Hey everyone! My name is Samantha Collins and I'll be a junior at William and Mary this fall. I'm a biology major on a pre-med track, so after all my work at school, I'm pretty happy it's summer.
Although I live near Williamsburg, I'm spending my second summer in a row in Atlanta, working at a place called Camp All-American. It's a ministry of Perimeter Church and we have over 900 day-camp kids come each week to play sports and learn about Jesus. I found out about CAA from a good friend last year and thought it would be a great way to spend my summer. I mean, getting paid to hang out with kids and tell them about Jesus... How could it get better?
And what a good decision it was! God used camp to teach me so many things. I became much more comfortable with sharing my faith because that's what I did every single day. I discovered what it was like to be part of a close-knit discipleship group. In short, it was an amazing time of spiritual growth for me.
When I decided to return this summer, I applied for the Core leader position. A Core leader has a group of counselors that they supervise each day and they lead a discipleship group for them every Thursday night. To my surprise, they hired me!
My experience as a leader has been challenging. I often feel less than qualified to give direction, especially that of a spiritual nature. I didn't expect it, but my biggest struggle so far has been looking to Christ as my source. I tend to rely on my own strength and talent, and with people looking up to me, I easily fall into the trap of making myself look competent.
During our Thursday discipleship this week, we read John 1:1-18. Part of the passage was talking about how John the Baptist was not the Light (Jesus), but only a witness to the light. I was so convicted by those verses! I had been attempting to be the light for my counselors this summer when it's really been my job to point them to Jesus!
It's amazing how the Bible can speak to us at any time and any place.
I hope that you all have a great summer and that this will encourage you to get into scripture more often!:)