Have you heard the news? Amberlea is the place to be this summer!

Amberlea Church is more than the building. The people of God are at work in sharing God’s great love to our community and trying to meet families right where they are at.

The pandemic has brought different challenges and opportunities. Typically during the summer we have the amazing opportunity to offer VBC, Breakfast Club and Musical Theatre Camp. The pandemic altered our course in 2020, and instead we provided Camp in a Box and other virtual family programming.

In 2021, we are offering a hybrid of options, virtual and in person as we transition out of Covid restrictions. We started in July with Camp in a Box, a virtual at home program. In August we are providing in person Outdoor Camp as well as continuing our virtual Family Nights and our new youth endeavor called Behind the Scenes.

All of this is possible in large part because we have been blessed with a Summer Team of five youth, 17-20 years old. We are incredibly grateful for the Canada Summer Jobs Program that provides much of the remuneration to the students as they gain valuable work experience.

Over the next few weeks in Mona’s Blog, we will hear some of the reflections of the Summer Team and their experiences of working at Amberlea and how they have seen God at work.

Please continue to pray for each of them and the children and families they are ministering to.

Ella’s Reflections J

My name is Ella and I’m the newest addition to the Summer Team, having started two weeks after everyone else. I was surprised and excited when I got a message that there was an opening, and beyond elated when I got the message that evening that I got the job. Now I’ve been working on this Team for three weeks, and I love it. Everyone on the Team is amazing to work with. They made me feel welcome on the Team immediately.

Even though there haven't been many kids at our Camp in a Box 2gether Time (the daily online portion of Camp in a Box), the kids that are there are enthusiastic to do crafts, play games, and listen to stories of the Gospel with us. The kids were especially excited to hear the day’s story. They would lean close to their computers waiting to hear the next part of the story. It is wonderful to see these kids so excited to hear the stories of the Bible. It’s also really cool to see all the creative and hilarious ways to tell the stories that the others on the Team come up with.

I can’t wait to start Outdoor Camp in the coming week and throughout August. We’ve planned some awesome games and stories, and I’m looking forward to seeing people and having fun and learning about God in person.

Jordan’s Reflections J

Now before I start, it has occurred to me that many of you reading, do not know who I am. Well, my name is Jordan and I’m one of the four counselors at the Amberlea Summer Camp. A little bit about myself, I am going into Grade 12 this year, with music being my primary field of study. This job as a camp counselor is the first job I’ve ever had, so I am pretty excited for the Outdoor Camp. Now, in addition to having fun with the kids and looking out for them, it is our responsibility to teach them about Jesus and the Gospel through the many Bible stories we will be telling. One of my personal goals is to, not only tell the stories so that it will entertain the children, but to help them understand the meaning behind these stories and how they can apply them to their lives, so that they don't grow up to be passive Christians.

Now, what does it mean to be a passive Christian? Well, recently I was listening to a song by TobyMac, called "Til The Day I Die".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWLZ_MrPplk

There is a verse in the song where he says, "God is not a crutch you can't use Him when you wanna, you only look to Heaven when you goin through some drama" and I realized the significance of this verse; we shouldn't be coming to God only when we're in a bad situation, and treat Him like a genie in a bottle. There are many people in the world who claim that they are Christians and that they believe in God, yet they will do many things that contradict the teachings of the Bible, such as premarital sex, constantly getting drunk, swearing, stealing etc. Basically, they are not living a life that is reflective of Christ. But when these people get into a bad situation, they suddenly turn to God and beg that He will fix things in their favor. If you are truly a Christian, if you are truly a child of God, then you should also be a reflection or an image of God. God does not choose to love and care for us on some days but not others, He loves and cares for us 24/7. As a reflection of God, we should be doing the same thing, acknowledging God and communicating with Him regularly.

If we don't want to be a passive Christian, the most important thing we should do is establish a solid relationship with God. Talk to Him on a regular basis as if He's your friend, because at the end of the day, that's who He is. Thank Him for all the great things He's done and tell Him about your problems in life. It could be something serious, or something trivial, because He is a God who wants to help us.

I want the kids to be able to understand the meaning of the stories so that they can apply it to their daily lives, which will ultimately bring them closer to God. I also want to help them establish a firm relationship with God so that they don’t end up becoming passive Christians. My overall goal as a counselor this summer is to really make an impact so that these concepts stay with the kids for the rest of their lives.