We kicked off the summer of 2004 with a week at Green Valley Bible Camp. And what a great week it was! "Senior Week" is the first session of GVBC and it's for 9th - 12th graders. Our theme for the week was "The Family of God" and we focused on the book of Ephesians.
We were blessed to have Jackie Chesnutt as our guest teacher for the week. We spent 6 days going through the 6 chapters in Ephesians.
On top of the great classes, we enjoyed individual time alone with God, group devotionals and study sessions with the members of our cabins, nightly devotionals, and much more.
There were approximately 40 teens and 20 staff members at camp which allowed us to get to know each other really well and spend lots of one on one time studying and discussing what it means to truly be the "Family of God."
The highlight of our week was Wednesday night when Chelsea, one of our teens, was baptized into Christ. Chelsea just started attending West-Ark two weeks before we left for GVBC. She came to us with a lot of hurts and a lot of questions about life. That's the case with so many teens and adults today. Spending a week alone with Jesus in His word was exactly what she needed. She found the words in Ephesians especially comforting as Paul talks about God's willingness to "adopt" us into His family.
Chelsea was able to find hope and comfort in the words and promises of God. She saw the need for a new beginning. She wanted to experience the adoption that God was offering her, and on Wednesday night, June 9th, she put an end to her old life and began her new life with Christ.
Please pray for Chelsea and for all of our teens as they focus on their life as babes in Christ. It is a daily battle as Satan tries with all of his might to take what God has given to them. That's why it's so important for us to listen to the words found is Ephesians 6:10-18. May we constantly enourage one another, especially those young in their journey of faith, as we strive to live for God.
Praise God for our week at GVBC! Thank you for Marshall Brown, Jackie Chesnutt, and all of the other teachers and counselors who helped make the week possible. What a great start to the summer of 2004!
