"The First Day it Changed My Life."

Let's talk about camp. Because Echo Lake is where it's at.

It's not always easy to tirelessly love campers when they don't love you first. But that is what we're called to do. Not just at camp, everywhere. Whenever I get tired I ask God to give me a broken heart for campers. It's the hardest prayer ever because God consistently breaks my heart, but it's the only way to remind myself why camp matters, why ministry matters.

A few weeks ago I asked God for a broken heart.

And God broke my heart.

A few weeks ago I saw Jesus work in a young camper's life like I had never seen before. This camper was reluctant to come to camp to say the least. She stood scowling at registration. She let everyone know she didn't want to be there. Within the first hour of camp we discovered she struggled with self harm. She had already visited the nurse twice for cuts on her arm that she apparently didn't know where they came from. At this point, we didn't even know if we had the staff to keep her safe. We called social workers with questions. If we couldn't keep her safe, we'd have to send her home. No questions asked.

But then before dinner I noticed something about her that I hadn't noticed before. She was smiling. She was laughing. She had a light in her eyes. I wanted her to stay so badly. She had already sensed Jesus by dinner time. Jesus had started working in her heart through the laughter and the silliness of camp.

After dinner there were no more trips to the nurse for the rest of the week. No more band aids. She was safe. And she was loved.

The whole week there were glimpses of hope. The light in her eyes shone brighter.
There whole week there were also shadows of reluctance. Fear would creep up behind the light in her eyes and she would take a couple steps back to where she had been before.

But she kept smiling and laughing. She and I had a few opportunities to talk. It wasn't even about anything deep or spiritual. We both had metallic temporary tattoos. We both didn't like One Direction. That's it. I didn't think I was making an impact.

After Tuck (candy time) on the last day she gave me a note. And it broke my heart.

She wrote, "The first day that I came to this camp I thought it would be boring but I regret saying that. The first day it changed my life. And just thinking of I might not be able to come again makes me so sad. I just want to stay here forever and ever... I love you as a best friend... Thank you for the best week of my life."

Her social worker emailed camp the following Monday to say that this camper loved camp and to ask if we have any more spots available during any other weeks. The transformation is visible beyond the boundaries of camp.

ALL THIS BECAUSE OF JESUS. All this because Jesus made his love gush out of the staff. All this because Jesus knows this girl and loves this girl.

Camp is full for the rest of the summer. Unless spots open up, she might not get to come again.

Please pray that she would continue to feel God's presence.

Because Jesus doesn't just live at camp, he lives everywhere. And Jesus doesn't just reach people at camp, his love reaches everywhere.

The part that amazes me most in this is that God doesn't even need me. He could have revealed himself to this camper all by himself. He could have used somebody else. But he used me. I got to witness this. I got a glimpse of what heaven will look like. I got a glimpse of his perfect peace.

And it happened again this week. A camper came screaming not wanting to even get out of the car. She left crying because she didn't want to leave camp. God used a cabin leader to show his love to this camper. The cabin leader's life is changed because of it. The camper's life is changed because of it.

When God shows up everything changes.

So continue to pray for our campers. Ones that have come and ones that are coming. Continue to pray for our staff. Pray that we would have broken hearts. Pray that God would work through our brokenness.

God is restoring his people. God is bringing peace. This is everything. 

Summer Support Update

A while back I made a little blog post about what I'm doing this summer (You can catch up on that here: http://tomorrowisthursday.blogspot.ca/2015/05/what-cha-doooin.html )

Here's an update.
Camp has started! We are just about to go into our third week of camp and it is so good.  I have had moments where everything in me screams "This is why I am alive!" and also moments where everything in me screams "I need a nap!" I have seen lives changed because of the love of Jesus. There is nothing like looking into the eyes of a camper who has experienced the transformational work of Christ in their lives just in one week.  It is a beautiful ministry. Amongst the chaos of camp there is the calm of Christ that speaks out "my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Camp has taught me to trust God for everything. We need nurses. God has provided. We need cabin leaders. God has provided. Speakers. Provided. Healing. Provided. Energy. Provided. Over and over God is faithful. God is teaching me to trust him. God is teaching me to pray boldly.

