I spent this past week with 34 high school youth and five other adults living and learning and growing. Church camp is a spiritual practice that I have been engaged in for more than 20 years. I keep doing it because it is one of the most powerful experiences I know for watching God work in people’s lives. Miracles happen at camp and if you are even half paying attention you get to see them.

This past week included all of the usual things you would expect to find at a church camp. We sang lots of songs -- some silly, like the one about the moose who liked to drink his apple juice and the cat who came back and the black socks that never get dirty -- some powerfully serious, like Our God Is An Awesome God and Paz, Salaam, Shalom and How Can Anyone Ever Tell You That You’re Anything Less Than Beautiful. We played lots of games. We ate our meals together. We swam in the lake. We sat around the campfire. We explored ideas about God and faith.

But it is not the usual trappings of camp that really stand out for me. Those just formed the background and the framework for the really amazing stuff -- watching people’s live begin to transform within the context of community. The image that kept coming to me was a butterfly emerging from a cocoon.

There is an incredible amount of pain in the lives of many of the youth who gathered this past week for camp. At least two of the young women have engaged in the practice of self-cutting, where they intentionally cut themselves, as a distraction from the emotional pain going on inside of them. Several more had friends who were caught up in this destructive behavior. There were kids who had lost friends to drug overdose and car wrecks -- we even got word about one of those yesterday morning. There were kids with one parent or no parents or parents who just didn’t know how to offer them the emotional support they need. There were stories of drugs and alcohol. It would have been easy to simply despair in the face of such overwhelming pain.

But despair would have missed the rest of the story, because there was a great deal more going on that simply the pain. What I saw happening at camp this past week stands at the heart of what I believe God is about -- transformation and new life. In the midst of all the pain and brokenness, community formed and healing began.

I saw God revealed over and over again in and through the community which was formed. It was a community which came together with an understanding that all are welcome and invited to God’s party, no matter what -- prodigals and older brothers and unexpected strangers. Walls were broken down, defenses were lowered, lives were shared. I saw it in a variety of ways. About halfway through the week the singing changed. Individual voices became a choir. I stood up to lead the singing after a meal and all I had to do was strike a chord and sing the first word and they were right there with me, singing as one. I saw it in tears shared between friends. I saw it in serious discussions about where we find God in our lives and welcoming strangers to God’s party. I saw it in honest, heartfelt sharing around the campfire where pain was acknowledged and hope was claimed. I saw it on the last morning of camp as word spread quickly about the young man’s friend who had been killed the night before in a car accident. Because he had taken the risk to share himself with us honestly and deeply earlier in the week, we were able to truly join him in his loss. Hugs were shared. Words of love and encouragement were spoken. Tears were shed. Prayers were offered. And then he was able to help serve communion at the closing worship.

Why do I keep doing camp? Because miracles happen. Lives are transformed. God shows up and I get to be there to experience it. In the middle of the week I wrote this poem about what I was witnessing. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to participate in this vital ministry of the church.

From near & far we gather
The many not yet one
Young & old have come together
Waiting for God’s breath

In fits & starts we share ourselves
Risking in our searching
Connections made with each small step
Listening for God’s voice

With every barrier we let down --
Each chance we have for sharing --
Our unity becomes more real
Opening to God’s life

Sometimes easy & sometimes hard
The path to wholeness calls us
Each moment shapes us into one
Living in God’s joy

To near & far we scatter
The many now are one
Young & old -- it doesn’t matter
Telling of God’s love