April 2009: Camp and Sex

Dear Family, 

 

Every year World Impact Chester and World Impact Newark take teens on a winter retreat to Harmony Heart Camp.  This February was no different; a date was picked, a topic developed, a schedule made, and the journey began.  In Chester we gathered fourteen teenagers into two vans and headed up to the Poconos. It was a peaceful drive, but as we drove, I became nervous.  The theme for the weekend was LOVE and I was doing the teaching.  What if I screw up?  What if my teens don't listen?  These were the thoughts flowing through my mind.  I began to doubt what had been solidified months prior to our departure.  I prayed while driving, and we arrived safely at camp where we greeted our Newark family.   

 

The weekend went fast, and it was full of laughter, games, whispers, and everything that camp should be.  But there was something missing.  In every talk, I felt like I missed the mark.  I thought no one was listening, and my confidence was defeated.  Even while I was thinking these things, the teens were behaving, getting along and encouraging each other.  They were awesome!  When asked, they knew answers to questions about the previous teaching times.  They were listening, but I wondered if it was really sinking in. 

 

Fast forward one week:  As Wendy (not real name) gets in the van for church, she says, "Miss Candy, James (also not real name) is mad at me." 

 

"Why?" I ask, as I think to myself, “Oh the plight of teenage drama.” 

 

"I told him I wasn't going to have sex with him anymore."  

 

As these words spilled from her lips, I cried.  She heard truth at camp.  She heard that her worth is not wrapped in sexuality, but is encompassed by the love her Father has for her.  She did not learn this from me at camp; she learned it from Jasmine, a college-age leader in her church.  Jasmine led our girls’ small group at camp, and God used her in a clear and mighty way. 

 

 

 

This year at camp I learned that God uses every moment and all of His children.  My lessons on LOVE were not the point of Winter Teen Camp; Jasmine leading and loving was the point.