8/2/11 - Counselor Prayer Requests & Related Stories

• Overall, pray for good rest and against sleep deprivation. Four cabins went camping which cut hours of sleep considerably, but others also mentioned their lack of sleep last night. Campers are very restless and have trouble sleeping through the night in such warm temperatures.
• The new counselors are doing great! They are teachable and throwing themselves into the tasks at hand. It’s a very impressive team overall.
• One camper we hope changes his attitude about camp—that he doesn’t bring down the cabin this week and that the counselor would have grace and discernment in addressing him.
• Two boys seem to have been given a realistic view of their sin and their need for a savior. Pray for their continued seeking spiritual questions.
• One camper prayed for the cabin last night and after devotions told the counselor. “I told my girlfriend I wanted to come to camp again in order to learn more about God.” It was encouraging to hear his counselor from last year and talk about his growth.
• At campout last night, they all slept on a tarp together. The counselor mentioned how proud he was of the boys’ behavior. They were stargazing together, and at one point all four boys erupted in surprise, shouting, “Did you see that?” We had all seen a magnificent shooting star, which was so cool to share with them as they had never seen one before.
• More unity in one cabin—that everyone would be included. Praise for a counselor full of energy—he’s new and was called to come to camp two days before it started. He has been so willing to help and eager to learn.
• One camper is really defiant when things don’t go his way. He will be too old to come to camp next year—pray that his heart would be softened and he’d enjoy all aspects of camp. Pray for their counselor who needs to rely on God’s strength. He has been at camp all summer and spent last week working extremely hard and with hardly any sleep as Primary Director.
• Two campers seem to be excluding the others. Pray that there would be cabin unity. Also, the counselor asks for prayers to focus on his campers—he is feeling distracted from ministering to them.
• One counselor took a week of vacation and drove from Ohio to make it here when he heard we still were short on Teen Boys counselors. Last week he was fighting a cold—please pray that it doesn’t come back with the stress of camp.
• One camper is not allowed outside much and has been struggling with his health in the heat. Pray that he would be able to join his cabin as much as possible.
• Please pray that one camper in particular would open up more. That his cabin wouldn’t stay divided between two sets of friends.
• One camper who is on disciplinary probation is really struggling and putting forth effort to maintain his temper. Pray that God would fill him with the control necessary to make it through the week. A second camper struggled all yesterday with stomach aches and poor health. Today, without any direction to do so, he packed his bag to go home and walked to the office to do so. Pray that he would find things at camp that he looks forward to.
• Praise for a great cabin with many boys who have spent many years at camp and look forward very much to this week. Pray for the counselor, who is physically exhausted and is working through a sprained ankle.
• A counselor has an injured eye.  Please pray that he will be able to focus through that and that it would heal and not be irritating. Praise for this cabin’s unity and enthusiasm for camp. They are all 16 years old, and it is their last year, but 4 out of the 5 campers have expressed serious interest in returning next year as staff. This week, we have one counselor who was a former teen boy camper and one kitchen staff who was a teen boys camper last year. They have been encouraging and inspiring to the boys, who will hopefully maintain their interest in returning as staff