This week while I was at camp I got an email from the Evangelical Mennonite Conference Missions Mobilizer notifying me that I still have over $6,500 to raise for my trip to Guadalajara, Mexico this coming September. I haven't had much of a chance to raise support because camp takes up most (all) my time. Was I crazy to try to do camp, support raising, and two internships at the same time? Maybe. Does God have a plan to make calm out of this chaos? Yes. Does he have a plan to show himself as Provider and Sustainer? Definitely.

God will provide.
Always has.
Always will.

Even if it looks different than what I think it should.

So friends, I'm asking for your support. I need your prayers. I need a team who will pray for me this summer as I work at Echo Lake and as I prepare to go to Mexico. If you'd like to be a part of this team and get weekly updates on how I am doing and how you can be praying for me, please email me at allisonschneck7@gmail.com with your name and I'll send you updates starting Saturday!

I also need your financial support. If you'd like to be a part of this ministry, please donate. There are two ways to do this. Firstly, you can contact me on facebook or at allisonschneck7@gmail.com and I will send you a form that you can send with your donation to the EMC conference so that you can get a donation receipt. Secondly, you can donate online at https://emc440.radiantwebtools.com/donate/ under the campaign Missions Fund with a note to seller that you are making a donation for Allison Schneck.  This form of donation is also recieptable. Lastly, if you don't want a donation receipt, you can mail your donation to P.O. Box 2232 Fort St. James, BC V0J 1P0 or contact me via facebook or email. If you could send in your donations ASAP so that I can begin planning the logistics that would be muchly appreciated! Please consider how you can support me during this time. Every little bit helps, whether $10 or $100 do what you feel called to do.

God is doing something huge at Echo Lake right now. God is doing something huge in Guadalajara right now. I get the opportunity to be a part of both of those things. What an amazing blessing! God is bringing his people to himself and I get to do that with him. God uses me despite my flaws. His love extends to the corners of the world. His love extends to the corners of my soul. He is with me and I am with him.

Thanks for your support, friends. I am truly blessed.

Echo Lake Bible Camp- Sunset July 2015

"What cha doooin'?"

You might be interested in what I'm doing with the next couple of months of my life. I think it's fun, you might too, I dunno. 

SO! Starting right about now, I'm the Summer Program Intern at Echo Lake Bible Camp. I'm taking over for our previous super awesome program director for this summer as he moves on to a different Bible Camp on Pender Island. Pretty neat. I'll be starting with some rental groups in June and then onto full blown regular camp season in July and August. I'm excited! Super excited!! God's going to do something crazy at Echo Lake this summer. I can feel it. Smells like revival. Also smells like sweat, sunscreen and bug spray. Mmmm. (Shameless promotion: http://elbc.ca/ )

I need your prayer for that, folks! Pray that I would have creativity, confidence, and Christ-likeness. (Three Cs, see how I did that? Alliteration helps remembering. I really want you to remember to pray for me this summer.) Also, let's proclaim God as provider. This is his camp. He will do things when he wants, how he wants, using the people he wants. And his way is always perfect. (Proclaim Perfect Provider. I did it again.) 

THEN! In September I will be going to the urban-middle class city of Guadalajara, Mexico on an 8 month internship with the Evangelical Mennonite Conference's Ascend Internship Program. I will be serving alongside of six experienced long term missionaries and doing things such as children and youth ministry, leading Bible Studies, discipleship, friendship evangelism, student ministry, and recreational involvements. Language learning and cultural adaptation will also be central to my internship, as will intercession. It's going to be a Jesus fiesta. (Shameless promotion:

http://www.emconference.ca/ministries/mexgdl/about/)

I need your prayer for that too, folks! Pray that I would be a learner and a light. Once again proclaim God as the Perfect Provider. Pray that I would get the financial support I need to actually be able to go (If you'd like to support me, send me an email or message me on the Facebook). Pray that God would blow my preconceptions of what missions looks like. Pray that I would have a broken and humble heart. 

