A few weeks ago, the father of a teenage boy sent me a video of his son Eli’s baptism service. The video showed the pastor of the church conducting the baptism, speaking about the young man’s spiritual journey. The pastor described accompanying a group of young people from their church to Youthfront Camp and told a story about Eli’s deep spiritual quest to know God. He spoke about the environment at Youthfront Camp where young people are encouraged to seek God, to be still, to read scripture and learn to pray. He shared how an intense focus on God and scripture is very difficult for some people, but was not a challenge for Eli. The Pastor then surprised everyone by announcing that he had taken a picture of Eli at Youthfront Camp. Before baptizing Eli, he showed the picture below to the congregation - and you could literally hear the grandmotherly “ooohs” and “ahhhhhs.” To say that I was a little emotional watching this would be an understatement. My heart was filled with joy because of the passion I have for young people to be transformed by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ. I love this picture and thousands of others like it that I’ve seen or taken over the years.
This is an exciting time of the year at Youthfront – church groups are preparing for summer missions at our ministry site in Croc, Mexico and in the Argentine Community of Kansas City; Something to Eat ™ continues to expand nationally; summer camp registrations are coming in, summer staff are being hired and our camp teams are in full-on prep mode for the upcoming camp season. Life is busy, but fulfilling, here at Youthfront!
We never ceased to be amazed at the incredible opportunities the Holy Spirit brings to us. Recently, we were contacted by Angel Tree ministry to consider a partnership with them.
You might be thinking, “I thought Angel Tree’s efforts revolved around providing Christmas joy for the children of imprisoned parents – what does it have it have to do with camp?” Angel Tree desires to go beyond the Christmas season alone by providing the opportunity for these same kids to experience the transformation aspect of Christian camp. Angel Tree has designated Youthfront Camps as the official camp for the Midwest region of North America. Prison Fellowship, led by Chuck Colson, launched Angel Tree to serve the 1.7 million American children who have a parent or parents in prison. These children’s lives are often filled with the abandonment, loneliness, and shame that come from having a mom or dad in prison.
We have received a generous grant to help send these kids to Youthfront Camp, but it doesn’t cover all the registration and basic camp fees. Because of this special opportunity your gift of $40 will complete the cost of sending one of the beautiful kids to Youthfront this summer. There are 1,700 Angel Tree youth in the Kansas City metro alone. You can make a gift online at www.youthfront.com to sponsor an Angel to send to camp.
In James 1:27 we are told that pure religion before God involves taking care of the fatherless in their afflictions. We hope you’ll join us in changing the lives of these young people!
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