Created in the Image of God- Creado en la Imagen de Dios
This year we had our yearly Summer Camp from June 25th-28th.
Every year a group from Elmbrook church in Wisconsin comes down to help put on
this camp for the boys. This year’s topic was focused on identity and finding
your identity in Christ. This teaching
was based on the testimonies of King David and King Saul, and how both were
kings and had dealt with some similar things, however, King Saul didn’t allow
God to guide his life and King David did, and despite even the bad things that
King David had done, because David was a servant of God and obedient to Him,
God restored King David’s life and blessed him. I feel that this year’s topic
really allowed us to go deeper with our boys and even go deeper within our
staff.
The boys and staff were challenged to make a box that would
represent them. The outside of the box represented the things that they think
that the people perceive them to be or how they feel they portray to be
themselves on the outside. Then they were challenged to share what is “inside
their box,” the things that perhaps they don’t outwardly show, but they know
themselves to be on the inside. Those things were pasted inside the box because
those things are some of the things that make them who they are. The final
challenge was then to place hurts and thing that had really affected them in a
negative way; things that they have perhaps kept bottled up inside, and they
were placed in their box (but not glued).
The final day, we were all blessed to hear the testimony of
one of the Elmbrook Team members. This testimony touched everyone present, to
hear of the difficult things that this person had gone through and it was so
encouraging to hear how God restored her and her life. This left a very
reflective moment for all of us, even our boys! We then took those hurts and
pains that were inside of our box, and took them out of the box and laid them
before the cross as a symbol of giving them over to God. We then burned those
hurts and pains and the boys picked up promises that God has for us and
replaced those hurts that were inside their boxes with God’s promises for their
lives. This camp really opened up the boys and staff to talk about and discuss
some difficult things that have happened in their lives. It was really a
blessing to see the boys’ reactions when they saw their hurts and pains being
burned up in the flames. You could just see this relief come over them as a big
weight was just lifted off of them.
This camp was a huge
blessing, and really allowed for the boys, Dominican staff and the Wisconsin
group to deepen and strengthen their relationships first of all with our
creator, but also with each other.
