And We're off!!

We just finished our last session, cleanup, pack up, and lunch...we're just going to use the restrooms and we're headed home. Baring any traffic and bathroom breaks, we should make it to the church by about 4pm. However last week coming home from HS camp we ran into a lot of traffic. So, expect a call/text from your child when we get about 15/20 mins away so you're not waiting at for us. God did an amazing job of renovating us this week. Make sure to ask your child what God did for/to them this week. To God be the glory!!

Almost done!!

It's Wednesday afternoon and we just had lunch and played the insane paintball rec game 'the gauntlet'. All our students are having an amazing time. Last night was super intense. Dave asked the students to be completely real and come to the front to receive prayer as well as confessing what they've been dealing with. It was a night I will never forget. Afterward, we got to process with our students why they did what they did and what they wanted to change about their lives. I think this totally made camp for us. Because I didn't have a student share their thoughts yesterday, I have two students who are going to share today how their camp experience has been this week. We have Victor Shalnev and Cameron Silvas:

Victor:
"Well there is not much to describe it as much as, its just awesome. It's been so fun here but though it sounds like much fun and games, it also is a heart moving experience especially with how passionate the pastor is and this experience so far has moved me and changed my view of God and on Christianity itself. Just not much to say just that is is outrageously amazing and it will change you."

Cameron:
"Camp here is amazingly fun; the ropes course, the leap of faith and the hikes. But that's not the only thing that goes on here. You also have to wake up early for breakfast which kinda sucks but the breakfast is good. So the most awesome thing is chapel with Big Dave. He is the best speaker I've ever heard. One thing everyone should do next year is hang out in creeper hall and everyone who comes by shake their hand and say they're cool because its the creeper hall."

Alrighty, I guess that's it for today (especially since this has been such a long post). Tonight we have our final night-time chapel and then a Run Kid Run concert. There will be one last blog post tomorrow right before we leave so you can know what time to expect us. Thanks for reading and praying for us this week. To God be the glory!!

Another Tuesday update

It's Tuesday afternoon and we've made it past the halfway point of camp. Some students are at the ropes course and others at the pool or hanging out. Not sure if I'm going to have time to update tonight so I have another update with a leader's perspective on how camp is going. So here's Jen Parra:

"Camp is going awesome! Our speaker is passionate and loud and hitting some good topics. The girls are enjoying it because they are not used to his passion and loudness. We went to his dating/sex seminar yesterday and it was really good. The students are getting their minds blown away by our illusionist and love our band, Run Kid Run. I have had some amazing one on ones so far and have enjoyed actually getting sleep at night."

Until tonight or tomorrow...be praying for tonight that our students would take that next step in their faith.

Tuesday Morning

Hey everyone, sorry about not updating last night, i was exhausted and just really wanted to spend my last waking moments with the students hanging out. Camp continues to go well. Our group is getting along and growing closer to each other. I know at least for the boys, we had a really good prayer time and we were very real. Last night students responded to the invitation and about 30 or so made 1st time decisions. Tonight, Dave told us he'll be speaking to our Christian students so I'm really excited about that. It's time to go to rec for slip and slide day. We'll talk to you later!!

Camp continues on!

 Camp continues to go well. All of our students are having a great time and learning more and more about God and their relationship with Him. At Rec today, we played Dye Wars and some Power Ball. It was crazy. It's free time now and the guys are out on a hike and the girls are swimming. So I have Jenna Johnson here to let you all know how camp's going in her own words:

"Camp is going good so far.I have made some new friends, everybody is nice here. I feel like I have already gotten closer to God, and know that what he does helps us in the end. We have played some fun games and heard some great lessons so far."

Tonight, we'll have chapel where Dave will be giving the gospel. Please be praying that students respond. Then afterwards Danny Ray will be giving us a full show and we'll have some free time. I will update again tonight during free time to let you know how things went tonight. Thanks for reading!

Quick Night Time Update

The bell just rang and we're on our way to our cabins to get ready for bed. Tonight's chapel was amazing!! Dave talked about our theme verse: Ephesians 2:10 (he actually explained verses 1-10). He talked about how salvation is all about God and not us. God initiated everything and there's nothing we can do to earn it. It was very powerful. We also had a night time rec and some free time. Our group really loves to swim. Alright, that's enough for tonight...things are going great. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Until tomorrow...