AND THAT'S ALL I KNOW! 

All I know is that God is doing something on this earth. He's building his perfect kingdom using imperfect people like me. He's saving people from brokenness and restoring them to wholeness. He's showing us how to be more human because of his grace. Let's not just do something great together, let's be something great together. Because that's all God wants us to be. He just wants us to be his. That is peace. 

*High fives for Jesus!*  

*Shalom in the home!*

*Blessings!*

 

Grace, rest, and everything in between.

A lot has happened this year, folks.

I'm done my second year at Columbia Bible College. It has been the craziest year. I was blessed to be a resident leader at CBC and learn what it means to love and lead completely through the power of the Holy Spirit. I learned that we are broken. I'm learning that we are made whole.

I learned that even in the midst of the darkness, there is still Light, there is still Hope.

I learned that when everything falls apart God makes something beautiful and amazing out of it.

I learned that sleeping matters. I learned that I am not a super human. I learned that 5 hours of sleep is not enough for me to be a loving, gracious, intelligent, or even comprehensible person. I learned that naps are important, and that you're not a bad person if you go to bed before midnight even if you could do more homework. I also learned that without sleep, you may end up falling down a flight of stairs while going to an 8:30am class, spilling all of your precious, live giving coffee on innocent bystanders, and loosing your glasses on the way down. Experience is the best teacher I guess.

I learned that howling at the moon  creates a magical bond between people that cannot be easily broken. I learned that cats are cool and that Meow Mondays matter. I learned that tye-dye shirts bring people together. I learned that everyone likes free food. More than all this, Jesus unites people. Without Jesus, we're all puzzle pieces that belong to separate puzzles.

I learned that it takes courage to show weakness. This courage is strength. I learned to stop pretending that I had my life together and that everything was just peachy, because I don't have everything together, you guys, and life sometimes is not peachy. I learned to cry. I learned to lament.

I learned to rejoice. There is life in surrendering to God's plan. It's ok not to have everything figured out. It's ok if God feels silent. It's ok because he is there. He is not a distant deity. He is always there. Praise be to the Comforter who is close to us!

At the beginning of the year, a prof shared this verse. At the time I was sick with a "I've done too much and slept too little" flu and needed to hear just this:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly" (Matthew 11:28-30 MSG).

At the time rest sounded glorious, but it also sounded like a myth. I had answered a giant "Yes!" to the first three questions, but the way to finding rest wasn't really what I wanted. I wanted to earn my rest. I wanted to get all the things done on my check list before taking a break. Learning the unforced rhythms of grace seemed like a waste of time when there was so much to do for God. I couldn't understand rest because I didn't understand grace. I didn't understand that all God wants us to do is work with him, not for him, to keep company with him, not bring company to him.

It was when I understood my brokenness that I finally understood grace. When I understood grace, I could finally rest.

Now I am learning to live freely and lightly.

Dandelions

I think one of the main differences between kids and grown ups is that kids think dandelions are flowers. Go into any home with kids in the summer and you'll see vases and kitchen counters over flowing with those little yellow weeds. Kids have the ability to look at something that is so common and so wide spread, and still see it as beautiful. As a flower, not a weed.

Jesus says that to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven we need to be like a little child. And so maybe we need to start looking at the dandelions and seeing flowers again. Maybe we need to look at blank wall and see a canvas. Maybe we need to see the tree in the backyard as a tower to another world.  Maybe we need to look at a stranger as a friend.

We need to see the ordinary as beautiful again.

Because when we see the ordinary as beautiful, something extraordinary happens: everything becomes beautiful. And yes there is still mess and chaos and disaster and hurt and pain and hate and injustice and abuse and evil, but if we're looking through the lens of the child there is more beauty than pain, and more life than death, and more love than hate, and more good than evil. Beauty is greater when we walk into it and become a part of it. Beauty is greater when we see our own smallness and the bigness of everything else.

Let's go find a field of dandelions. Let's lay in it for a while and make animal shapes out of clouds. Let's blow the dandelions seeds into the wind and make a wish. Let's wish for peace and wholeness. Let's wish for love and justice. Let's wish that the name of Jesus would be known across the world. And let's go make those things happen.

