Today we continue our weekly Tuesday Testimony post where we are having campers, staff and parents share their story about how God used Delanco this summer in their lives. If you would like to share your story email dan.ulrich@delanco.org.
“Dear God, DO IT, Amen.” That prayer said by our evangelist, Tim DePorter, always gave me that this-is-going-to-be-good feeling before every evening chapel. Hi, I’m Brooke Shaw and I go to First United Methodist Church in Millville, NJ. I’ve been going to camp since I was going into 7th grade in 2011 and I just spent my last summer at camp as a camper this past August, but no worries, Delanco Camp hasn’t seen the last of me. Not only was I a camper this year at Teen Camp but I was a counselor the week before for Middler for the first time!
Every year I am deeply impacted by God’s glory and the way He is able to shine His light through the campers and staff all week long. I want to say the summer of 2016 at Teen Camp, was when I was able to give myself fully to God and know that it’s truly what I wanted, but this year was especially different for me now that I was fully with the Lord. As I said before, I was a counselor at Middler Camp for my 7 sweet and VERY hyper girls in up-right for the first time alongside my new friend Mikayla! I was extremely nervous because I knew that I was going to be the one that these girls were going to look up to all week, but I knew God had a plan for me and I knew it was going to be great. Throughout the week, I felt God shine his light onto me to help these girls not only strengthen their relationship with God but to even start a relationship with Him. We were able to not only learn and talk about how amazing our Lord is, but have a lot of fun while doing it! Before bed these girls would pile onto my bed and we would sit there all night (well until lights out of course!) talking about life back home and how to maintain a relationship with God after camp. Those moments made me realize how lucky I was to be able to impact these lovely ladies lives in such a positive way. Being able to show young people the greatness God has to offer is such a blessing!
This year at Teen Camp it was extremely different… Our Millville squad usually rolls in with around 10 girls deep each year at Teen Camp. This year there was only 4 us. We also had the “littles” with us; which were the younger siblings and friends of us 4. For the first time in my Delanco years we were all together in good ol’ Olga Brown. Although it was different, it was still a year to remember. Tim preached about being holistically for God, and how to deal with our baggage, our influences, and our identity. In all of his sermons I always left knowing that the depth of God’s love for me was ocean deep and it was incredible being confident in that. Going home after camp is always difficult to mend with. As long as you don’t surround yourself with negative people, but instead with people who love God and make your heart happy as well, it’ll be okay. It gets hard at times, but without Delanco Camp, especially Teen Camp, I wouldn’t be the Christian I am today. In life it comes naturally that you don’t need anyone else but God helps us to overcome the hardest of obstacles. But from words of Tim Deporter, “lonely righteousness is better than wicked companionship.” From deep “pillow talks” every night to wawaman during planned rec, I wouldn’t change a thing about any of my weeks at Delanco Camp. I’ll end this with a verse… “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” Romans 15:13.