Day 2!!

Hey everyone, we're all doing great at camp so far. We had a great first night of rec, chapel and free time last night. This morning we did chapel with seminars, rec and lunch. Now it's free time and some of our students are swimming and others are going to do the Leap of Faith later this afternoon. Everyday, we're going to have a different student share how camp is going for them. Today we have Emmanuel Fadollone share...

"Camp is going awesome right now.  We played some intense games and made an amazing cheer for the red team. I am glad to be here and growing deeper with God already and I can tell its gonna be amazing at the end."

Keep praying for us that we would all be open to whatever God has for us this week. I'll have another update tonight...until then Happy Father's Day!!

We've arrived!!

We made it safe and sound...we've unpacked in our cabins and are getting acquanted with the camp. Tonight, we'll have rec games, our first chapel session (with entertainment by Danny Ray, worship by Run Kid Run, and our first message by 'Big Dave' Hurtado). After that we'll have our first cabin discussion time (small group questions) to make the message more personal to our lives and then some free time.

Please be praying for all of us to have fun, be safe, get to know each other and God more. The theme for the week is 'Renovate'. Pray that we allow God to renovate our lives. Here's who we have here so you can pray for us by name...

Leaders: Isaac Parra, Jen Parra, Nick Kirkpatrick, Juliana Hayes

Students: Emmanuel Fadollone, Taylor Gatchell, Jenna Johnson, Macey Kirkpatrick, Cameron Silvas, Alonzo Marez, Victor Shalnev, Elijah Shalnev, Samantha Borders, Zianna Fadollone, Haley Lipford, Leia Rusyn, Bradley Woods, and Leah Silva.

Stay tuned for an updated either tonight or tomorrow morning...thanks for reading!!

We're coming home!

Well our camp week is done...we just had lunch and its time to load up the vans and head home. We all had an amazing week and grew closer to each other and to God.

We should be on the road by 1pm which means that we should be at the church by 4pm (unless there's traffic). Don't worry, we'll have all the students call when we're about 15-20 mins away.

What a great week...God is so good to us!!

Busy day!

Hey everyone, we've made it to the end of the week...there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I know that sounds bad, but I'm wiped out and I get to do it all over again next week. Today was probably the busiest day for many of our students. This morning we an awesome rec time with the gauntlet where we got to shoot paint balls at people running the gauntlet (obstacle course) and if they were running, they were shot at. It was totally crazy! After lunch, some of us entered the basketball tournament and actually made it to the championship. We did lose, but it was great and our students played their butts off. Then at 3:30, our entire church went kiyaking together and that was a great time together just as our Refuge group. Here's the last testimony from one of our students, Tra Troung:

"This week was the best week of my entire life, not just because it was camp but because it was my first camp! I can't wait to do this next year!"

There will be one last blog post tomorrow before we leave so stay tuned for that...if you're reading! The bell just rang for chapel, so I gotta go!!

Another Wednesday update and student's perspective

 Alright, it's free time and I got another student to explain in her own words how camp's going so far, so we have Cheyenne Lopez...

"well this week has been, A joy , A shock , A love. its been so much fun seeing the campers run around with smiles on there faces and not having to worry about anything but have fun and be them self. during the food time we sit together as cabins and the guys started singing and got the whole dining hall to sing along. we have over come our fears by jumping off trees and worshiping in front of many people we don't know. its too great. im blessed to be here!"

There you have it... camp is going great. We'll see what God brings to us tonight. I probably won't update tonight since I've already updated twice today, so we'll see you tomorrow!

2nd half of the week

We have officially reached the second half of the week. Last night was invitation night and there was probably about 40-50 decisions last night...it was awesome! We also had Danny Ray due a full show of his magic tricks. It totally blew our minds. This morning we had our church time together and our group is so amazing. We just keep growing closer and closer to each other and we're really proud of what our group has become and how much we're impacting others even here at camp. One of our leaders described our group as "small but strong". Right now students are at Rec playing crazy water games on a huge slip and slide. Then it's lunch time and more free time. ASC is responsible for running the volleyball tournament so that's what I'll be doing. Keep us in your prayers because the best is still to come...I can feel it!

