Craig....

So I’d like to share the story that I’ve been sharing with the kids this summer. Our ministry time during the day is called ‘Coach’s Corner’, and it’s a time when we get the kids all together, sitting down, and we hang out for a bit. The theme for the week is the ‘Path of a Champion’, and every day we outline a step in that journey of becoming a champion in life. We demonstrate the theme through a simple game or illustration, and then draw some truths from the Bible, followed by one of the four coaches sharing their testimony.

It’s not a coincidence that I was unsure of what part of my story I would share this summer. For most of these camps it would be my second or third time back, and I wanted to share a different part of my story, instead of just the whole general thing, with the kids and churches.

In fact, I was starting to get a bit anxious about what I would share. But, God had a plan. It was a mysterious, confusing, and very difficult plan. After the night of Craig’s accident, I knew what I would be sharing this summer.

The other three coaches each share on Monday –Wednesday, with these themes:
Monday – Explore – we need to discern all the voices around us and find the one true voice, which we can find in the Bible.
Tuesday – Build – Once we find that voice, we need to build a solid foundation
Wednesday – Battle – Our lives are full of battles, and not just physical ones. We battle against spiritual attacks, and need to have that solid foundation ready.

My day to share is Thursday:
Thursday – Endure – Why do we endure in those battles? What gives us the strength to endure? What hope do we have apart from Christ?

It has not been easy, but the last two weeks I’ve gone up in front of the kids and told them about how I am enduring right now, as I stand up there talking to them.

And this is what I say:

I tell them how I met Craig, in my first year of university, living in the same house, having never met the guy.

I tell them how everyone that met Craig has an immediate respect for him. He carried himself in such a way that never compromised who he was and what he stood for, but was at the same time very respectful of other people.

I tell them how great a leader he was, and the impact he had on so many people, including myself.

I tell them how we would talk about Senate for lengthy periods of time, discussing how we could make it better, and his unending need to make things better.

I tell them how passionate he was about his church, and the youth in his church, and how he felt so compelled to step up and lead.

I tell them how Craig loved God, how he was built on the Rock, and how he had that personal relationship with Christ.

I tell them how Craig was always so interested in camps, and the kids, and hearing stories of how camps were going.

I tell them how we were brothers. I didn’t live with him like others did; I didn’t see him everyday like others did. But, we had a unique relationship in the experiences and passions we shared, ranging from our church backgrounds to dorm experiences to student leadership visions.

I tell them how Craig came over to my house for Thanksgiving this past fall.

I tell them how it seemed like Craig was only beginning a journey of influence, inspiration, and service.

Then I buckle down and tell them what happened. I tell them where I was when I got the phone call, and the shock we’ve all been going through and have had to work through. I tell them how difficult is for me to understand why it had to happen the way it did. It’s really hard for me to understand why Craig, of all people, was the one that had to be in that car, and be taken from us. It’s hard to think I never got say goodbye, and tell him one more time that I love him.

During Coach’s Corner, there are always the typical kids that play with the grass, smirk at each other, and get distracted. But when they see Coach D up front, getting emotional, they are zoned right in. What an amazing opportunity.

Now I get to tell them the hope that Craig always had.

I get to tell them about the place where he is now, and how much happier he is, and how much comfort that can give me, knowing that he had a personal relationship with the Lord here on earth, and is reaping the benefits of God’s grace right now, and forever!

I get to tell them this:
I want nothing more than for them, the campers, to have that same hope. I want them to be champions like Craig was, in God’s eyes. I want them to know what it is like to call Jesus their best friend, and have God as their Rock and hope.

Craig, you are touching hundreds of kid’s lives this summer. The way you lived your life, and the way you impacted me, and the way you are celebrating the goodness of God right now, is having a tremendous impact still, and kids all over the province are hearing the hope that they can have too. It’s not easy, and I struggle every day with dealing with you being gone from this earth.

But you’re home, brother, I love you.

Booyah….

Sally = gem!

Our third week of camps was in Erin, a very familiar place. Heading into the week, I knew that I'd be seeing so many familiar faces, in kids, youth, parents, and the church. That excited me, because I knew it woul dbe an amazing week.

This week didn't disappoint. We had 61 campers, about 40 returning campers, and 21 new ones. It's always interesting to be in the situation of so many kids that know the ropes and routine. They give the answers before I'm done asking the questions. They know the key points of a certain skill before I even instrust the skill. They know the rules of a game before I explain it.

And oddly enough, they want to play battleship, even though they know how it works.

