The Ascent

The Acsent Camp follow-up weekend happened this weekend. We planned a short weekend get-a-way held at Joan and Deiter’s farm for the students who attended camp and those who have been coming to the after-school Bible studies at both secondary schools. It was a time to connect with the students more outside of school time, and to review the teachings from Camp in December. One thing everyone enjoyed was seeing pictures from the December camp at Swakopomund. Another big hit was the tire swing.




Two highlights from the weekend: 1: The “question panel” we did on Saturday afternoon. The leaders sat in front of the students and explained that this was a time to ask any of the questions they wanted to ask us – anything from general questions about us, to questions about God and the Bible. From the very first question it was clear that these young people are hungry to know the things of God. Questions from, “Why do some churches heal people?” to “What is a false prophet and how can I tell the difference?” There were so many questions, so many honestly seeking answers. We searched through scripture and shared at every possible chance to show the students that the answers we gave were not of ourselves, but straight out of God’s mouth, through His Word. After over an hour of questions and answers, God discussion and the Word of God being shared, we were already running very late on our schedule, (even for African time!) and we told the students we would have time for only a few more, to which they replied, “Can’t we keep going??” It brought joy to my heart.
2: Later that day we watched the movie, “The Passion of the Christ”. For many students it was their first time seeing the movie. We planned time following the film for everyone to go off on their own to reflect, pray and be alone with God, then we came together in small groups to discuss the emotions, thoughts, and questions that everyone had. This was the second highlight of the weekend for me, seeing the girls in my group ask questions, and come to new realizations about Jesus and His sacrifice for us. One girl, Natalia, said, “I just…I feel like I don’t deserve what He did for me.” What a plain statement of the truth of GRACE.