Let's walk with Jesus to see how he's already putting the world back to perfect wholeness.

Work in us God,
Help us to see dandelions as flowers.

Matthew 18:1-5
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."

But our Lives as Well

1 Thessalonians 2:6-8

We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you.

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.

But our lives as well. What does this mean?

I think sometimes it's easier to share the gospel and simply tell someone that God loves them than it is to share the messiness of our lives with them. I think that what Paul is getting at here is that it takes love to let someone into our lives enough to actually see gospel grace being played out in every day life. To love at all is to be vulnerable as C.S. Lewis said, and what could be more vulnerable that sharing our lives as well with the people we share the gospel with. And Paul does this with delight. He's humble. He's not looking for glory and acknowledgement, he's just trying to love these people like Jesus does. 

But our lives as well. How do we do this?

Maybe we need to meet up for coffee with that person in the back row at church. Maybe we need to say hello to the person sitting on a bench on the street day after day. Maybe we need to buy a kid some ice cream when they ask for a pack of smokes. Maybe we need to cry with our best friends. Maybe we need to laugh with a stranger. 

We need to give up our lives for these people. We need to give up everything for these people who have heard "Jesus loves you" from the mouths of dozens but have never really felt that love in action. We need to let our hearts break. We need to recognize our brokenness and then we need to love with our lives. And we can't do this unless God's in this. 

Not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. 

Because we loved you so much.

Done like Dinner

I am finally done my second year of post-secondary education, first year of college.

Winner, winner chicken dinner.

Things I've learned:

1. Do random fun things with fun people.
Some of my best memories of this year have been saying yes to weekend concerts with no guarantee of actually getting tickets, playing hide-and-seek-tag at 1am, and going on late night star gazing adventures. It's good to have a game plan, but sometimes you've got to throw away the clip board and just do it. Random things are the best things. Random things give me life.

2. Play outside.
God made the outdoors!! Let's play in it! Life's so depressing indoors and there are trees and mountains that are waiting to be climbed! Also, studying improves 10000% after a good dose of mountain air.

3. Study hard.
Even if it's a class that you really hate if you dig really, really, really deep they'll be something that strikes you as interesting. Learning is hard, but learning is important, therefore, learning is fun. Learning is also what I am called to do at this particular moment of my life so I need to do it at 100%.

4. Love.
Every. Single. Human. Needs. Love. No questions. That is our mission outside and inside Bible school. Love. Love. Love. Love. Love till you can't breathe without loving, love without doubt, love without question, love without hesitation, love without judgement, love without thinking. Love until it becomes your very existence. Love until people can't look at you without feeling the love of God spilling out of you. Love everyone all the time.

5. Say yes.
As mentioned earlier, saying yes leads to adventure! Saying yes also leads to ice cream! Saying yes leads you beyond your zone of comfort, also known as "the comfort zone."
Say yes, be a winner.

6. Say no.
Sometimes, you can't be a winner because there's a thing called responsibility. And responsibility says "No, I need to study." Saying no also helps to balance the most important things in life and forces you to set priorities, which are important so you don't lose your head.
Say no, keep your head.

7. Don't say maybe so.
Indecision will get you nowhere in life. Be bold! Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Also, being indecisive is no help to the people planning crazy random things and need to know how many crazy random people will be accompanying them.

8. Trust God.
This year was a leap of faith. I didn't know if it was going to work out. Last August I almost cancelled and got a job so I could travel and do more stuff. But I just had this gut feeling that God wanted me in school. And I think I was right. I'm not saying that God wouldn't  have used travel to teach me really important things and lead me to really important people, but this year just felt right. Something clicked. And it worked. I was challenged and encouraged in the best ways possible. I got a taste of that abundant life Jesus talks about in John 10:10. And it's beautiful. Just reach out to God and let him lead you in his ways. They're good. His burden is easy and his yoke is light.
It's going to be ok.

So that's it. That is what I have learned. I'd say it's been a pretty successful year.