Jr. Teen - Pine Ridge 2022

All five of my girls decided they wanted to live their lives for Jesus!

Let me go into detail about the week to show you how this absolutely amazing news came to be! (Pictures at the bottom of post taken by both me and the campers!)

Day 1, Monday :

Monday morning I woke up in the cabin, "Meadowlark". There were no girls to wake up and my only audience to hear me snore were the other cabin leaders, Adelle and Arianna. We got up in time to go get some breakfast and spend some time in fellowship together before orientation. Orientation helps all of the staff who are on that week know all of the rules that may have changed from the weeks before, any issues that may arise, our schedule, and anything else we may need to know. Afterwards, there is some lunch ready for us and we're able to get ready for all of the campers to arrive between 4:30 and 6!

Just after 5:00, we got our first camper! She was a spunky girl who had a lot of energy and had such a joy to her. There was a quietness about her, but that came out pretty quickly once you started asking her about her friends, school and what she does for fun! She was our first and only camper for quite some time until our other four girls arrived closer to 6:00.

The other four came all together. One of the four was a sister to a girl I had in my cabin during the teen week of camp. It was really neat to see the similarities and differences between the sisters. This girl was so sweet and quiet for the most part. She was missing her family a lot but was, for the most part, excited to be at camp! She was the one that recruited the other three that came with her!

There was also a set of twins in our cabin! Although they were very similar in many ways, they were also both so different! One of them was very outgoing and love to go with the flow and participate in absolutely everything! She wasn't scared to share her opinion but she was also quick to listen. She was a bold character and I'm pretty sure she was the most excited to be there. The other twin, on the other hand, didn't like to participate OR listen. She had such a kind heart but more shy of the two and wanted to do things her way. Both girls had never been to Pine Ridge before.

The last girl that came with them didn't want to be there. She was tired from her adventures the night before camp and didn't want anything to do with the camp. She said that she was forced to go by her grandma and that all she wanted to do was go back home. I helped her get her bed all set out and ready but mostly she just laid down to sleep until supper.

On our way to supper, we as cabin leaders got a glimpse into what our week may look like. The norm for camp is that when the bell rings, you line up with your cabin and once everyone is there, someone prays and then the game "wang-ho" is played. It's a simple game that determines which cabin gets to eat first, second, third, etc.. so that it's fair. When we went to line up with our cabin, we had two girls down the hill picking blueberries and didn't want to go to supper (The determined twin and the sister of my previous camper). these two girls would be attached at the hip for the rest of camp. The girl that didn't want to be at camp also didn't make it into the line, she instead laid down in the sand with her hood over her face and her arm used as a pillow. We had two girls actually in the line, the spunky girl that came on her own and the one twin. We did finally get everyone there, but then no one wanted to play wang-ho so Arianna, one of the cabin leaders, played for our cabin. After supper, we played a wide game where only one of our campers played, then we had Chapel where pastor Dan (the speaker for the week) did a review about what he was going to talk about. Ultimately the week was going through the gospel story! We would talk about creation, talk about the creation of man, the fall of man and sin, then Jesus and why he came.

That night for cabin devotions we got some bigger questions to answer:

1. Is being gay a sin?

2. If bad things happen to people does God still love them? Also, does he love the person that did the bad thing?

3. Why are we allowed to sin?

4. What does it mean that God loves us?

5. What is truth?

A lot of these questions were asked because they were related to the answer to the previous question. We got through them the best that we could in the time that we had. Almost all of the girls were paying attention and continued to ask questions and answer some questions that we have asked them like "if God forced you to love him would that be love?". These girls, even though they are only 11 to 13 years old were CRAVING the truth. This gave us as cabin leaders a hope that this week would be filled with great questions and conversations with the girls.

Day 2, Tuesday :

The next morning, all the cabin leaders and other supporting staff got up for our morning meeting. It was so encouraging to share the news of the questions our girls had.

When the girls woke up, however, almost no one was happy to be at camp. One girl stayed up the whole night crying for her family and the rest just didn't want to be there. None of them wanted to participate. None of them asked questions. They were all silent and wanted to go home. The night before seemed like it was almost a waste and none of them genuinely wanted to know the answers to the questions they were asking. We were 5 to 20 minutes late for everything, none of the girls wanted to participate in any of the games or activities, and we struggled to get them out of their beds or up the hill to have supper. They were more interested in playing at the playground at the waterfront, picking berries or sleeping in the sand.

