Julisa bustin’ a move with the Middle Girls!

Hello! I’m Julisa and this is my fifth summer working as an intern at Summer Bible Camp. I’ve had the privilege of serving with John and Dolores in their mission to share the message of Jesus Christ through faith, hope, and love. I’m honored that they keep having me back. So far the first week of camp has been great! We were rained out the first day, but the rest of the week was full of sunshine.

Julisa and Elisabeth entertaining children with a classic: duck, duck, goose!

I’m in charge of teaching Bible Study to the Fantastic 4 and 5 year olds and teaching a dance rotation to all of the campers. While the first week has been great, it’s also been difficult. Confession: I’ve never really taught or interacted with the 4 and 5 year olds at LOV. I’ve always steered towards the older kids, mainly the girls, because I can relate to them. So this summer, I have a bit of a challenge before me, kind of like the walls of Jericho that we studied about last week. I feel like Joshua; I have been given and entrusted with a task that I haven’t done before. And to be honest, I was really afraid. The night before the first day of camp, I kept quoting our verse of the summer Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

I usually get the jitters when I do something new, but this time around it was different. I prayed and asked God to speak through me so that the kids will understand and let it not be me who’s talking, but God. He helped me by sending the rain and giving me two kids the first day. Bible Study went well, so well that I got a little cocky just like Joshua did when he tried to overtake Ai.

So, the second day of Bible Study, I had 8 kids, and it was terrible! I had everything planned out and got no point across. I managed to pray with them, but that was it. After Bible Study, I was so discouraged and distracted that it messed up the rest of my day. I drove to my second job after camp exhausted and reflecting on everything thing that went wrong that day. I came to the conclusion that I’m no quitter, and this task of teaching an age group that I’m not used to working with is not impossible for God. God can do big things in their lives this summer if I just let Him use me.

Julisa teaching her Kinders (4 & 5 year olds) the scripture memory verse of the summer, Joshua 1:9!

I’m expecting great things to happen this summer, and I’m excited to see them come to light! Keep the interns and me in your prayers as you read our blogs and view our pictures. Thank you in advance for your prayers and support!

– Julisa

Tammy’s 11-14 year old girls at Camp Faith!

Summer camp is always filled with surprises, but it’s the little ones that take us by biggest surprise. God has a way of showing that His ways are always best. I was a little apprehensive about one of the girls from last year coming back to camp this year. I felt that she would be a great distraction to the other girls in my group. I just knew all she wanted was to come see how many boys would pay her attention. I began praying about it; I told God I wanted His will to take place.

The older girls in action, busy working on a craft!

The next day sure enough she was back. I had an uneasy feeling. Yet, God showed me I was wrong. She listened during Bible study. She played the games. And the biggest surprise of all, at the end of the day she had earned Super Hero status! God showed me that truly loving someone goes a long way. He showed me that trusting Him to handle the situation is always best. I’m so thankful for those little surprises and all my girls this year!

– Tammy