The End of the Beginning

Posted on by stevenlucht1

Next week is it… It’s the official start of the summer with the kids. My excitement is growing in anticipation for them to be here. At the same time, my heart turns when I think about where these kids are coming from. It pains me knowing that some of the kids that will be here for the first kid’s camp have not heard of the beauty of our Savior, knowing that the some of the kids are coming from very rough backgrounds. I ask that you join me in prayer for those kids, and the kids that do come from good homes.

This past week has been very long. It seems that every time that my heart starts really getting excited and pumped up for the kids to come, Satan decides that he is going to throw a curve ball and distract me from the reasoning that  I am here. It has been quite the lesson to have to endure. Thankfully God is the one in control and taking over. It is absolutely amazing when we truly give things to the Lord that He WILL take over. The catch is that we need to truly give whatever is on our mind to Him (Easier said than done.)

As summer staff, we have gone through quite of bit of training. We have been trained in TAC elements (Team Adventure Challenge), archery, paintball, various nature times, the tower, swing, and the tree climb. Writing it out makes it sound like we just have been playing this whole time. However, these days have become very long with a lot of training. We obviously have been having an incredible time, but it does seem like we’ve been here for at least a month when we only have been here for a little over a week. I can definitely say that I am more than ready for the kids to come.

It’s incredible that God can use us for His work and for His glory. Please pray for us summer staff that we keep in the mindset that we are here to give glory to God and none of it comes to us. It’s too easy for us to get prideful and forget what we truly are here for. God is so good and we are so excited to see what He is going to do and impact this summer.

Matthew 10:13-16 explains how Jesus let the children come to Him. I am so ready for these kids to come so that we can pour out our hearts to them. My desperation to want to share the love of God to them is beyond all measure. Wednesday morning I will be teaching at the chapel time. For approximately six months, God has laid it upon my heart for this message. My biggest prayer is that it is all God speaking through me and not anything of my own accord.

All this said; please pray dearly for my fellow summer staff and our walks with Christ. I have been more encouraged this year than ever in my walk with Christ and being challenged in my own growth. We have a healthy and strong bond with each other and get together each night to spend some time in prayer. We couldn’t do this without God’s help. It truly is amazing what God has been providing already in this summer year.

 

Trust in the Next Chapter…

Posted on by stevenlucht1

Everyone has heard someone say that we need to trust in the Lord. It so much easier said than done. Countless times my trust in God crumbles underneath me and I try so hard to take situations into my own hands.

It’s so easy to trust in God through the easy times and when everything seems to be going the way you want. However, once we hit a rough patch, it seems like our trust flies out the window and we grab the wheel of our life in desperation try to save ourselves.

Last week Sunday was a start of a bad week… It began with a few bad conversations with people and a lack of sleep. My frustrations alone made me more frustrated creating a circle of destruction. I looked at areas of my life and lost complete trust in God, even though I know full well that God is working in those areas. By Wednesday, I wrestled with God still in my own frustrations and failing to see that He was continuing to provide, even when I refused to see it. It wasn’t until I realized that I was trying to take control over my life and lost my trust in God that I gave it back to Him. It’s funny how a seven year old little girl at an Awana club can get you out of a bad week.

Something that helped me gain my trust back in God, was looking back at the miracles that He performed in my life. God has intricately placed the most minute details in place that eventually changed my entire life in a different direction. It’s been an amazing ride and in those times that I have trusted most in God, some of the biggest changes came about.

We need to trust in God to move us to where He wants us. You can not trust in God if you are not into your Bible and in constant prayer with God.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.”
~Proverbs 3:5~

“Trust in the LORD forever,
for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”
~Isaiah 26:4~

The Next Chapter:
I absolutely couldn’t be happier where God has me in life. The biblical teachings and the spiritual leadership that surrounds this area is absolutely amazing. It seems like God is providing more than I can see. This excites me more than anything.

As I keep turning my pages over in life I reach yet another exciting chapter. God has lead me to become summer staff at Living Waters Bible Camp again this summer. My excitement for the day the summer staff has to be down there is heart pounding. Knowing that lives are going to be changed and to be a part of that is an honor and a privilege.

Talking with some other summer staff that will also be down there only increases this excitement. It’s not only the campers lives that will be changed but also our lives. I look forward to having the opportunity to serve side by side with my family in Christ to serve God and grow with our Heavenly Father.

My prayer requests are simple but so important. Please pray that our hearts are prepared to be down to Camp. That we focus completely on why we are down there in doing the Lord’s work. Help us have a strong trust in God in our lives inside and outside of being down at Living Waters. Trust that God will work His miracles, and use us for increasing His kingdom with giving it all to Him.

