YFC Summer Days

July 19, 2021

story

Three days at day camp that led to life transformation. 

COVID-19 prevented Youth For Christ USA from a traditional summer camp strategy. So West Michigan Youth for Christ set out to provide 3 unforgettable days for teens to be kids again and also experience an outpouring of God’s love.

From the moment teens stepped off of the bus at YFC Summer Days they instantly experienced the body of Christ at its finest. Volunteers at registration got to let teens with financial needs know that “they were covered” because generous donors provided trip scholarships. Local churches led the youth in worship and presented the gospel each day. Teens were being covered in prayer by individuals committed to bringing their needs before Christ. Local businesses provided meals throughout the week. Ministry leaders dove into every crazy activity with the teens and helped them discover more about God and their relationship with Him.

God’s presence was felt through joyful camaraderie of the three days we spent together, in both big and small ways.

Martin’s experience…

Quiet. Inquisitive. Intelligent. This is 11-year-old Martin. He has always been open and honest with his questions about God and made sure his Campus Life leaders knew that in order to believe, it had to make sense to him. Throughout 6th and 7th grade, Martin continued to wrestle with questions about God. He faithfully attended Campus Life and soaked up all that he could, asked insightful questions, attended camp, and even shared his faith journey in front of a group of adults at one of our See the Story tours. It was at this tour that he explained to community members that YFC was a safe environment to question God without judgment and that he still wasn’t sure if he believed in God.

We could see God in pursuit of him and we were so certain breakthrough would soon happen. But then the roadblocks came. Martin moved out of the neighborhood and we had no way of contacting him. We trusted that God was bigger than this obstacle…and He is.

A year and a half later, a community partner mentioned Martin’s name during a meeting. We were astounded! He gave us Martin’s new contact information and we immediately drove to his house and, praise God, we were able to reconnect with Martin. We asked his leaders to begin praying for Martin and that his questions would be answered as he attended YFC Summer Days. It was beautiful to watch God’s plans unfold throughout these three days. We got to see our prayers answered right in front of us. God used leaders from various ministry sites to sit with Martin during free time, listen to his questions, and provide biblical wisdom.

At the end of YFC Summer Days, Martin KNEW  that Jesus was real and committed his life to Christ!

Martin’s story is one among many others that experienced life change during these three days. We are humbled and amazed by the number of people God brought into these teens’ lives to point them to Christ – volunteers, prayer partners, community partners, pastors – they all made an eternal impact in the life of a teen.

If you would like to get involved and make an eternal impact in the lives of teens, such as Martin, please check out our JOIN page!