The Courage to say “Yes!”

Cancelations happen. They might be expected or not, last minute or done in advance. But when they happen it is always an opportunity to see God at work and work out the details. Last year we had a late cancellation on a week-long summer camp, and we saw God at work when Mateo, our camp cook, “said yes!” He had the idea of quickly planning a young adult camp for his age group 18-25.

But discouragement set in. After ordering some decorations on Amazon he felt that there was not much interest from his church. He returned the decorations, then things changed! A church friend, Alicia, became excited about the idea, agreeing to help plan the camp and make just thoughts, come to life. Even more help was recruited when just two weeks before the camp, her friend Paco, decided too co-direct with her. Word spread. Reservations started pouring in. 65 campers from across Spain attended the first Conectados (Connected) camp! All because Mateo said “yes!”

Fast forward to April 2022 when Conectados held an Easter retreat with 85 attending. Conectados 2022 summer camp had people driving down from Barcelona (10 hours) and even flying in from the Canary Islands! I wish you could see the joyful reunions of these campers. A total of 103 attended with over 20 on a waiting list. The 2023 Conectados Easter retreat is reserved! We marveled at what God did with what we thought was just a cancelation, instead He had a perfect plan all along!

Another couple that said “yes!” was Adrian and Miriam. They had directed a young adult camp pre-Covid but didn't want to direct it last summer. They had done a great job directing so my husband had the idea of asking them to start a new camp for ages 25 - 40, their age group. They were hesitant, but after a couple months agreed.

Apparently being of little faith, we all expected perhaps 30 to attend. Once again, word spread. Reservations started pouring in. 97 attended Renovados (Renewed) summer camp! They came from throughout Spain; Barcelona in the north, Cadiz, Antequera and Malaga in the south, Murcia and Albacete in the east and Seville and Huelva in the west. Campers drove in from Madrid, Granada, Cordoba, Toledo and Motril. People called late the night before the camp started asking to attend. Lidia, a camper from Seville, told me there wasn't a camp for her age. There are kids, family, teen, and collage age camps but her age group feels left out. We're encouraging Adrian and Miriam to program a spring Renovados retreat.

Plans are already in progress for Summer 2023 Conectados and Renovados camps. We're thankful for Paco, Alicia, Adrian and Miriam who are programming and directing these camps, all people who have said “yes!”. We're praising God for these two ideas coming to fruition which are filling a great need for fellowship and spiritual encouragement. We stand amazed at God's goodness and answer to our prayers!

So, what can God do when we say “yes!”? He can do much more than we thought or imagined. See God at work around you as you say “yes!” to Him.