post ten - a week has gone by

june 18 (wednesday evening)

camp has been going well.
yea.

wow, i can't believe this much time has gone by since posting last, but things have been extraordinarily busy. my journal posts have gone from very specific to extremely general and sometimes vague. but God has been work in incredible ways. and that's awesome.

my last post... the one before this was cut while i was writing it, i had some other form of responsibility i had to fulfill... i don't even know what i was writing. so... i don't think it's going to get finished. i guess it's just a testament to the fact that... well... i uh... have a lot to do here. :) and it's great.

living in a poor neighborhood, with fully intentional people has been a real eye opening experience for me... and has actually changed some views of mine, regarding what it means to actually follow jesus. it's an incredible time here.

i don't remember if i invited you to the "jesus for president" event... but details are on the hartford city missions mission main page. you should read the book and come out. or just come out. but reading the book would be helpful.

so... camp has been good. my role so far has been to be the floater person at camp... connecting with kids who otherwise would not be connected with. reaching out to the fringe kids and outcasts... the kids who are different. it's important... that's where my heart's been for the past few days. today was incredibly draining, we had more kids than we ever had, and none of them really cared to listen. it was a tough day.

tomorrow will be better.

we have a group of kids this week who are at camp this week only because next week, they're going to other camps, and their parents would like free camp till then. we're sifting them out tomorrow and putting them in a new group. my group. it'll be interesting to see how that dynamic works. i'm praying that i would be able to connect for them and care for them in the same way as if they were spending the whole summer at camp... hey, maybe they'll feel loved enough to do just that.

a lot of these kids are concerned about safety. a lot of them are scared to live where they are... they're scared primarily because they realize that everything else in their life has failed them at one point or another. it'll be interesting to introduce them to a Jesus who never fails them, and who loves them like no one else can. i pray that kids at camp will learn how much God loves them... just as i'm learning by being here.

it's been awesome so far. i wish you all could be here experiencing this. i miss you all. thank you for your support. :)

-steve