Mahogany Loafers

 Mahogany Loafers

 Camp Auxano was my favorite event this year. In May 2023, our youth pastors drove us up to camp Auxano. Our youth group had been invited to this camp by a youth group that visited us in 2022 for a separate event. Much of the time spent in the van, we were laughing, joking, or sleeping. Everyone was eager to get to camp, some for the first time, and we all anticipated the turn into the campground. On the ride to camp, I began reading the book “Marks of a Movement” by Winfield Bevins. This book is about the Wesleyan movement, and how and why revival occurs. Little did I know that what I was reading on the ride there was predicting what was about to happen.

 When we got to camp Auxano, all six of us girls got to our cabins and unpacked, as the boys found theirs. We talked to a few friends we had not seen since the previous year, even made some new ones, and then it was time for dinner. After Dinner we headed to the chapel for our first evening of worship.

 The first evening everyone was awkward. We were hesitant to get out of our seats andworship because we were afraid of what everyone may assume. Yet once a few people got up, the rest joined. Each night was increasingly powerful, and the Holy Spirit was tangible in that place. It was beautiful to see people my age who love God in the same way, worshiping with all they had. There were people jumping, dancing, singing, running, speaking in tongues and interpreting, people sitting still on the floor as I was, and people praying for and with each other. We went from 7:30-11:00 worshiping. There were a few small groups that stayed even later, and this was only the beginning!

 Friday morning everyone was awake bright and early. We ate breakfast, and then started “action hour.” For an hour, each day we would tidy the campgrounds for the people who allowed us to host camp there. While this may sound uneventful, we found it enjoyable, as we were able to bond with the other youth group and learn more about one another. After “action hour” we had our first small group session about “forgetting the past.” This is where things got deep. We had serious, intimate conversations with the girls in our small group. We talked about successes and failures in our past, and how we can leave the not-so-bright things behind us. We left our pasts behind, headed to lunch, and then into the game portion of the day. Games throughout the week included water wars, volleyball, basketball, soccer, 9-square, hide and seek, and the usual Church camp games. The sermon Friday night was on moving forward, how in the Bible, Elisha destroyed everything so there was no temptation to return, he “broke the plow and burnt the oxen.” The speaker also touched on how Peter left his fishing nets to follow Jesus, when Jesus was crucified, he returned to them, yet he never caught a thing. It was about how God tells us to never conceal our sin, but to confront it. How God does not condemn sin but confronts it because he knows what it does to our souls. Since God has called us to better things, we should do as Elisha did, leave our pasts in the past, because God says we are made new in him. Once we got back to our cabins that evening, my friend Natalie and I stayed up talking until 3:00 in the morning about everything that had happened that day.

 Saturday morning began day three of our youth retreat. Starting off the day with small groups, the second thing we talked about was “Looking forward to what lies ahead.” Now that we had left our pasts in the past, we discussed what we felt God was calling us to. This is when I started to realize how much I wanted to do music, and not just for me, but music for God. We talked through what we were anticipating in our futures. I heard so many unique answers, each of these girls had a special gift, and it was amazing to see them striving to use them for God. For extreme games on Saturday, we did a few different things. First, we were all given water guns and had to fill our team's bucket three times by finding water around the camp. We searched everywhere. I found some in a tarp covering a fire pit. The boys, being boys, got water from the toilets in their cabins. And then of course they got it from my water bottle afterwards! After this everyone went to play kickball, but I was worn out, so I sat out and drank some water. I then played 9-square with some of our youth group, and we got a few others to play. There were several almost-concussions. Youth groups get extremely competitive when playing 9-square! The message Saturday night was titled “Embracing the future.” The preacher spoke about how placing our future in the hands of God means we will have his guidance, protection, and provision. Worship after this message was so powerful. My friend Natalie was asked to do flags with another girl, and she did. Flags are used in a type of worship dance, usually done in Pentecostal churches. I had never seen her worship like she did that night. It made me so happy to see God working in her heart. I ended up on my hands and knees crying, because of how much changed for me over those few days, and how grateful I was to have the creator of the Universe care for me like that. While I had already heard these things before, I got to see God from a new perspective.

 While I was on the floor, I had lifted my head up the slightest bit, because I had noticed there was someone praying over me. From where I was knelt, I could see a pair of mahogany loafers, but I didn’t come all the way up, I wasn’t done thanking God, and I had a good idea of who it might be. The strange person gave me a hug as I was still kneeling on the ground, and said, “love you girl.” After a while everything died down and I arose. I made my way to one of our youth leaders, searching the crowd for the mysterious pair of loafers as I went. I asked her if I was crazy or if her dad had been there. She along with my youth pastors strung me along for a moment, and in a slightly sarcastic tone said he hadn’t. Soon enough they confessed that he had been there. So, to my surprise, my pastor and his wife had driven from North Carolina to Georgia, the night before he had to get up early and preach, just to come support the youth group, and tell us that they love us. That made me even more grateful to God, that I have people around me who care that much. We stayed out until 12 that night talking about what God had just done. We headed back to the cabins and packed our bags for the trip home. Traveling home was bittersweet, as we reflected on the “Marks of a Movement” that we had witnessed over those past three days.