I thank you so much for the prayers and support.

God is Good!

The End of the Beginning…

Posted on by stevenlucht1

Words do not really describe the end of the summer. Looking back on all the memories with the other staff and with all the campers. It’s crazy to think that it’s over. I remember one of the first nights, I looked over at one of my fellow summer staff, and told him that this summer was going to be the greatest summer ever. This summer exceeded every expectation I could have put in place for it.

Needless to say I more than miss this summer. It felt that it went by way to fast. So many opportunities to share the love of Christ. I love what God has done down here at camp. Not only do those who come down to camp as campers become impacted but also the staff here as well. I am more than blessed to have had the opportunity to come down here and serve.

I want to thank those who are continuing to pray for me and that have been an amazing encouragement on my life. You are definitely apart of my family and I cherish those who have been challenging me and encouraging me in my walk with Christ.

God has challenged me in a few areas this summer. The biggest area God reached out to me was my trust toward Him. So many times I have been taught in my life that we need to take care of ourselves and make sure we have things under control… I highly disagree. The more I have trusted in Christ this past summer the more He revealed Himself to me.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart,and do not lean on your own understanding”
~Proverbs 3:5~

“Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.”
~Isaiah 26:4~

So many times this summer, and partially before, God kept telling me to just trust in Him. I kept failing at trying to do things myself and I had enough. Life runs so much smoother and easier when we truly put all our trust in Him. A lot of times, I had to just shut up and listen to what He was trying to tell me. It gets too noisy when we keep worrying about what’s next. The peace comes when we trust in God and let HIM work the miracles in our lives.

The second thing that God taught me is essentially that I am not going to understand why everything happens. I have so often tried to understand why things are going on but truly will never understand.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
~Isaiah 55:8-9~

There are something that happen in life that we are just not going to understand. THAT’S OKAY! We just need to keep in mind who is in control of all things. If we understood everything in this world it would defeat the purpose of having a god because we know all things. It goes back to the first thing God has taught me this summer, in that we need to just trust in Him and allow Him to do the work.

Again, it’s hard knowing the summer is over and most of the staff are gone. I am now back down at camp after a long weekend of traveling through several states. It’s so exciting to see where God is going to bring me next in life. The less I worry about life the more exciting it is to look at God and say “I’m ready!”.

Prayer requests:

  • A possible job opportunity has been in sight for a while down here near camp as a police officer. I would very much appreciate the prayers that I could get this job, but above all that God’s will is done.
  • For camp to get some more help during these next couple of months since most of the summer staff are gone and more guest groups keep coming in.

Half way through!

Posted on by stevenlucht1

It’s an interesting concept, isn’t it? When you come down in the valley it seems like all your problems you have had before stay out of the valley. This is one reason I love being down here in the valley.

This week is high school camp. There have been some great message times and solid teachings. The biggest prayer is that these campers grow in their relationship with Christ. (as always) Last night we were on the climbing wall, zip line and the giant swing. The days might become long but they are still full of good times. Today we are headed to lake Arbutus for the day.

During this week and previous weeks God has been teaching me an important lesson, and it comes from Isaiah 55 verse eight and nine.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
~ Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV)

There are so many things that happen in our life, whether that’s daily issues or weekly, that we can’t explain. However, it’s so comforting to know that God is in control of all of it. There is nothing that we need to worry about. When we worry, we look up at God and basically spit in His face and say that we don’t trust Him and that we are going to take things into our own hands. Stupid idea.

All in all this summer is going better than I could have imagined. My relationship with God has been challenged to a whole new level. I absolutely love being apart of this ministry! I want to thank all those that have supported us in your prayers. Prayer is the only way we would be walking today as it gets to be very long and tiring days.

Prayer requests:

  • Sleep would be wonderful
  • Energy to get through the day (besides just drinking coffee all day)
  • Prayer that more campers sign up for the weeks to come
  • That campers will put their trust in God <— duh
  • I may be coming down with a slight cold so that would be a nice prayer request

Again, thank you for all your prayers and encouragement!

A Delayed Update…

Posted on by stevenlucht1

Kids Camp #1:

I love having the opportunity to dorm lead. This past week it was the third through sixth grade camp. Third through sixth grade camp has always been one of my favorite camps to be a part of. However, I’m writing this just hours after saying goodbye to the kids that I have so much enjoyed learning from and teaching. I have always had a hard time saying goodbye. Not only did I say goodbye to all the kids but also to my family that was serving down at camp for the week.

All in all the week went far better than I could have imagined. I don’t remember the exact number, but there were several kids that either accepted Christ into their lives for the first time or reassured their faith. Every time a child puts their faith into Christ I get tears in my eyes and goosebumps on my arms.

