settle in for a long one...

Hey, well it's been just over a week since I've had a chance to update, so prepare for a long one. Camp was...amazing. And difficult. But so worth it. Remember how I asked you to pray for salvation of campers? Praise God, 13 kids prayed to receive Christ (or rededications)!! And the super coolest most awesome wonderful part, for me? I had 7 campers, and all 7 of them prayed for salvation!!! It was a really difficult time, because satan was extremely unhappy to see God on the move and working in the lives of the campers, so he tried everything he could to stop it. But, well as we all know-God is in control and well...satan, you suck. Satan tried to create division in our cabin among the campers, I had 2 girls who were mentally slow, one quite severe, 3 girls who were very homesick and the other 2 were returning campers who 'knew everything about everything' and liked to put me in my place. As if, those things were enough to stop God. I had trouble calming the girls down at night, and they were always restless during bible study and devotions...but "the battle belongs to the Lord" and now so do those 7 campers!! It was amazing to see God turn a difficult situation into something that totally glorified Him. Thank you EVERYONE for your prayers. It was so obvious that people were praying. Here's another story:
One of our horses collapsed during free time when it was supposed to be on a trail ride, and this is another story of how God was totally in control. 1) Esroh (staff member) arrived a couple hours before the horse's collapse, and with her there, there was JUST enough staff-praise God she came when she did 2) the camper riding Casper (horse) was an experienced, older rider, and so when she felt the horse go down she was able to jump off, if it had been a younger or more inexperienced rider, the camper could've easily been trapped in the stirrups and been crushed under the horse-so praise God for no injuries 3) the horse staff and horses hadn't left on the trail ride on time, and if they had and the horse had fallen on the trail, who knows how many people could've been hurt and how much more serious the situation could've been, so praise God for perfect timing. I think there are other little factors that Gabbi (barn director) told me about, that if ANYTHING had been different, it could've been a much more serious outcome, but, praise God-He was in control. I like that story. God is so good.
Also, there were 6 other campers that prayed to receive Christ, and one was the sister of one of the girls in my cabin that became a Christian, so that was awesome. They come from unstable homes and their grandmother has been bringing them to camp for years in hopes that they can know the truth of God, and they did!!! :)
It's been a very emotional week, and for those of you who understand it, a lot of spiritual warfare-which was something new and scary to me. I've heard of it and seen it in other people's lives, but never had I felt it so strongly affect me. God was so incredible, I learned so much.
Being at camp was really neat, it was weird that although it was my first week at Cherith, I was the most experienced counsellor (maybe one other girl had had the same amount, but she was still 3 years younger than me). It was fun to be looked at as 'old staff', because I'm 22 and most of the staff were between 15-18. It was so awesome though. And I got a LOT of mail. 18 pieces in fact. Most were encouragement notes from within camp from other staff, but I did get some from 'home' (Hamilton) and it was awesome. Thanks everyone for your prayers and encouragements. You guys rock.
So, because it was a very emotional week, and being in a cabin with 7 girls who LOVED to talk, I didn't get very much sleep. I was awake at 6am (usually earlier) everyday, and often woke up a number of times in the night, and of course didn't get to bed until really late. So today I'm just resting. I got home from camp yesterday, but spent the day and night at the Leaker's, went to church with them this morning and got home after lunch today.
This is going to be another busy week. I work 20 hours at Sobeys, 23 at Subway, and I have a staff meeting at Subway tomorrow night. I'm so exhausted, just thinking about it. But it's great, because I totally need the hours, especially after hardly working these last 2 weeks. But it was worth it to spend time with Bronwyn and then get to go to camp. Okay...time for bed. Or at least a lie down. Love you all, and I'll talk to you when I wake up to the world. Sometime next month. ;) just kidding.
Love Niki