Coincidence?

Last week, high school students came from different youth groups across eastern NC to Roanoke Christian Camp for senior week. The theme-Humility. For those who have been on a CCF retreat, camp looked something like that. Morning worship, workshop, lunch, rec time, free time, dinner, quality time, worship, and small group time essentially with some other stuff along the way.

Our aim for the week was to teach students about humility, and also to bring them closer to God.

Monday morning during quality time, a bunch of students gathered over in a far corner of the field to just chill until worship came around. We had asked students to get about 10 feet away from each other and to make an effort to talk to God during this time. Now we knew this was hard and unusual to ask of students who have never done this before. Seeing the students over by their selves, I set off.

When I got over there, I chalked up a conversation. Some of the students initially thought they were in trouble. I just sat down and started talking with them, and explained why I liked quiet time. How I felt God spoke to me through different things. Then one student asked if it might just be all a coincidence.

So then I shared my testimony. I won’t share it here because it would take up more space, but clearly how I came to know Christ was no mere coincidence.

Then we talked about whether Christ was the only way. I could have shared John 14:6 but with skeptical minds of the Bible anyway, I went a different route.

‘Heaven sounds great and all, but I can’t really wrap my mind around that. And most people believe in a religion to explain the world around them. They prefer to believe what they believe. Myself, the more I’ve learned of God, and how Jesus lived, the more I see that He is the way to live. I’ve lived a happier life since choosing Him.’

And for the rest of the week, I set out to be as real, and honest as possible with the students. They were seeking answers they could believe in and understand.