnn about Haiti, one year later. The reporter said that even though their church was destroyed, their faith was strengthened. Why is it that we have everything we could possibly want, and yet we still complain and blame God?

Just a thought.

<3

If there were words to describe passion, then these wouldnt even compare!

Passion 2011. Not just a conference of 22,000 college students,but a time for Jesus to be proclaimed and praised. I went to this conference with a group of about 20 people that just love Jesus more then words can describe: this trip is one of the last times i would be able to hang out with them for a really long time and i dont think i could have asked for a better trip. I don’t think i can quite describe the feeling of singing praises to God with 22,000 other college students from around the world, not just my state, or my country, but college students from all over.

Im not even sure if i could describe passion at all other then, JESUS. He came, He showed up, and He changed hearts and lives and SAVED lives. God blessed us with speakers and musicians that would speak and sing His word to their fullest. They were anointed by the Holy Spirit. This entire trip, after each message and each session i found my self breathless, and overwhelmed like never before. When i got on the bus at 4am on news years day to head to passion, i was dry, weak, and thirsty. I just wanted to see Christ and feel Him. I went to passion not knowing what to expect at all. I didnt know if it was just going to be another conference, or if it was going to be so much more then that, and let me tell you, it was so much more then that.

There wasn’t just one thing that i learned. My learning started before i even stepped on the bus. At lindseys that same night, i was learning what real community felt like. To sit on a couch or a floor with friends and just talk about the dirt in our lives and our expectations and how Great our God really is. Going into this trip, i didnt have any expectations. I didnt want to put God in a box like i had always done. I wanted God to be God. I prayed for conviction and i prayed for change, but i always prayed that God would show up and reign.

The first main session was taught by Louie Giglio and in my notes, i just wrote down qoutes that just hit me in the face. One of the first things i have written down is ” MAKE SURE YOU LIVE A LIFE THAT COUNTS”. Louie referenced Phil 1:6 and explained to us how God has started a good work in us and he will complete it, and how we were rescued. We were once enemies of Christ until he saved up. God wants to use you!

• CIRCUMSTANCES DONT MATTER TO CHRIST. NOR DO THEY EFFECT HIM.
• YOU PREACH YOUR OWN FUNERAL
• CIRCUMSTANCES DONT HAVE POWER.
• NO CIRCUMSTANCE CAN STOP YOU FROM BEING FREE AND FULLY ALIVE.
• ONCE WE CONNECT OUR LIFE TO JESUS, WE ARE FOREVER FREE.

PHIL 1:21 ” FOR TO ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST, AND TO DIE IS GAIN.

Passion does this really awesome things and has a thing called Community Groups and within your community groups, you have family groups. I was blessed to have an amazing group of people in my family! Miss you! But, Community group time was just a time to reflect on the day and to start off the day in a more intimate setting. On the 2nd day, our community group leader aaron coe, asked us a question and it is repeating itself in my mind. IF YOU GAVE UP EVERYTHING LIKE CHRIST DID, WHAT WOULD YOUR LIFE LOOK LIKE?

The main session the next morning was led by the lovely Beth Moore. One of her first statements got me to the core; she said, ” you need a renewed mind in order to fulfill the plan God has for your life”. That same day, we had break out time, and i went to the ” The fuel of the passion movement” and it was crazy awesome! One of the quotes that stood out to me was this ” God calls us to be set apart not by our facebook profile or our latest update, but instead, by the way we love each other” WOW WOW WOW! At the end of this breakout out time, one of the leaders said, ” Maybe God wants you to be the answer to your prayer request” He was talking about investing into people instead of just praying for them! This put me on my butt!

That same night, God blessed us Francis Chan and he brought the word! Francis spoke about whether or not your life matched up with the scripture and i think everyone in that arena was put on their faces. ” Can people look at your life and tell that you believe in Hell, and that you have been saved from it?” After many conversations this weekend, it was made very clear that we were meant to suffer. Christ gave it all, including his life. Also, Hell is a real place, and sadly real people will go there. There are people who need to know the grace of God. NORMAL ISN’T GOING TO CUT IT!

The next morning a man named Andy Stanley spoke; and honestly, that will have its own post shortly! I will combine the David Platt break out sesh with this as well.

John Piper. What a man, even though my head hurt after it was done. He made some pretty awesome points that we should pay attention too. “ Self can never satisfy a heart that was for God”. God loves you and thinks you are so precious. But, Your preciousness should not become your god.

The name JESUS is one that gets thrown around way to often when really it should be praised to the highest. Louie Giglio led the final session and said this ” Spend less time worrying about where your going to go and start worrying about if your carrying the right thing” ARE YOU CARRYING THE NAME OF JESUS? God wants us to know that we are the chosen instruments; “Go wherever your passion leads you, whats matters is, what you carry”

CARRY THE NAME OF JESUS WHEREVER YOU GO.

After being home not even two days, im realizing how hard reality actually is, and how important community is. When people persecuting you, they arent persecuting, they are persecuting Jesus. But im also realizing that people shouldnt give up on our generation. Its the people in this generation that are going to be leading this movement; its this generation is brokenhearted for the hurting people around the world, and WE ARE THE GENERATION THAT ARE IS GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! WATCH US WORLD! :)

Isaiah 26:8

8 Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,[a]

we wait for you;

your name and renown

are the desire of our hearts.