Now that the kids are gone, I constantly wonder if we truly made a difference in their life. All I can really do now is to pray for these kids. God is good and even though we as dorm leaders aren’t in their lives anymore I know that the Holy Spirit is alive and well.

We had an amazing group of dorm leaders, teachers, and staff down here for this past week. It was such a blessing to be encourage by those around me. I also want to thank all those who are supporting me through prayer that it definitely is helping. God has given me an incredible first week with working with kids.

Boys Camp:

The above was meant to be posted earlier but hadn’t had the time to finish. Now it is the end of Boys Camp. I will admit, I was quite tired from the week before and was so saddened that I had to say goodbye to all the kids from the week before. However, I was soon showed how much enjoyment it was to be with the older guys.

My biggest challenge at the end of the week was if I made a true difference on these guys lives. I will admit, it was a challenge for me. On the last night we had an open sharing time with the campers of what they learned and what they were challenged on. The majority of them made a strong point that they wanted to continue/start a daily devotional and increase in their relationship with God. My biggest prayer request is that they not only desire to build that relationship and quench their thirst for Christ, but actually follow through by being doers of the Word.

God is good and has all things in control. It’s amazing how God can use us for His glory. I want to thank everyone that has been so diligent in praying for us and the work that is going on down at camp.

Prayer requests:

  • Sleeeeeeeeeeeeep. It’s been a tiring week and there is still sleep to be had.
  • To have focus on Christ and to be able to tell all the more people about Christ’s love
  • More people to sign up for camps

Again, I can’t thank you all enough for all the prayer and support you have been showing me. The encouragement from my brothers and sisters in Christ means the world to me. If you have any questions, please let me know I would love to tell you more.

Days of Training

Posted on by stevenlucht1

This past week was absolutely amazing. Not only do I have the opportunity to serve side by side with some incredible people, I get to learn more about me amazing Savior! I do apologize for not posting more often and more information.

Today we had the privilege to do some climbing wall, giant swing, zip line and the tree climb training. As long of a day it may have been it was really cool to be able to utilize these tools for Christ.

There are so many fun activities that are being planned and prepared for this summer that is so cool. My favorite part is being able to share those activities throughout the summer. God is so good and I am constantly seeing Him work around the camp in teaching us.

We all have been working hard trying to prepare for our different nature times that we have so that we are prepared to teach the kids. It would be really appreciated if you could pray that we can convey the message of Christ to these kids through the different nature times. There is a lot of reading and studying going on, and it’s so exciting because of the end result that God can use us as a tool to teach these kids.

I want to thank you. I want to thank you for praying and reading what’s going on down in the valley. We are all getting very anxious to use the training we have been going through to teach all that are coming to camp.

Again, if you have any questions or want to know a little bit more (it’s hard to get it all down in a limited time frame) I would more than love to talk with you and answer any questions you may have.

Prayer request:
~ That the sunburn that the sun so graciously gave me would dwindle down as in some parts are quite painful
~That we would be able to have our nature times ready for the kids
~ That we who have extra messages to get ready for would be ready and be able to convey an amazing teaching and share Christ’s love through it
~ Sleep would be nice and being well rested for each days activities

Where is our missions field?

Posted on by stevenlucht1

Growing up, I remember having different people from all over the world come to Sunday morning church service and explain all that they do in another country. Whether that was a person from down in the Bahamas, a man in South Africa or someone that lived in a different country. These people were commonly referred to as “missionaries”. I told myself at a young age that I am going to become one of these “missionaries” and travel the world into other countries telling others about Christ.

I’ll never forget listening to a message from Stuart and Jill Briscoe. Jill was explaining where the missions field is while saying, “The missions field is in between your own two feet“.

So many times we fail to look around us and see all the hurt, and the people that need to hear the love of Christ because we believe that either someone else is going to tell them or that we feel that being a missionary we need to be in a different country.

Now don’t get me wrong, going into another country and doing missions work is amazing and should be encouraged for those who have that calling. There needs to be some people that go and do that kind of missions work, however if so many people are going out into other countries who is telling our neighbors about Christ?

My dad and mom always taught us kids that work always started at home. Whether that was raking up the leaves, mowing the grass or simply doing the dishes. Not only did this teach us that it’s good to help around the house, but that is where help was needed. Now that we are older and one-by-one are moving out of the house, we are also using that work ethic and ability to work around the house with us.

Our work starts from home or as Jill Briscoe put it, “The missions field is in between our own two feet.” Jesus did say in Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV):

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We have a missions field right outside our front doorstep. It’s time that we step outside and start truly telling others about our God’s love for them. We are commanded to go! So what are we waiting for? Start your missions field.