January 2008

I had no idea attending J2N in 2005 would impact my direction in life as it did that weekend. I had been blessed with much between 2003 and 2005, completion of university which brought independence and a fulltime job in the field of my choice. However as I settled into my new apartment and career,  I sensed and yearned for something more, an opportunity to use the gifts and talents God had designed me for. As I looked at various booths I had run into a friend I had met on a missions trip. As we caught up, he said he was working at Prairie Bible College and was the admissions director. I said I had been thinking of going back to school but on the condition that the school had some kind of  Camp Ministry program. (my passion and dream had been to work full time in camp ministry) “Well, actually  Praire offers a 4 year B.A with a Camp Ministry major!”



I can’t explain the emotions and thoughts that ran through my mind but I instantly knew this was a prayer that was on it’s way to being answered. I can’t explain the feeling it gave me having in my hands possibility and opportunity of pursuing my dream and passion of working in full time camp ministry. It had it’s costs. Quitting a job God had blessed me with, giving up a regular pay cheque and trusting the Lord for my finances, moving across the country, away from all my friends and family to a small town of 3000 called Three Hills and then entering the life of being a student again? Could I really do this and uproot myself from everything and everyone I knew? I suddenly had an inkling of what Moses and Abraham must have felt like. Yet I knew in my heart that this was not my doing but God’s and I had to listen to that still small voice.



3 years later and I’m finishing up my camp internship at Camp Forest Springs and have one more semester left this fall at Prairie. Taking the biggest leap of faith of my entire life has been the most challenging and rewarding experience I have ever encountered. I could tell you story upon story, how God has taught me so many lessons and brought me to places I needed to be (physically and spiritually)in order to prepare me for the next part of the journey, including issues I needed to resolve and wasn’t even aware of.  Had I not listened to God’s voice, who knows where or what I would be doing.  It was not a coincidence that I was at J2N that weekend. J2N has opened my eyes to missions and heart for camp ministry in a way I could never have imagined.