Somehow, I knew God would stir up something new this week, though. The whole rain starting at exactly 3 pm is old news, haha...but God still reminded us of His faithfulness this past Wednesday, when the first drops were felt at 2:55. Awesome.

Carla had more than a couple kids that she had been rpaying for and working on to get out to camp, and they finally came this year. Awesome.

But, (Dan, Sue, Renee, Julie, and Matt: this story is for you), I want to highlight one special champion, Sally.

Sally was here at camp for her fourth time. If I think of a gem, I think of Sally. She's one of the most energetic, hyper, happy, exciting girls I've ever coached. Her favourite part of the day is Coach's Corner, and she is very ready to tell anyone that.

On Thursday, at lunch, Sally came running up and was really excited. She said that on Wednesday night she had got on her knees and commited her life to Jesus. I pulled out my laptop, and wrote down what she was saying, because I told her I needed to share it. I wanted to encourage her, let her know how much prayer has been given up for her specifically, and how excited the other coaches would be.

These are her words, not mine, about her experience:

When I first came to soccer camp I thought it was just about soccer, but it wasn’t, it was more about God and Jesus and everything they stand for. It just touched me, the coaches' stories went straight to my heart, some of what the coaches felt wasn’t nice, but for some reason I wanted to feel it too and feel that God was there for me. When I decided to commit my life to Jesus, I really felt something, I didn’t do it just because my friends or the coaches did it. Not because they would think more highly of me. I did it for myself and God.
It just feels so good…every night I go to bed I feel so filled. It’s like there was an empty part in me but now it just feels filled in. I love that God and Jesus are there for me, it makes me so happy. I just feel so great. I really wanna thank all the coaches I’ve ever had. But mostly I want to thank God and Jesus, because they were the ones that really led me to this point.

Sally is a champion. Every week she was the girl who asked all the good questions, and was always so interested. She told me, though, that it has never felt like this before. She said she has a feeling inside her that she just knows is real. Real, and better than ever before.

Thank you, Jesus, for loving Sally.

Thank you, for an amazing week.

More on other aspects of camp later...

"It's just beautiful..."

Those are the words Lish used to describe what happened this past week, and they fit....beautiful.

We jumped into our church partnerships head first this week, with a full camp of 60 kids, ages 7-13. When we were all in the van on the drive up, I don't think we had fully recovered from our ABK experience. With basically less than a day to recharge, we were out on the road again, heading into a very busy week, we spent some time in prayer and just focused a bit.

Walking into that room in the church office was amazing. It was so easy to drop all our burdens and thoughts from back home, because we were surrounded by a church community that was loving, excited, humble, and passionate. The adults in this church are amazing, and they would be the last to recognize that. From taking weeks off work to help at the camp, to billeting, to looking out for our every detail and comfort, these people are a true example of family, and Christ-like servants. The encouragement, excitement, and love never stopped.

We had a full camp, and the best part was that only 10% (if not less) were actually from Bolton Alliance Church. If there's a church that wants to get into its community, and takes this camp seriously, it's Bolton Alliance Church. From kids that were sponsored from the Crisis Centre in Bolton, to foster kids, to kids with ADD, this camp was an outlet for so many families. The amount of encouragement from parents was unbelievable, as so many talked about their kids being sad it was only a week, and we should run a month-long camp, and some said they have never seen their kid so happy, excited, and safe.

One mother said, "The thing that gets me, is when I drop off my kid, I don't have an inch of worry in my heart. I know my son is safe, and happy, and being loved. That's all I need."

I could go on and on about the things we were told, because this camp atmosphere, this church, gave dozens of kids an outlet from alot of tough situations, and just let them be kids. Praise God for that.

There was Emily and Hunter, two kids whose parents were divorced and lived with their grandfather. Their nanny wrote a card for us, saying she's never seen them so happy and free.

There was Ed, a foster kid who, if he could ask God one thing, it was "to be with my real parents." This kid was the funniest kid, and maybe had the best shot, a full handful of icing right in my left eye, during our little cupcake fight on Thursday.

There was Michael, (from Brandon and Michael from last year, for those who know :)) whose mother said they scheduled her mother-in-law's memorial service around this camp, because there was no way Michael was going to miss it.

And on....

and on...

and on....

Somehow the church feels the need to give us coaches the credit, but that is absolutely not where it should be. They step up and demonstrate Christ in so many ways, and God is going to bless and use that church in a huge way. God was faithful this week, and was glorified this week. Praise God!!

ABK...

