Well, we just wrapped up day 5 of CYIA training camp, and things are still going really well. Every night we have some kind of special event for everyone. On Sunday night the band who’s leading worship for us this week did a concert to let us hear some more of their music, and they’re awesome (if you want to check them out, go to waylovemusic.com). On Monday night they and Stephen Broome (senior pastor of Highland Baptist Church in Orangeburg), the chapel speaker for the week led a prayer concert. We weren’t so sure about what it would be like or if it would be worth taking the time out to study, but it absolutely was. It was a powerful (and emotional for some) experience of worship and prayer. We prayed with people from other areas for each other’s ministries this summer and ended with prayer with our own areas. This time, which was only supposed to last 45 minutes, ended up lasting over 2 hours. God definitely showed up Monday night.

We’ve continued to have classes, some people have had practicums, and we’ve had alot of fun just continuing to hang out and build relationships with each other. On Tuesday night we had a “Singing Bee”, and our own summer missionary Zack made Spartanburg proud and won for us! It was a super fun night. Today the leadership students had some special classes where some leaders of South Carlolina CEF told us more about the ministry as a whole and the possibility of us continuing our ministry with CEF in the future in some other capacity. We also had a leadership panel where several adults came and talked to us about the different aspects of being a leader and answered our questions. Spartanburg was in charge of the demo club today, so Aaron Ross and I led it along with two other people from our area, Mikayla and Ryan. It was fun finally getting able to lead a club, and I’m excited about getting to do it for the rest of the summer! We ended tonight with a talent show, and boy do some of the people here have talent. There were lots of diverse acts, and there were atleast 5 involving people from the Spartanburg group. It was great!

Please continue to pray for the kids that come to demo club today, which will be their last time here. Tomorrow we’re putting on an event called “Open Air”, so the camp will divide in 2 groups and go to 2 different sites to do an event with kids, and the kids will have an opportunity to hear the Gospel and respond at some point. We’d appreciate prayers that it will all go smoothly, we’ll have good weather, and that the Holy Spirit would prepare the hearts of the children to hear the Good News.

Thank you so much!

Today is the third day of training camp for CYIA (Christian Youth in Action), a division of CEF. Thankfully our time here so far has not matched the nasty, rainy weather. We’re on the campus of Columbia International University, and groups from all over South Carolina are here: Spartanburg, Greenville, Columbia, Orangeburg and Myrtle Beach.

As soon as we arrived early Saturday afternoon and got our stuff in our rooms, classes started immediately. There are three “tracks” of classes for summer missionaries: Evangelistic (1st year), TCE (Teaching Children Effectively – 2nd year), and Leadership (3+ years). The evangelistic classes teach everything from how to teach a memory verse and a Bible lesson to maintaining control of a group of kids. TCE students learn how to create their own CEF-style lessons from any Bible passage they choose. Leadership classes focus on how to lead and mentor the less-experienced summer missionaries.

Our schedules are packed with several classes a day, chapel, family group meetings to discuss what we’re learning, study time, worship, and other fun activities. I literally feel like I’m back at college for another week during the summer, it’s so busy. As far as spiritual growth is concerned, we’re focusing on the condition of our hearts all week. We have 24 summer missionaries in our Spartanburg group this year, and we’re all getting along fantastically and getting to know each other better, which makes me super excited about the rest of the summer.

Another special part of our week is continuing a Mside Youth tradition: passing the Tuareg Cross. At the first Space Invaders of the summer, Nathan announced that he had decided that the cross should go to CEF camp this summer instead of being passed around at VBS like it usually is. So, on Saturday night when we had our first group meeting, I told the background story of the cross and passed it to Ryan, a 5th year summer missionary who’s a great leader and who, although he’s been going through some rough stuff at home, continues to have a very positive and encouraging attitude toward everyone. Last night, the cross went to Makayla, a 1st year summer missionary who made the statement our first night here that she was bad at making friends. Ryan gave her the cross to show her that, despite her past luck with making friends, she now has 23 new friends.

Well, that’s all I have for now. We’d appreciate prayers for the rest of the week as the leadership students lead demonstration clubs with real kids who will have the opportunity to accept Christ. You can also pray for all the students who have practicums where they have to present their memory verse and Bible lesson teaching to leadership students for evaluation – as you can probably imagine it can be quite a nerve-wracking experience. Thanks a bunch!