Project:Camp : A Monster of Our Own Making

One year ago today (12 July) was the beginning of Project:Camp. It's basically taken me this long to be at a place where I can really talk about it. A few months back I wrote, "Some pieces of that summer are still a blur. That makes sense as so many of them were a blur even at the time. Other pieces I remember with striking clarity, heartache and happiness alike."

At this point a year ago we were 6 weeks into cleaning, renovating and preparing an old hotel in addition to many last minute preparations for the 70 American and 30 German participants that joined us for 12 days as the kick-off to our church plant. At least by that point we owned the hotel, unlike the first couple of weeks of renovation! (Renovating by faith we liked to call it.) We had been up more than half the night before finalizing transportation for those flying in that day - there was a tentative plan in place but we scratched that for what we decided was a simpler and more practical plan.

The late night was the norm by that point; there were lots of very short nights of sleep, perhaps "naps" would be a more appropriate term. We neither had experience renovating or planning such a large (not to mention international) event. Those six weeks were hectic to say the least. By the time Project: Camp arrived our lives were... well take exhaustion in it fullest form - physical (think sleep deprivation), mental, emotional, etc and add to it spiritual warfare and you have a glimpse into our lives. Satan was mad; he had reason to be.

In many ways it turned out to be a wonderful project. God REALLY helped us and blessed us. We "joke" sometimes that he just felt sorry for us, seeing that we were doing more than all we could, and just interceded for us. But really, he did intercede, both in seen and unseen ways. His mercy and grace was poured over our lives and the project in abundance, blinding (thankfully) many people around us to the pain, difficulties and intense spiritual battles we found ourselves in the midst of. Jesus did say he would build his Church.

The 6 weeks leading up to camp (more to come on the events that kick-started those 6 weeks) and the 2 weeks of camp (12 days) were a full summer. We said that Project:Camp was a monster of our own making. It looked so good, so simple, on paper: Grow, Bless, Reach.

We spent the mornings in a full group session with one of our keynote speakers (a great line up which changed daily) preceded by a time of worship through music and followed by seminars with those same speakers. From there we went immediately to lunch and there to the afternoon "Bless" projects: various projects meant to bless the city in practical ways. These groups included an environmental group that picked up trash and helped clean out a local pond (yuck), a team that baked and distributed cookies etc. to civil servants, and various team around the city handing out bottles of water and fair trade bananas and coffee (we also wanted to "bless the world").

The groups that were lucky got a little down time between the afternoon activity and the evening activity: First Supper. We had a large tent set up near the center of town, right by the river and next to city hall. There was live music, a tasty meal (I can't express how great our volunteers and campers were!!!), and a short evangelistic message.

Our goal was to make contacts as we began our church: KiA, or Church in Action. Again I say, God blessed and helped us. We will officially celebrate our birthday in 3 weeks. We have a handful of people who have come into membership in just the last couple of weeks and have 4-5 homegroups that are going strong. Additionally we have several impact groups (service group) and we normally have around 50 people in attendance at our KiA Events. Numbers matter - not for the sake of numbers - but because each number represents a person and people matter to God.

Of course, like any church we've had our ups and down. People come and go but there is a core group and new people continue to come. We have learned a lot of lessons, we could write a book about how NOT to plant a church but simultaneously how God continues to build his Church and bring his kingdom - particularly to Mainz, Germany.

Of course, there is much more to be told, but again, that is for another time.