By Katie Humphries

First off, I will admit that I am not a city person. I can take them in small doses, but I prefer mountains, woods, rivers and lakes. I honestly wasn’t sure if I would be up for going to Easton, but with a little push from my good friend Tim Gorbey, and God pointing me in the right direction, I decided to take on the adventure.

I have really enjoyed working with the junior high youth group this past year, but was scared of leaving my niche. I was scared of meeting new people, scared of high schoolers, and a little scared of the city. But I felt I needed to go and leave my comfort zone, so I did!

I had the joy of running our “Cross Fit Training” courses on the boiling-hot blacktop every day. It was a challenge, having never done this before. The worst day was our first day; I became extremely dehydrated and already wanted to quit and go home. But as I lay on my air mattress with ice all over my body, people that I had just met continuously checked on me, talked with me, and cared for me. I also talked to my mom that night, and she told me how the devil was the one trying to make me quit. I realized in that moment that God wanted me there and that he was not leaving my side.

The rest of the week, I stayed hydrated and was able to finally see why God sent me to Easton. I saw these high schoolers and middle schoolers just pour out all of their love for these kids. So many of the campers there came from broken homes, and these young teenagers shared genuine kindness with each and every one of them. I heard stories throughout the week about how they were able to share Jesus, and pray and talk with some of these kids, and it was so uplifting to hear.

It filled my heart with joy to see the tears running down the faces of the campers and their young counselors on our last day. They truly showed them God’s love, and I learned that God always prevails. Even when we feel like quitting, he puts people in our lives to lift us up and show us His love.