Camp Or L’Dor ended on Sunday and in my opinion was the best year yet. The stunning location and welcoming hosts created an inviting place for campers and counselors to feel our Abba’s loving embrace. So many moments of vulnerability, sharing from the heart, healing, acts of love and sacrifice, clear reliance on God, growth in faith, affirmation of the reality of His Presence.

One of the beauties of the camp leadership team, which it seems HaShem must have hand picked, is our diversity of demeanor and skillsets. In the early years the team was just the four of us, Rabbi Nathan, Raina, Sid, and me with a couple counselors. What an incredible blessing that over these 16 years we have developed through God’s Hand an infrastructure to support Sid’s dream of an outdoor oriented Messianic Jewish teen camp. Not only do we have young counselors, as well as teens in training to become counselors, we actually have staff – two administrators who are phenomenal handling the multitude of logistics and their implementation, a person dedicated to our finances, a camp nurse (and much more), and even a camp director, not to mention our beloved camp rabbi and rebbetzin, and others who selflessly volunteer to do what needs to be done (thank you, Ken).

The last day of camp can be particularly stressful given all the competing logistics – tight travel schedules, packing pressure, clean up requirements, parting prayer gatherings, difficult goodbyes. In watching and participating in the not always finely choreographed ballet, it struck me how each member of the team brings such a unique gifting to the process.  These talents and skillsets are exceptional, and yet, often without another team member involved, the benefits reaped from that gifting would not result. One person is amazing at drilling down planning details and helps the group be punctual while another can work with inevitable challenges to that plan and successfully modify on the spot as needed. One person can boisterously rally the troops while another helps a camper pack. The array of personality types provides campers and counselors a smorgasbord of choices to discuss whatever is on their hearts with a person most likely relatable to each given the diversity of our leaders.

Participating in and watching the myriad of interactions it was so clear that one leader’s strength often was another’s weakness, and vice versa. This did not seem accidental. For as each challenge would arise, the weakness of one allowed that person to seek God’s guidance on the spot filling it with another team member to cover and get the task accomplished often more spectacularly than had the original plan succeeded. It truly felt as a divinely woven quilt holding us all together embraced by His covering, the campers and counselors being hugged with His Love in the middle.

Earlier in the week, however, on the morning that the group left for the overnight adventure trip, Sid ended up taking me to the emergency room of the closest hospital (not that close) with a kidney stone attack. I had actually missed a couple of the most meaningful prayer services earlier that week and the prior one as well due to discomfort and had struggled through the last week of camp.

Thankfully from the camp’s point of view, due to God’s orchestration of this amazing dream team of leaders, my inability to be as present did not affect the counselor’s and camper’s experiences. I was reminded, however, that the evil one must be very unhappy with an endeavor such as Camp Or L’Dor that is so faith strengthening to so many. We palpably feel God’s Presence countless times. It didn’t feel as if the timing of my medical emergency and discomfort was an accident. I felt the spiritual attack.

That having been said on the afternoon of the immersion of one of our campers to affirm anew His personal relationship with God through Yeshua, as I watched the blessed circle of campers, counselors, and staff standing in the lake, suddenly a black water snake joined as well. There was quite the natural reaction by the group to his presence causing some to scatter, shriek, and lose their focus. How short lived that response, however, as the uninvited guest quickly slithered away being no match for God’s power and protection of His loved ones. The group once again, shoulder to shoulder, encircled the young man being immersed as Rabbi Nathan continued the service. As an aside, on that particular day, it had rained and was to continue raining, and thundering. But for the time of this blessed event which lasted around 15 minutes and in radiant sunshine, the rain and thundering continued the rest of the day.

Our Abba has handpicked each of us to join His Team, whether at camp or just in our day-to-day lives. He has chosen each of us to serve Him. When we put our efforts together always attuned to His Guidance, the results are miraculous. We are able to recognize our weaknesses through humility and feel Yeshua guiding us to reach out to others as needed to serve where we are weak, always keeping the endgame in sight – for Camp Or L’Dor, to create a transformative experience for our youth, to bring light to the next generation. For all of us, to bring His Light to the world.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane