Reflections by: Luke Goh | Summer Camp Intern, Flemingdon Park
To be perfectly honest, if I knew just how mentally tiring this summer’s work would be in addition to the physical tax associated with running around with young children everyday, I might have had a little bit more hesitation in responding to God’s call to serve the community in Flemingdon Park this summer. I feel that my patience has been tested in numerous ways this summer, from frustrations in working with different people and managing rowdy kids to arts and crafts plans going awry. In each circumstance, I’ve realized more strongly how much I need to rely on God’s strength to overcome each challenge.
In each circumstance, I’ve realized more strongly how much I need to rely on God’s strength to overcome each challenge.
As an example, one week I planned a craft involving paper airplanes that I believed would help the campers to get to know one another better, while also being fun. Lo and behold, half an hour late my plans along with the airplanes crashed and burned. I seethed in my frustration while I cleaned up the mess that the kids had left behind to go outside. In that moment, I felt God extend His love to me and I felt His calming presence surround me, and I was able to finish the day without yelling at the children in anger. I was reminded of my purpose for embarking on this mission; to build loving relationships with the children that in me they might see a shining example of God’s love for them. I have learned through my time in Flemingdon Park that truly I can do nothing apart from God, as it is written in John 15:5.
This summer I have seen God working in the church that we occupy through the developing love for worship that the members of my small group have. Leading children’s worship can be a difficult endeavor for those foreign to loud exaggerated dance moves, and many of the children came into camp with a seemingly “too cool for school” mentality, refusing to participate in the daily allotted time for praise. Yet as the summer has progressed, I am extremely encouraged and also excited at the joy that the children in my small group have grown for worshiping God, constantly asking me to play “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” and “My Lighthouse” for them on my phone. As someone who finds the same joy in musical worship, I am thankful to God for opening their ears to hear God’s amazing promises captured in these songs.
Even though I’ve only been with these children for a short while, it will remain in my prayers that they might come to experience the joy in knowing Jesus as their Savior.