Portaloos, Shower queues and Holy Spirit encounters.
Over the course of my Christian life, I have been to numerous Christian Festivals – Faith Camp, Spring Harvest, New Wine, and David’s Tent to name but a few. There is no doubt that these have been transformational in my own walk with God as well as my family. In fact, one of the reasons why my husband and I were keen to attend (and thus embrace the pain of portaloos and long shower queues with a young family!) was so our children could encounter God in a deep and significant way. Research shows that Christian camps have a wide-ranging influence, and this is not just short term. Statistically, those who attend Christian camps as children or youth are three times more likely to remain religious 5 years later than those who did not attend (Sorenson, 2014).
This is extremely encouraging - particularly as Kerith Kids team members have been involved in running children’s venues at various camps for many years. This year at Wildfires we were blessed to have our amazing Kerith youth leading the worship in the kids’ venue! Often asked why I am involved, and do I feel that I miss out on the adult meetings, I can honestly say that I have received much more by serving than sitting in adult meetings. Children are often more open to the things of God than adults – they accept God’s power more freely and expect Him to act. Being a part of this is incredibly rewarding and energising.
This year was my first year leading a venue at Wildfires – I had the enormous privilege of watching children worshipping God with all their hearts, encountering the Holy Spirit and recommitting their lives to Jesus. The Holy Spirit was at work and many children were receiving gifts, words and pictures. He was also at work in the lives of the team – God is no man’s debtor! As we give to Him, He always blesses us in more ways than we can imagine! Here are just some of the testimonies from this year’s awesome Wildfires kids!:
“I asked God what he liked about me and He gave me a picture of a big table. He told me that I was strong and sturdy just like the table”
“God showed me a pile of dominoes – when I put them all together I saw windows of heaven”
“Yesterday my body was in a lot of pain – I couldn’t cope with the activities so I sat on a chair. Some team members prayed for healing. From nowhere I had supernatural strength, energy to dance and no pain!”
Wildfires was a place where God met, stretched, and inspired me - and transformation happened. My faith was deepened not only in the kid’s venue but also hanging out with the leaders as well as the Kerith family. Yes, the portaloos suck, the showers are (sometimes) cold and I lost count of how many times I tripped over people’s tent pegs, but the benefits of these few days far outweigh the negatives – I would definitely recommend it!
Author: Jo Foster (Kerith Kids Champion)