A quote worth quoting...

I'm always amazed and thankful at the way God provides for the ministry through the kindness of people. Never early and never late. We had a faith journey become reality again this month as our annual youth camp took place.It's a time when the teenagers can have a break from the daily struggles and have 4 days of respite at a beach resort. Our prayer is always that they get refreshed physically, emotionally and spiritually. This year was extra significant since we had to postpone the camp from May until the last week of October. We ll knew that God must have a reason for this.It turns out there were a few great reasons and I don't want to ramble on, but it just confirmed that Gods hand was on this camp every step of the way. Oh how He loves these teenagers!

Before we left for camp I scribbled in my journal;
"Lord, be pleased to move among us. Holy Spirit move in a special way. Heal hearts, touch lives and draw the teenagers to You. We don't want an event God- we want to see lasting fruit come from this week. Be with us Lord Jesus..."

There is so much I could write about camp. It was just a great week and so much fun. (Exhausting but fun!) I couldn't possibly write about all the ways God blessed us. God moved.
But if I had to sum it up I would say this;
"There is no substitute for the Holy Spirit."

This is a quote from my sisters Pastor in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Before the camp I was thinking about it and then my brother in law posted it on his face book page. It became a reality the first night of camp...

The first day is always a tiring one! Many of the youth don't sleep with excitement the night before. I was shocked when they told us they woke up as early as 2am to get ready to leave. We don't depart Tondo until 6am!!! Then 125 bodies pack into jeeps and travel 5 hours up north to the resort we host the camp at. Straight into activities and so on. By evening we are all pretty tired. But we always have that first evening dedicate to a celebration of worship and prayer just to thank God for his goodness that another camp has been made possible.
This year Ron and I lead that first night, leaving the other youth bands to lead the rest of the week. As we started to worship it was apparent the young people were sleepy, but there was something else. There was a definite atmosphere and it wasn't really one of freedom. Have you ever been in a church gathering where the worship seems to hit the roof instead of penetrate the heavens? Well. it was like that. Ron and I both sensed the lack of freedom in the hall and began praying as we lead. In our spirits we both felt a determination that the night would not go on without a breakthrough. We so needed God to come in and dwell with us. 
As we continued to sing I got a picture in my mind....

I saw the young people carrying cases.They couldn't lift their hands because of thes big blck cases. Inside the cases were labels;
Sadness, fear, hurt, struggle.... but the one that really stood out in bold black letters was GUILT.

That was it! We are not free to really worship if we are carrying all this stuff, especially guilt. We really needed the Spirit of God to come and break through and give them a fresh and real revelation of Gods love. Only then would the spiritual atmosphere change. As the youth got into groups to pray our staff and us began asking the Lord to move.Words of life were spoken over the teens. It was our hearts cry for God to release them. We began singing " Oh how He loves us" and crying out for the Holy Spirit to come.
He did and everything changed.
In fact it was the catalyst needed to direct the purpose of the whole camp. God is so good.

Again, I know if I start getting into testimonies of how God touched lives I will be writing here all night. But I am just so so thankful to the Lord for answering prayer and moving in the lives of many young people.He saved. He healed. He restored.He filled.
He is more than amazing. Amazing grace.

There truly is no substitute for the Holy Spirit and I want this to be engraved in my heart. You can have the best planned activities, amazing preachers, well provided for church, the best reheared music team and dynamic outreaches. BUT they just don't even come close to a move of the Spirit of God. There is  no faking it when the presence of God really takes over. No pretense. No religion. No comparison.

He is lovely.

(Have no idea why the first paragraph has a white background and my baby brain will not permit me to problem solve any longer today- Goodnight all! :)