The 2016 Jesus Camp by the Church of Pentecost – Buffalo District ended a few weeks ago and I must say, it is one of the best church conferences I have ever attended by the Church of Pentecost. Let me just outline four reasons why you should cancel any plans you may have and attend the next Jesus Camp in 2017 – God willing.
1. Prayer
- If you are someone just seeking the face of God, please attend this Camp.
- If you are just looking to pray and to get a few prayer requests in, please attend this Camp.
- If you are trying to figure out how to pray, what to say during prayer, and when you should pray, then you should attend this conference. We did not have specific sessions addressing these topics but the environment itself will encourage you to pray. Because quite honestly, there is not much you can do since we were in a remote environment but with everything going on around the world lately, your entire soul should hunger for more prayer.
- During each session after listening to the sermon, we had a prayer session/altar call, which, if you are familiar with the Church of Pentecost and our traditions, you will know that it is the most important aspect during conventions, after Special Offering, of course! LOL.
- Since the conference was small and intimate, after the sermon we really got the chance to pray for a long time about a range of topics that may have been affecting us and the Leadership Team had enough time to physically touch everyone – which is extremely crucial when you go to a prayer camp to seek the face of God.
2. Forming New Relationships
At JC 2016, I spoke to people I normally would not speak to if we were at a regular church convention. I can say that I spoke to different people because I felt more comfortable in that environment. You did not have to second guess people’s real intent behind attending the Camp unlike regular conventions where you sometimes wonder if people came there just to show off their latest wardrobe or to see their friends who may live out of state. I am not saying there is anything wrong with wearing the best clothes because I personally have a mantra, “Always look your best – you never know who might be watching” however, no one should ever attend conventions simply because they want to show off what they recently bought.
3. Meditative Environment
- Another reason why I like this camp so much is because it reminded me of the conventions that I went to when I lived in Ghana. Those conventions were the best because we did not sleep in fancy hotels. From what I remember, all of our conventions were held at neighborhood schools and we brought our own mattresses and slept on the floor. In the morning you had to wake up early in order to fetch your own water to bath. Obviously, Ghana is totally different from the US but Spruce Lake Retreat just had a very nice and intimate feel to it and it just reminded me so much of Ghana.
- To reiterate my previous point, Spruce Lake Retreat was a great destination. Being that I am somewhat of a city girl and have been living in the city all of my life, it was really nice to get away from the city and from everyone. Going back to what I said earlier about the location reminding me of our conventions in Ghana, some of the participants I spoke with at the camp agreed that if our general Easter and Youth/PENSA conferences were held at such locations, it would be more effective and it would draw people closer to God. In this location there were no physical distractions (malls, cinemas, etc), and I personally liked it because it sort of forced you to actually speak with people instead of sneaking of to the nearest mall.
- The environment makes it easier to think deeply about the Word. Lessons and preachings were easier to absorb and shape into personal lessons.
4. Closure:
I am battling a lot of personal issues right now and with everything going on, sometimes I just forget to pray. When I am not in school, I am doing an internship, running multiple organizations on campus, volunteering for local non-profits, and of course running Samuella’s Kitchen. Most times I am just so physically exhausted that I just do not have the energy to pray. Sometimes when I am on the train going home, I calculate the number of hours I can sleep, “Okay if I can get home by 11pm and take a shower, I can get to bed at 11:45. If I decide to eat, that will add another 30 minutes. Okay Samuella, be realistic, no time for food. You have to be up at 5.” At JC 2016, one of the things I prayed for was extra strength and the energy in order to shift things around in order to focus more on my quiet time with God. So far, I have seen an improvement already and I just thank God for allowing me to forgive certain people from my past who may or may not have wrong me. The reason why I decided to forgive and just forget was because I needed to do it for myself in order to move on, plus, I only have one life to live and I do not intend on wasting my time here on this earth by holding unnecessary grudges.
So, those are the four main reasons why I think you should attend the next Jesus Camp. There is no official date or location yet but I am positive that it will be a good experience for you. Please see below for links to the sermons I was able to record. Please excuse any chatter you might hear; I put on my Photograher Samuella hat and left my phone somewhere to record the sermons.
2016 Jesus Camp – Sermon from Saturday Morning
2016 Jesus Camp – Sermon from Saturday Night
2016 Jesus Camp – Sermon from Sunday Morning
As most readers of this blog know, I recently purchased a Canon EOS Rebel T5 to provide personally shot quality images for the blog. At JC this year, I had so much fun taking pictures of my new friends and experiences. Here are a few pictures from the shoot I had with my sisters. You can also view the full album from the entire camp on Facebook: 2016 Jesus Camp Photo Album. Enjoy!
Stay adventurous, dear friends, and always remember to stay golden. All ways, always.
Sincerely,
Samuella
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