Day 3, Wednesday :

Today was a day that started very similar to the last. No one wanted to get out of their beds. No one wanted to go to breakfast. The morning was sombre and quiet. Two of the girls even wanted us to phone someone to come pick them up. That was until I mentioned going on the barge and on the boat tubing (apparently this is their favourite part)! They started to become excited about the rest of the day to hang out with their friends at the waterfront. They stopped focusing on going home as much and started making plans for what their afternoon would look like. This was a small breakthrough for us as cabin leaders! It gave us a chance to have fun with them instead of just "haul" them from place to place.

That afternoon, all our girls but one were out on the water laughing and smiling and full of joy! They were acting like the 11 to 13-year-old girls that they were! Two of the girls even decided that they wanted to go kayaking.

The one that didn't go out of the water still wanted to go home and mostly just lay in the sand (every morning we had to sweep off her bed because it was so sandy!!!)

Devotion time this day was still quiet and no one wanted to ask any questions or listen. But at least they had a good day where they were looking forward to the next day being out on the water again.

Day 4, Thursday :

Today started a little worse than the rest of the days (which I didn't think was possible). Two of the girls would not get out of their beds for breakfast. All they wanted to do was go home. There were tears and absolute refusal. Thursday morning it seemed like no one was going to get it. We only had one more day left and their sadness has taken hold of these two girls. One of them finally got up in time for chapel, but the other slept through that too.

The other three girls on the other hand we're starting to actually enjoy their time and make friends within and outside of our cabin! One of the girls even started asking questions again (even though she started the question with "please don't give me a long-winded answer like you gave me the other day"). You could tell that these three girls were starting to enjoy the week and become kids again! wouldn't

Little did I know that this would be the night that all of these girls' lives would be touched by truth.

By lunch, everyone started getting giggly together. The two girls that wouldnt get out of bed participated in the fun! All five went out of the water again this afternoon and were actually smiling and laughing (even our sand dweller went out onto the barge and was jumping in!).

We all settled in for our night devotions after Chapel and no one wanted to talk about anything. We sat there and tried asking questions about a time when they felt lonely but no one wanted to answer. The other cabin leaders and I shared a bit of our testimony to share when we were feeling lonely and Jesus was beside us but they didn't seem to want any of it. They weren't ignoring us, they just weren't interested. After we ended devotions the girls got up and started talking and giggling. It was really nice to see them all get along and enjoy the time that they had here at camp. We might not have broken through to them in a spiritual way, but hopefully, they enjoyed their time enough to come back.

About 15 minutes before bed one of the girls asked if we could play a game. I asked what game it was and she described a game where they lay on each other's laps and rub each other's temples while chanting in unison and going to a different dimension. The second she said that I told her it was demonic and we would not be playing that game. She looked at me in utter shock and asked in a loud voice with her eyes popping out, "Really?!".

This was just a start to the next hour of questions about demons and Jesus. They started asking about shifting (meditation to be transported to a different dimension), shapeshifting (humans turning into animals), and the shadow man with a cowboy hat that almost all of the girls have seen on the reserve and have invited into their homes. I told them without a blink of an eye that it was demonic and that none of these things were good, healthy, or life-giving. I told them that they are allowing darkness into their lives by playing these games and meditating to drift into "a different world". They were playing with spiritual things that they didn't understand. The girls kept asking different questions about these evils and what they actually were. They talked about visions of deceased relatives, learning to shift over the last two years true, etc... They asked about the music they listen to, the movies they watch, and the friends they hang out with. We talked about drug influence, alcohol, reserves and why they always feel so dark.

The girls got it! They absolutely got it!

Every single one of the five girls was playing with the enemy and no one in their lives told them the truth. They were hearing it for the first time and they knew that it was truth. They knew that what they were doing wasn't good. They knew that a lot of their mental health struggles were because of the demons that they were playing with (not all of it, but the darkness hadn't helped the situation).

