July 14th, 2021
by Raydean Stuckey
by Raydean Stuckey
Thank you to our Student Minister, Micah Balu for writing our Note this week.
Hey Cornerstone! I wanted to take a moment to share what God did last week during CAMP(US). If you weren’t aware, CAMP(US) was an event for our 6th-12th grade students that we held in the evenings of June 28-July 1 at our Shiloh campus. We had almost 100 kids in attendance and packed our time with plenty of fun, meaningful worship experiences, and connecting with one another.
I could fill pages telling you about the memories that were made jumping around at Urban Air, rolling dozens of gutter balls at the bowling alley, exploding watermelons (yes, you read that correctly), dodge-ball dominance, and the insane amount of Sour Patch Kids that were consumed. That was all incredible and worth every second. But, as you know, none of those things were the most meaningful moments of CAMP(US).
As I reflect on the week I am thankful for too many things to list, but two specifically jump out and I want to highlight them here.
1. Our Church Family
First of all, we know that this week was covered in prayer all around by so many of you. The love was felt from our staff, elders, and congregation completely and I want to thank you for those prayers! God moved powerfully through you.
If you are a parent who registered your kid for CAMP(US) and trusted us with them this week: thank you. We don’t take that responsibility lightly and it is a joy to partner with you as you raise your students to be faithful disciples of Jesus.
It took so much help to pull this off that our student team will be writing thank you notes until Christmas. I was so humbled by the effort and attitude of so many volunteers this week going above and beyond, pouring it out, so these students could experience Jesus. Every burger grilled, every kid checked in, every small group question asked, every prayer prayed, every game played, every high-five given matters. The funny videos will long be forgotten, but the time invested this week by the team of saints we had in our corner has an eternal impact and I am so grateful for each and every one of them!
2. God’s Word
Every afternoon we had different breakout groups the students could select. They spent time learning what it means to worship, asking questions about baptism, discussing how to juggle the racial tension in our world, how to take their faith seriously in their next steps, what it means to be a Godly influence, and how to study the Bible well. All of these options were taught by Jesus-loving folks who always go to Scripture to find truth and they modeled that for our students.
For our night sessions we had a different speaker come in each day and challenge us to take a serious look at John 17 together. Throughout the week we were able to see Jesus’ heart for unity and what that requires of us in our context today. We found out what it means to be saved by Jesus, set apart for Jesus, secure in Jesus, and sent by Jesus. And we saw firsthand what happens when someone comes face-to-face with Jesus as our students were moved to respond. We saw 21 students make first-time decisions and many more commit to “carry the flag” and be sent by Him. Please be in prayer for these continued conversations and the baptisms to come.
Isaiah 43:19 says, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” At CAMP(US) this week God began a new thing and we are trusting Him all the way.
Micah Balu
Student Minister
Hey Cornerstone! I wanted to take a moment to share what God did last week during CAMP(US). If you weren’t aware, CAMP(US) was an event for our 6th-12th grade students that we held in the evenings of June 28-July 1 at our Shiloh campus. We had almost 100 kids in attendance and packed our time with plenty of fun, meaningful worship experiences, and connecting with one another.
I could fill pages telling you about the memories that were made jumping around at Urban Air, rolling dozens of gutter balls at the bowling alley, exploding watermelons (yes, you read that correctly), dodge-ball dominance, and the insane amount of Sour Patch Kids that were consumed. That was all incredible and worth every second. But, as you know, none of those things were the most meaningful moments of CAMP(US).
As I reflect on the week I am thankful for too many things to list, but two specifically jump out and I want to highlight them here.
1. Our Church Family
First of all, we know that this week was covered in prayer all around by so many of you. The love was felt from our staff, elders, and congregation completely and I want to thank you for those prayers! God moved powerfully through you.
If you are a parent who registered your kid for CAMP(US) and trusted us with them this week: thank you. We don’t take that responsibility lightly and it is a joy to partner with you as you raise your students to be faithful disciples of Jesus.
It took so much help to pull this off that our student team will be writing thank you notes until Christmas. I was so humbled by the effort and attitude of so many volunteers this week going above and beyond, pouring it out, so these students could experience Jesus. Every burger grilled, every kid checked in, every small group question asked, every prayer prayed, every game played, every high-five given matters. The funny videos will long be forgotten, but the time invested this week by the team of saints we had in our corner has an eternal impact and I am so grateful for each and every one of them!
2. God’s Word
Every afternoon we had different breakout groups the students could select. They spent time learning what it means to worship, asking questions about baptism, discussing how to juggle the racial tension in our world, how to take their faith seriously in their next steps, what it means to be a Godly influence, and how to study the Bible well. All of these options were taught by Jesus-loving folks who always go to Scripture to find truth and they modeled that for our students.
For our night sessions we had a different speaker come in each day and challenge us to take a serious look at John 17 together. Throughout the week we were able to see Jesus’ heart for unity and what that requires of us in our context today. We found out what it means to be saved by Jesus, set apart for Jesus, secure in Jesus, and sent by Jesus. And we saw firsthand what happens when someone comes face-to-face with Jesus as our students were moved to respond. We saw 21 students make first-time decisions and many more commit to “carry the flag” and be sent by Him. Please be in prayer for these continued conversations and the baptisms to come.
Isaiah 43:19 says, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” At CAMP(US) this week God began a new thing and we are trusting Him all the way.
Micah Balu
Student Minister
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