How (In)Low Can You Go?

 

Greetings once more from team BAAA (feat. a weeklong honorary team member Carly)! This week we headed up the mountains once again to serve at Inlow Baptist Camp. We were the rec team for BCNM StuCamps and it was such a blast. We had a ton of fun running games and also got the opportunity to form relationships with a lot of the students there. We were put in charge of a breakout session where we talked about the Christian Challenge and invited students to join once they started college. God was definitely moving this week and a lot of students gave their life to Christ! We are so blessed to have been a part of this week, regardless of how exhausting it was. Next up we are heading east towards Tatum, New Mexico where we will be helping with their VBS!

Prayer Requests:

• For the students who committed or recommitted their lives to Christ this week.
• That all the students would return home and remain on fire for Christ
• That all the adult leaders would get good rest after the crazy week.
• For the Inlow Staff as they continue to host camps this summer
• That we would be effective in serving the church in Tatum

Bryce:

Double Mop Master

This week at Inlow Baptist Camp we had the opportunity to serve with the recreation team during StuCamps. 

One of the greatest blessings from this week was reconnecting with a student I had met before. We were able to spend time talking about life, faith, and some of the things they had been going through. I was thankful that God opened the door for those conversations and allowed me to encourage them and point them back to Christ. Sometimes the most meaningful moments of ministry happen in simple conversations.

Through this week, God reminded me that ministry is about relationships more than programs or activities. While games and events are fun, the real impact comes from taking the time to love people well and investing in their lives. This week strengthened my desire to continue serving students and reminded me that God can use ordinary conversations to accomplish His work. I am thankful for the opportunities He gave me this week and look forward to wherever He leads me next.

Angella:

This week was wild but amazing, this week was probably the most exhausted I had felt so far. I got to be a team game leader and a high school small group leader, go orange team!!! It initially was pretty awkward because I have not lead small group in any capacity in quite some time, but I saw the Lord work in my high school group so much. I thought that a lot of my students were just there not really seeking to grow in their relationship with God but later in the week I got to witness three of them dedicate their lives to Jesus and see their walls begin to crumble! It was such a joyful and emotional moment and; a physical representation that our prayers do not go wasted, God uses it all (Romans 8:28-29)!! This week, I got to connect and get to know a lot of the youth leaders and it was so sweet to spend time with them and hear their stories. Shout out to all the youth leaders at First Baptist Church of West Albuquerque, you guys rock!! This week the Lord worked on my own heart so much too! Thank you Jesus for this week and all that you did!

Carly:

Hi everyone! I'm Carly, I am a student at UNM Challenge and was volunteering at StuCamp because of my connection with the UNM NM team I got to serve alongside them this week. StuCamp was a blast! I was super excited when I was offered the opportunity to serve there this week because I attended as a high schooler and have a lot of special memories there. The NM Team let me tag along with them and even let me write my own portion in their blog! I helped with rec and snack shack, and then I jumped in as a small group leader part way through the week.  One of my favorite parts of this camp was seeing kids who were hesitant during worship at the beginning of the week start to become more comfortable and praise God unashamedly. It was really encouraging seeing how selflessly the NM Team serves the kids, the adults, and each other. I had so much fun and learned so much!

Asher:

This week definitely existed... I think. Everything was such a blur but what I do remember is how awesome of a time it was. I went to bed every night exhausted but so so happy to see what God is doing among the youth. I had a lot of fun running Rec and forming relationships with all of the kids. I even got to participate in a volleyball tournament with a student team and that was really cool to get to know those kids a little better. One of my favorite parts of camp was just the late night conversations with the camp Lead Team. Everyone who served at the camp was so awesome and it was wonderful to get to talk to them. During the night of worship on Thursday, I was looking around and seeing all these students praising God so passionately and it hit me. It's worth it. Everything that New Mexico team has done so far and everything that goes into organizing these camps is worth it. It's worth it for the one student who gives their life to Christ. As we begin the second half-(ish) of our summer I am going to hold that as my encouragement for everything we do. It's worth it for the one. 

Ashby:

Where do I even begin with how good God’s been this week at Inlow? Where God moved most for me was seeing the boys from a church near my hometown come to faith. These Bloomfield boys (my nickname for them) were very closed off the first night of camp. They were too cool to listen to the pastor, raise their hands in worship and kept messing around, distracting us and each other. Rightfully so, I was pretty mad, but I talked with their youth pastor (whom I knew from my hometown) and during the adult meeting, they prayed for these boys. By Thursday (the end of the week) these boys had a 180 change. They prayed with their pastor on their knees, and during the worship night raised their hands in reverence for God. I was told they even apologized for their behavior and felt sorry for wasting their leaders time and wasting the love that was poured into them. Only God can bring about a change like that. There were more instances of His goodness, like seeing a previous church’s member hate camp and, by the end of the week, raise his hands in worship with tears in his eyes. I saw girls who had never known God come to faith in God. I saw girls who hated themselves learn how to heal. And at the night of worship, I was inspired to write a poem in honor of all the healing that God was providing. I'd love to share it with you when I get back!

Shoutout Richard!

Naptime

Snack Shack!

Christian Challenge Breakout!