One of the girls asked me how they get rid of the demons/darkness that she brought into her life and I told them that the only way that they can get rid of them and start living a life with Jesus. They asked if they could get rid of them on their own and I told them that there was a chance that they could, but the Bible says that if you get rid of them and don't fill that spot with Jesus, seven more that are much worse will come and fill that space. I wasn't telling them this to scare them into following Jesus or to put fear into their lives, I told them the truth about the things they were asking about. I told them that this week they learned the truth in Chapel and they learned the truth from us cabin leaders talking to them so now they have a choice. They have a choice to either continue accepting demons into their life or they have a choice to accept Jesus into their life.

As we were talking about these things you could tell that the spirit was speaking into these girls and opening up their hearts and softening them because they were all understanding and nodding and asking questions. They didn't want to just know that Jesus is there for them in bad times, they wanted to know the power that Jesus has in their life. We so often forget to tell people of Jesus' power!

That night, when everything started settling down a little bit I went out to use the washroom and little did I know that when I was out there they were talking to the other counsellor, telling her that they all wanted Jesus in their life. They mentioned that they wanted to pray and read their Bible and start making good decisions while following the Lord.

That night, I went to bed not knowing that they wanted to accept Jesus and felt so hurt for these girls because of the things that they were playing with. I want so much better for these girls and I wanted them to know Jesus and understand that they don't have to choose darkness.

Day 5, Friday :

Friday morning us cabin leaders woke up with excitement in our hearts about the previous night's conversation. I woke up early that morning to spend time with Jesus and pray for those girls. Pray that he would change them. When my co-cabin leader, Adelle, told me what the girls were talking about when I left to use the washroom and how they all wanted to accept Jesus, my heart was so overwhelmed and over full that it poured out through my eyes as I cried for each one of them.

That morning was so different than any other morning. Every one of them got up as the bell rang and they were all so filled with joy the second they woke up. None of them were lingering and being difficult. They all woke up with smiles., Instead of being late to breakfast like we were every other morning we were there EARLY and even got to go in the breakfast line first! There was a noticeable change overnight in every one of the girls.

One of the girls that did not participate in any of the activities that entire week (Our sand dweller) even decided to do the swinging rope course, one of the hardest activities, all on her own without any prompting! It wasn't just us as cabin leaders that saw a difference in them, it was also other cabin leaders and other instructors that saw the joy that they had on Friday! It was one of the male cabin leaders/activity leaders that came up to me excited about the difference in her that day compared to the rest.

For devotions in the morning this day we talked about Christian care. We talked about what happens when we sin Not if, but when. We talked about how no matter what we still have to look toward Jesus even when we fail or fall. We need to continue praying and reading our Bible and having conversations with Jesus and filling our lives with other Christian people and good mentors to stay on the right track. The other cabin leaders and I told them that life isn't going to get easier, in fact, it will probably get harder for a little while because of all the darkness that they let into their lives. We talked about how the enemy wants them to fail and will throw everything at them to try. They all seem to understand the difficulty but also understood that when they sin and when they fall they can still turn to Jesus and not just walk away. Jesus will love them and care for them even in those moments.

Friday evening when all of the girls were slowly being picked up and taken home there was such a bitter-sweetness in my heart. I was so happy about the things that they learned and the choices that they made while like Bible camp this year, but I was going to miss them and I had hurt in my heart for the trials that they will be enduring when they go back to their regular lives. So many of them come from either bad homes or broken homes or places with little to no encouragement. I know that they made the right decision and that God will help them through it, but it might also just be a seed until it is ready to blossom.

Although, one of the grandmas that came to pick up three of the girls was a Christian! Praise the Lord! I told her about the night before and she was almost brought to tears because of how happy she was with their choices. Because she had them for the next week after camp she decided that she was going to continue Bible studies with them and encourage them in their faith. She wanted them to know that they have someone in their life that wanted to encourage them and help them grow, even if she wasn't their primary caregiver.

Prayer requests:

1. Please continue praying for each of the girls that accepted Christ into their hearts as they are going to be on a long road of battling darkness. I'm just thankful that now they are battling it with Jesus's power instead of their own.

2. Pray for Pine Ridge Bible Camp and that these girls all decide to come back next year to continue growing in their faith and learning about Jesus and his love for them!

3. Pray for the camp and the good work that they do! They still need funds to come in for their building project of the dining hall / Chapel. If you would like to donate to Pine Ridge Bible camp to either sponsor youth to come or for the building project you can make a donation at ncem.ca .