Camp Converge

It has taken me awhile to put my thoughts together for this post considering it has been more than a month since I returned from Camp Converge with Maranatha Fellowship Church in Charleston, West Virginia. But those few days I spent being emptied and filled by the Holy Spirit were life changing. Growing up Catholic and not too well off, my siblings and I never got the opportunity to go to church camp or really any camp at all. Since my oldest brother, Matthew, got involved in Maranatha he has had the chance to go for the past couple of years and has invited me to go with him. I was finally able to go this year and I guess I feel like it was perfect timing. Two or three years ago I would have not been ready or mature enough in my faith walk to go.

In the months leading up to camp I was questioning my purpose in this world. I was having a really rough time at work and I had just gotten out of a relationship. So I put it in God’s hands and it was Him who got me up to Ohio for Camp Converge physically, emotionally and spiritually. I spent the first hour of the trip crying. As embarrassing as it is to admit and to actually do, I had to release these emotions because I felt like a failure. Vocationally I was lost, I had just failed in my relationship with my boyfriend and I was backsliding in my most important relationship, the one with God. I was discouraged in my faith, hope and love and was losing sight of what really mattered in life.

Arriving at the camp, I was really nervous but excited about what was to come. Usually before I do anything I tend to set expectations but I told myself I was just going to be in the moment, experience things for what they were and not have any expectations for the days to come. And I did, I was able to just be there and soak it all up.

The first night we had service and I released it all…or so I thought. Every single service had a way of pulling all of the darkness out. It was a build up of emotions and a physical release, a lightening of sorts. One of the first messages that stood out for me was that before seeking His purpose for you, you have to seek His presence. The idea of being open enough to the presence of the Lord was a foreign thought and feeling for me but it quickly all made sense. I just needed to open my heart, my eyes and my ears to Him. I had to let go of all of my preconceptions and expectations and just ask Him to enter into my heart. This has since become a routine for me, to get to that place I was at camp where I was completely in His presence. When I’m in His presence I am free, there are no chains locking me down, no heaviness weighing on my shoulders and no inhibitions holding me back. How can there be? He knows everything about me, He made me.

Another point that I have taken home with me from camp is to dive deep into His word. No matter what church, no matter what pastor, no matter what worship, the Bible is the law. If you want to draw closer to God, if you want to hear Him speak, you start by reading, studying and living the word. I’ve always known this and although I haven’t always done this, this message was what I needed to hear that night. Like I said, I was raised catholic and with coming to a Pentecostal church camp, I starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Of course you are going to have those breakthroughs when the music is pumping and we are all dancing, singing, praising the Lord, but you’ve got to have those breakdowns and buildups in your home life too. You find it in your prayer life when you are talking to Him, you find it reading His actual words and parables for us, you find it in His presence.

Lastly, even though I could probably go on forever, I learned what it means to be anointed by the Holy Spirit. I can’t even put into words what I witnessed or what I felt when I encountered the Holy Spirit. Seeing it being passed from one person to the next, causing proclamations of freedom and breakthroughs of hope was indescribable. But it also scared me a little, I have never experienced the feeling or even seen the extent of what it can do. I was unsure if I could humble myself enough to genuinely accept what was happening. But I finally got over my fears and nerves and just accepted the Holy Spirit and I haven’t been the same ever since, I’ve been craving for more of Him everyday.

Like I said before, I could probably go on and on about camp and get even more personal but I just wanted to touch on few things that really stood out for me and made a difference in my life. So if you made it through this long post I just ask you to pray that I stay on this high from camp as long as possible. I think I’ve been doing pretty good thus far. My whole perspective on life has changed and I enjoy where I am at. Of course we all have our moments where things are not so bright but I pray for myself that I continue to look at life through the eyes of God. I am not perfect but I’m perfect to Him. If anyone involved in Camp Converge happens to read this post, thank you for the experience and thank you for all that you do in your service to others to share His love.

And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, and who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22