I could write on this subject forever!
OMP = Ozark Mission Project
This camp/mission project was a big part of my renewal in Christ 3 years ago!
Where do I begin...
Ok...well to know how I stumbled upon OMP, I guess I better give you the background story and then I'll come back to OMP.
Just a little over 3 1/2 years ago I had decided to turn my life around after I felt like I was scraping rock bottom. I made a few friends that were old enough to be my mother that were more like angels sent from above. They helped me
sooo much just by being who they were which was strong Godly women. I craved their presence often because the light of God shined through them so much that I wanted to be around that.
I thought to myself...Man, I want what they have...so I started off by trying out their church. They didn't invite me. I just had heard them talk of it and thought well maybe that's where they got their light. So I started to attending Fellowship Bible Church. I was so amazed by the atmosphere. I grew up a Southern Baptist girl and women didn't pray or rarely speak in church...just sang pretty much. What I had in my mind church was, I just didn't realize wasn't all churches (maybe I was in my own little box). I thought church was when the pastor stood up there and got all worked up and yelled and called us all sinners and made us feel like we are all worthless (which we are and I'm not saying this is wrong). This kind of preaching just scared me and didn't give me much hope as a child. Even saved as an 8 year old girl, I'm pretty sure I did it because I was scared not to.
Fellowship has taught me and is still teaching me sooo much. I feel like every time I go it is a learning experience. Our pastor is very smart and has a few degrees and used to teach Hebrew and other religious classes at a college. It is almost like Sunday school for adults (for me anyways). I love it and have truly grown in the Word of God because of this church.
sssscccceeert....ok back on track...
Sorry I'm new to blogging...I could've wrote a whole blog on church and a whole blog on my renewal then a blog on OMP but what fun is that. lol
Anywho, Paige and Alicia (the women I was talking about earlier) were always talking, laughing, and telling stories about OMP. I always thought it sounded like a fun experience even though I didn't really know what it really was. They kept mentioning that I should go. So I decided that I wanted to go. Fellowship, however, didn't need me as a Driver/adult camper. It was suppose to be one driver per 4 youth and Fellowship only had 8 youth interested in going to OMP. BUT I hooked up with a nearby church that was going to the same camp as Fellowship and was a driver for them. So when you get there everyone is split up and split into family groups..there is a Driver/Adult camper then they get 4 random youth that if things work out no one in your family already knows each other. This becomes your family for the week which you do everything with. As a family you are also given a mission project for the day/days/week. So here I am 25 years old responsible for 4 teenagers. It was an experience for sure leading these youth through a mission project. They were great though! We had a blast! It's where God was showing me how to be a leader for Him which was a great experience for me.
This camp taught me a lot and really opened my eyes! I was just AMAZED to see sooo many teenagers filled with the Spirit and freely talk about God. I just don't remember seeing that EVER in my youth. My youth wasn't bad. I just wasn't surrounded by a lot of Godly people. My Granny Grace Gaines was pretty much the only true Godly person that was in my life as I was growing up. My friends even the ones that went to church didn't speak of it outside of church.
So I was just baffled by this. The nightly sharing sessions and then worship just brought tears to my eyes. At that camp 3 years ago I rededicated my life to Christ. I confessed to Him that as a sinner I have brought Him into and out of my life whenever I felt it to be convenient and depending on who I was hanging out with at the time. I asked Him to take it all away and just fill the hole that had been in my heart. It was awesome and the week only got better. :)
After leaving that camp, I was changed. I had decided that I was changing my life for Him. I wanted to live a life that was what He wanted me to do. I didn't want the only social part of my life to consist of sinning. I didn't want to dred going home from a job I hated to a house full of sin where I barely felt safe in the confinments of my own room with the door closed. I didn't want friends that only wanted to hang out with me if it consisted of some sort of sinning. I knew it was going to be hard to change all of these things but I was determined to do it.
So, I took a second job at CBC, bought a house and moved, pretty much removed all my friends from my life, and worked hard at becoming closer to Christ because after all of that it seemed like He was all that was left. It was hard! I kept learning and kept growing closer to Him though. I was exhausted working 2 jobs but I loved CBC and the parks job I hated it but it paid the bills. A lot of change took place in my life and I made a lot of new wonderful friends. Time flew by.