My third summer of camps with AIA is fully underway, and I had every intention of updating this site alot sooner, but I think that can be an indication of what a ride the last week and a half has been. Until a week and a half ago, everything was all lined up, and I was ready to go. Then there was that Thursday night, when we got the call and found out about Craig's accident, and all of a sudden my life was upside down. I was not prepared to deal with it, and not having to leave in less than two days for camp was intimidating and scary. I guess maybe God wants to teach me something.

Heading up to ABK and finally arriving there after a 7 or 8 hour drive, it was tough to balance dealing with the loss, and getting geared up for a week of ministry was hard. God was faithful, though, and answered prayers that I would be able to focus when I needed to and also deal with everything when I needed to.

ABk has been a beautiful place for me, and I was immediately surrounded by the family that AIA camps have become famous for. People that I spend time with only once a year, but as soon as we meet up its like I never left. At ABK, more than a couple people stepped up in prayer, support, and love, and I knew that God would give me the strength I needed.

I could go on forever about the week. We were attacked in many ways, from energy, to emotions, to focus, to forgiveness, to brokenness, to grief...there were a few times when Dan and I were at a loss for words as we could just shrug our shoulders and say, "God must be setting us up for a big summer." I've never had to deal with so much in the first week of the summer.

But, God was, as always, so much bigger and better than our own thoughts and plans. There were a ton of laughs, jokes, skits, games, and stories that can only testify of His intimate presence. If I can highlight one, it'll be of our boy, Mason.

Mason is 14, and was in a cabin of younger boys for some reason, and in my small group for Coach's Corner. Before I had any idea, Dan mentioned Mason in out debriefing time on Monday, and talked of his burden for Mason, how Mason didn't have a personal relationship with Jesus. As the week progressed, we prayed alot for Mason, and things we discussed in our small group really seemed to hit home. I asked him straight out, that if a stranger came up to him and asked him why he lived the way he did, what would he say. Mason looked right back at me with the most thoughtful look I've seen, and kind of stuttered, "I don't know." He went on to tell me how there's been alot of battles in his life, and I asked him why he keeps plugging through, and what gives him the hope he has. On Thursday I shared with him Craig's story, and how I was struggling right then and there, but more importantly how the only reason I could have comfort in the situation was because I knew of Craig's relationship with Christ, and my relationship with Christ.

On Friday, I asked Mason where he was at, what he thought of everything he had heard this week. He said he was interested, but was kind of confused and a bit bored at all the different stories he heard. He also said he didn't really know if the whole Jesus thing was for him, and he was busy with alot of other things in his life.

That afternoon Dan and I got a chance to encourage him a bit, thank him for his maturity, and let him know we were praying for him. That was the extent of it all, and it was kind of left hanging.

Until...we get this email from him this morning, three days after camp:

Dear Darren and Dan,

Hey guys, i'm just emailing you guys to tell you how grateful i am to have experienced your camp last week. I've heard from everyone that you guys especially care about me and have been praying for me (Well you guys told me yourself) and well id just like to repay you guys by saying thank you. I learned tons, not just about soccer but about my self, and my life, and Christianity. Darren, your awesome man, straight up awesome. I learned alot from you in our small groups during Coach's Corner and just everywhere else. Thank you for the wonderful experience. Dan, You are also an awesome guy. Thanks for everything you taught me with your talks on and off the field. Your a great coach and i hope you help other people like you've helped me. I just wanted to take some time and just thank you guys for all the fun i had and to thank you for the the wicked t-shirt (which, by the way, is WAY cooler then the basketball ones!). I thank you for all the soccer skills that you've taught me and all the stuff you've taught me about being a Christian. I think i can actually start saying that i am a believer of God and that i do believe. A couple of more steps and i might be able to say that i am a Christian, but these steps will be long careful steps.

So i guess ill be taking off now, so i hope to get something back from you guys!
Thanks for your time!

Sincerely,

Mason Muncaster.

Talk about exciting eh?? Dan emailed me just now with this:

Counting conversations, Scooter always says. Well, this is proof that God is moving as we focus on those relationships. I want to say that last night Nate was talking to Mason on MSN and was encouraging him. Mason said he was even praying for us...this kid is coming to faith and its awesome to watch. Nate asked him, would you consider yourself a follower of Jesus?", then he answered, "no", "maybe", "yes", "definitely yes". We have been under spiritual attack from day one. Mason, and others like him, are the reason why. Love you guys,

Dan

Thank you, Jesus, for Mason....

Thanks you, Jesus, for answering prayer....

Please, Jesus, continue to give us strength...