Camp

This past week I had the opportunity to be an assistant counselor at a youth camp for 4 days. The camp was put on by the organization Action International and they have a partnership with IT Tender Ministries (that is the drop-in center that I help out at on Tuesdays and Thursdays) and that is how I got the chance to go.

There were about 50 campers who were ages 13-19 years old who are out of school (or don't go) and don't have jobs. Most of the youth have very difficult lives. Most of them have had many forms of abuse done to them and there were social workers there at the camp to talk with them. Although the terrible thing is that they only that 4 days to work with the youth. We hope and pray that they keep coming back to their organization that they came to the camp with to work through their issues.

The camp's theme was quite radical but very necessary. It was on purity and the title was 'True Loves Waits', no this is not the radical part just hold on. It was based on the scriptures of 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 and 1 Thessalonians 4:4-7, great passages by the way. The reason it was radical was because they were talking about sex, STDs (with pictures), and unexpected pregnancies and the bad stuff that can happen if you do drugs, drink and smoke while you are pregnant. It was awareness and advocacy in which none of these youth would have never had before. This school year (just started in June) is the first time ever they are teaching sex education in schools here in the Philippines. So these lessons/conversations that the youth were having at camp would have been thier first formal conversation ever to do with these issues. A big reason why they haven't been able to teach it in schools is the huge influence of the Catholic Church here, needless to say some people are really pissed off that these things are getting taught in school now. It is very much needed though because there are extreme amount of teenage pregancies in this country and most of them have no means of supporting their child. Also in many cases the man leaves and gives no support to the girl and she is left all alone to raise the child.

I feel the camp ran very well. For some of these kids it would be the high light of there lives becasue they get 3 square meals, a roof over their head and a bed to sleep in, councelors who care for them, and a relaxed atomsphere for them to be a kid. I could see and feel during the whorship time that they felt the Joy of the Lord. That the spirit of Jesus washed over them and all of their pain was gone. A very powerful and meaning experience for all of us there. Many of them cried when it was time to go home. They all wish they could stay there much, much longer. I hope you will continue in prayer with me for these youth for the Holy spirit to keep working in their lives.

May God Bless you all. Thanks so much for all the prayers and support.

Jared Peter