Last year after not knowing if I would be able to go to OMP or not, I thought that I would just sign up to be on the volunteer staff because I really wanted OMP to be a part of my life from now on and wanted to assure that I could go. When Nancy (the head OMP lady) called to see if I was still interested in working with OMP, I told her my situation was that I really wanted to work at the same camp that Fellowship was attending just so I could still share the experience with my wonderful friends and the youth of my church. She gladly agreed that it was a good idea and signed me up for Activities Director. That was conveniently appropriate since activities directing is really where I feel my passion has been work-wise. So I took a week of vacation and went. It was a lot of work! I felt like I was running around everywhere and not getting the same spiritual experience that I did the year before. BUT it was just different. I didn't just get to see how my little family experienced God throughout the day. I got to see it in many families. I didn't have my own bc I was on staff so I got to travel around and help out lots of families with their mission projects and got to hang out with all the kids. :) It was another good experience! I was also grateful that we had a hard working fun and intelligent staff as well. I really enjoyed working for them and the director of the camp (Bud) even asked me to join his crew the next summer. I agreed bc I knew I'd be working with another great staff if he was directing.
God continued to work in my life...changes in me and my life constantly took place. After camp in 2009, I was asked to be the new Resident Director for CBC's girls dorm. I mean sure my first instinct was wow that would be fun. I always loved working with residence life when I lived on campus in college. But seeing that I hadn't even been in my new house for an entire year yet, I declined. 3 weeks went by and they came to me again asking me to consider this position. They even told me to take a few weeks or a month and think about it. So I prayed..and prayed..and prayed. I really felt like God was telling me to take it. If I took it that would get me out of the job I hated, but would take me away from the house I just bought. I just couldnt deny how I felt God leading me to work at Central Baptist College. So I did it. God has used me and changed me and developed me and strenghtened me even more since I have taken the job. I am so pleased to be working for Him every day. :)
This summer at OMP...WOW! God, I tell you what...You never cease to amaze me!
Yes, I was on staff again as the Activities Director for the camp that Mr. Bud was directing and that my wonderful Fellowship buddies were attending. I guess I had learned how to juggle work and still get a good experience a little better than the previous year. First of all I knew it was going to be a great week after meeting the college staff and other volunteer staff. They were all so pleasant, easy going, and filled with Christ's love. I felt so at home with them. It took a few days for them to grow on me more and I to them I'm sure. I can't even explain how amazingly wonderful prayer warriors these people are. At night we would have bible studies and prayer circle and everyone prayed from the deepest part of their heart! They made me a better pray-er. Usually I tend to just say my silent prayer and signal the person next to me to go ahead and pray aloud. As something I knew I need to work on and confront and change, I prayed out loud with my fellow staffers every night and even though it wasn't strong like their prayers seemed to be; it came from my heart. There were tears, hugs, and smiles in those nightly meetings. I truly enjoyed it and miss it.
Not only was the staff great but the campers were as well. It was so fun to see God working in them. Even the adult campers! The every day challenges, conflicts, and things brought them together. They were opening up more the first day than I had seen at either of the other camps I had been to. God started to move in them. Tuesday, we had a few come to Christ and accept Him in their lives. Then, the next night we had many renewed in their faith....adults, campers, heck even me. :)
GOD USED ME to renew a camper that night. I didn't know/think that I was ready to witness to anyone because I still feel like I am learning and changing in Him but it didn't matter what I thought. That's what he wanted me to do and it was like I knew that's what I had to do. So I did it. Right before that I really felt God moving in me through the music and after listening to my new friend who had given her testimony that night I was holding back tears. It was overwhelming..then God used me to help that camper overcome her struggles and become renewed in Christ. Afterwards I just needed a hug. So I went straight to Paige and just hugged her and didn't let go for a while. She has truly been a blessing in my life. She helped lead me back to Christ. She helped, listened, and counseled me through some of my hard times and helped me celebrate the good. That's why sometimes I tend to run to her when something happens. She's a very good friend and has truly been an angel sent from God!
Anywho, the week only got better and I watched God move in one of the young adult campers as well that I knew He was changing and renewing like He renewed me a few years ago. I regret not telling her that.
By the end of the week, I had made some amazing new friends and was overflowing with joy of the change God had brought to us. He had truly showed up and showed off for sure!
I was sad to go to face the world and I questioned myself why I only did just one of these wonderful camps each summer. I can't wait for next year! Until then I am trying to keep my momentum of change in my life and encouraging it in others.
I am thankful God has transformed me from the Inside Out!
Maybe you're next....
;)