Tuesday!!

Hey everybody...we're all doing well here. This morning we heard a great testimony for a guy named Josh who God is using in a mighty way. It's now free time so here's another testimony from one of our students: Nick Kirkpatick...

wassssssabbbbbiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! camp has been amazing. this morning we had a speaker, his name is Josh and he over 20 yrs of age. he has a very rare disease, like only 10 people in the world have it. he basically has loss of bone (meaning he doesnt have every bone like we do)and he only weighs 46 lbs. he was very inspirational. i loved how he spoke about being against abortion because his parents were tempted to abort him but thankfully they didnt. cant wait for more awesome messages and im waiting for God to speak to me. im making sure i give myself quiet alone time so that i can be silent and know he is God. God has truely blessed this week so far and i hope the rest of the week and next week wildside camp goes just as awesome if not better!!!!!!!!!! LIVE.LIFE.LOUD

Until tonight...keep praying for us!

God continues to move!!

Tonight, many of us felt God's presence during worship...it was amazing! Our cabin discussions continue to go well and I encouraged all of our guys to continue to open themselves up to God and try and remove disruptions so they can experience God better. Not too sure how the girls are doing, but I'm sure they're doing great too. Well this guy is very tired and so I'm gonna hang out with some students before bed and hit the hay pretty quick. Pray for us so we can continue to have energy and show love to our students. Goodnight!

First full day!

We're having a great time and everyone is doing well. Some of us went to early morning worship where there is a very talented band (The Way West) leading us there. We had breakfast, another chapel (where we talked about changing our perspective and reading God's word more), rec time at the ball field which had lots of epic battles and just finished lunch. It's now free time and some of our groups are doing some ropes courses and tournaments this afternoon. So you guys don't get tired of me just sharing how camp is going, we're going to have a different student each day let you know how camp is going from their perspective. So for today, we have Bailey Woods:

"Camp so far has been awesome! This morning, our speaker Mike spoke on changing your perspective to see how God sees, and to me, it was a very impacting message. Rec time was really cool, as well..i didn't so much enjoy having to run with a fish, though...
Mom, Roy, Sami, Bradley, Dad, and Julia... I miss you guys so much! Hope you are doing well and can't wait to see you all on Saturday when we return. Love you!"

Until tonight, keep praying for us and we'll talk to you (via the blog) later!

God is already moving!

We had a great first session where our speaker talked in depth about what faith was and why our faith is so shallow sometimes. The main question we're to wrestle with is "do I trust God no matter what?" Our students are already starting to wrestle with this in their own lives. Tonight, I (Isaac) already had a good conversation with a student and he's really wondering if he could because of all the junk he's had to go through in his life. He's really questioning what "good" has come from all the pain he's been through. Anyways, please be praying for us...I just know God is going to do some amazing things this week as we all open up our hearts to Him. The bell is about to ring for us to get to our cabins for a good nights rest (hopefully). We'll talk to you tomorrow.

I hope someone is reading this :)

We've Arrived!!

So we arrived at camp just in time for our leader meeting...thank God! All the students are excited and pumped for a great week at camp. We just had dinner and the bell just rang for our first set of rec. games. For the first time ever, everyone from our group is in the same team (go purple!), so that should be a lot of fun. Tonight our speaker is talking about what a committed follower of Christ looks like so that should be good stuff. Here's the list of who's with us here at camp so you can be praying for fun, safety, relationships to be built and strengthened, and most importantly that we all encounter God and draw closer to Him this week.

Leaders:
Isaac Parra, Robby Rodriguez, Nick Jarrell, Brandi Bowman, and Natalie (who is hanging out with a few of our girls this week due to only have one female leader)

Students:
Cheyenne Lopez, Calley Paul, Kayla Noble, Bailey Woods, Kim Boster, Eva Huebner, Nikki Rodgers, Aubrey Jarrell, Emily McDole, Kaitlyn Pearce, Livi DelAgostino, Nick Kirkpatrick, Nick Williams, Tra Troung, Nick Walker, Andrew Gates, Brandon Goad, David Hamilton, Austin Silcox, Richard Biddleman

This week we know that God wants to "Renovate" our lives to reflect Him more and live out His ways in our daily lives.