Opening Day down, 4 Days to go!

Hey everyone! We made it to camp safe and sound (but we did have to stop for a bathroom break only 30 minutes after we left!) and have gotten all settled in. I will apologize now that I do not have many pictures yet, mainly bc we havent done much we can take pictures of yet. So check for more pictures this evening (after 5ish). 

I want to just give you a snapshot of what we are doing and info you might want to know:

1.Rooming: Our girls are in two adjoining rooms, so we feel altogether. The boys are in two rooms that are not adjoining, so Justin and the students are in one room and Dustin and Cody are living it up in their own room! 

2. Bible Studies: All of our students have some of our church in their bible studies, and they are beginning their first meeting this morning. Pray that they would be able to focus and really hear the Word. This year they have a new format for this, so our students are sitting in a large group time where the camp pastor is teaching then they will split into their small groups (about 10 students) to discuss and really try to learn. After small groups they will head to “Breakthru” which is a teambuilding time with their small groups. 

3. POI’s: (Points of Impact) These are the activities your students signed up for online like tubing adn basketball etc. We will do one of these a day in the afternoon. So hopefully tonight we will have as many pictures as we can capture from these times. Several of our are doing tubing, waterfront activities, and kayaking today.

4. PICTURES: Crossings will be taking lots of pictures while we are here. If you want to view these and possibly purchase any of these you can check out www.shutterfly.com

5. Missions: The missions offering this year will go to orphans in Zambia, Africa. $20 a month will provide clothing, two meals a day, education, medical treatment and teaching about the Gospel. We will take up the missions offering on Thursday night, so please be praying for our students to have giving hearts.

6. The BEYOND EFFECT: This year Crossings is doing a totally new thing called the Beyond Effect. They want to encourage and challenge our everyday students to go beyond themselves and serve the Lord. They will be sharing stories of normal students who decided to make their passion for shopping or basketball a way to serve “the least of these” and have spread the gospel thru this. And for the rest of the week, our students will be encouraged to identify a way they can look beyond who they are and choose to serve beyond themselves. Be especially praying for this! You can check out www.thebeyondeffect.org for more info. (You can also check out two examples by googling ‘taylors closet’ and ‘hoops4hope’. 

Today, the focus of of bible study and worship is looking “beyond your social position”. It is about us looking not at our identity in the world, but in Christ. Worship has been amazing thus far, and an eye-opener for our students on what truly rejoicing in God can look like. 

I’ll be back soon! 

singing during morning celebration

haven wasnt feeling well... and they arent morning people

morning celebration

hi church! 

a look at the worship center stage