This week has been a blast. Highland Baptist Church has had the amazing privilege of hosting a kids camp this week. The camp is put on by Connect Ministries and Winshape Foundation. The Winshape Foundation was originated and funded by the Truette Cathy Family of the Chick-Fil-A corporation. It has been the Cathy family's desire to make an impact on local communities across the county by hosting camps for kids and teenagers. I would encourage you to check it out. It's amazing.
Winshape has overnight camps in Georgia and then they fill 8-9 teams of 23 college students each, train them, and send them out to conduct these day camps for 8-9 weeks each summer. It has been our privilege to host a camp for Stanly county the last 2 years (2013-14). And I will say we have already been given a camp for next year, July 6-10, 2015. We are looking for churches and organizations beyond those already partnering with us to join us for next year. We have 223 kids from all over Stanly and Rowan counties here this week. Most of them have received some kind of scholarship to be able to attend. We raised over $20k last year, and were able to raise $28k+ this year to help kids come to camp. It's been hard work getting everything together, and so many have worked so hard to make this "the best week ever!"In addition to the kids and money, I was so amazed that we had 40+ people volunteer this week, many of them taking a week of vacation to be able to be here. Talk about commitment to Christ and kids. I love it! Thank you for serving Jesus by loving on these kids this week. A huge Thank You goes out to our children's director Janet Childress for her hard work, dedication, and love for the kids of this community. Thank You to the rest of the staff at Highland, Robert and Joy Whitley, and Matthew A. Wilkinson for your hard work in making this years camp a great success. It wouldn't have happened like it did without you.
Those are some amazing facts, but there is one fact that outshines and outweighs them all. It's the fact that these kids have heard about and experienced the love of Jesus Christ this week. The Winshape staff and the volunteers have been the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus this week to these kids. As a result of this experience, some of these kids gave their hearts and lives to Jesus yesterday and today. They have come to experience for themselves the forgiveness, salvation, grace, and mercy of the King Jesus. Eternity will never be the same. Join us now and in the future in doing what King Jesus has called us to do to reach the world with the gospel (the good news). Remember this, it's only good news if they hear it in time.
We also had two special guests this week that I want to tell you about. First, Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-Fil-A dropped in yesterday for a surprise visit. It was awesome to meet a man who faithfully serves Jesus through a very public venue. He was so gracious and humble. He took time to talk with the kids and volunteers. He even posed for a few selfies! It was awesome. Second, we were able to let the Winshape staff spend some time with Joe Teti of the Discovery Channels show, Dual Survival. Joe is very neat guys with a special past. He faithfully served our country in two different special forces units during his military career. You can check Joe out through social media and his website. Pray for Joe as he seeks to represent the Lord Jesus to the best of his ability.
In closing, pray for the Winshape staffers as they spend the next 3 weeks in communities sharing the love of Jesus with other kids. Only heaven knows the whole impact made in the lives of thousands of kids across the country. May we, through them, see the Holy Spirit bring about a great revival before Jesus comes.
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