Our Great God - Words from Gretchen

10:30 p.m. - We just finished a friendly game of Moldovan Mafia - and while I'm not sure exactly what was going on with the whole thing, there was lots of laughter in the room. This was preceeded by a really fun run through the rain down the hill to buy ice cream - as we ran, we jumped in puddles, splashed, soaked each other, and laughed. Reflecting on it now, I think it was a chance to live out some of what these children haven't been able to - experiencing a little bit of the childhood that has been taken away from them. It's amazing what these children are aware of - in their own lives, in our lives, about God. I think we really saw this in the afternoon today. Our team had a prayer treasure hunt with the kids - we had four stations that the kids rotated through - confession, thanksgiving, supplication, and praise. How amazing to watch children write out their own confession of sin, to hear them name the things that they were thankful for, to listen as they read psalm 23 screaming their own name out in place of "me", and then to watch as they wrote names of God and drew pictures in praise to God on the concrete. It was so meaningful to see them write things like: He is my friend, He is my hope, He is my provider, The Truth, Light. Probably the most touching for me was "He is my shelter" with a house sketched out next to it. How beautiful that a child who spends her summer in a tiny house, sleeping on a bed that is tattered and sagging, wearing the same clothes that she puts on every day sees God as her shelter. We have prayed many times this week about the idea of refuge. We have seen God answer those prayers as we realized this week that God seems to be using this particular camp as a refuge for children who have no safe place, no real hope, and no consistent caregiver. For children who have nothing in their lives that looks like God - no one who is father to them, no provider, no shepherd, no constant - it humbles me to think that in spite of their circumstances, they can still see God as these things. I want to be like this - I want to be able to see past my circumstances into a God that is bigger, that is all powerful, that hears all, that knows all, that works in spite of me, that provides what I need, that always loves me and always takes me back. I pray this for all of us - that we can learn from these kids about the greatness of God. We have been listening over and over on our van rides to and from camp to the song "Our Great God" - I love the words - they say, "Eternal God unchanging, mysterious and unknown, your boundless love unfailing in grace and mercy shown, bright seraphim in endless flight around your glorious throne, they raise their voices day and night in praise to Him alone. Hallelujah Glory be to our Great God." I pray that we can see God like this - and that we can be those seraphim around His throne singing praise day and night to the greatness of our God.

God continues to answer the prayers that you are all praying on our behalf and for that we are so thankful. Thank you for praying for us throughout the day today. God kept children attentive during morning Bible study, held off the rain during the day, prompted children into meaningful conversation with team members, and led us into worship this evening with music and drama and words from Jon. After that, we saw God move so powerfully in the children during the prayer experience (which I was talking about above) - keeping them quiet, drawing them into prayer, giving them a sense of His presence and who He is to them, even opening up the cloudy sky just above the pavement where the names of God were written to reveal the brightest bluest color you have ever seen. As we watched, it was difficult for us not to be moved in the same way He was moving the children - we felt the quiet, we felt drawn in, we sense His presence and realized more of who He is to us.

We love you and are so thankful for you.

Gretchen