Camp Daniel Part 2

We arrived at Camp Daniel on Sunday evening. Most campers arrived on Monday so we had an evening and morning to prepare for their arrival. A few campers had arrived the day before because of their travel arrangements. One of those campers was Joel. He came from Florida for camp. He had never been to Camp Daniel before. On Monday morning, he stood around the campfire area and gathered together several counselors and he explained that he wanted to lead a discussion of spiritual things. We all sat around as this young man, maybe late 20's, with Down Syndrome began to talk. I cannot remember what he talked about but I thought to myself," this young man is preaching and sharing God's Word better than most people I know with no disabilities." I was amazed. I must admit for a moment I thought, " God is using this young man's voice to speak truth to these people listening here." Every morning Joel would try to organize such a meeting again but with campers there it never worked out. 

However, I talked privately with Joel on several occassions and was blessed each time. i asked him what he was reading in his Bible one day as he was carrying it. " I am reading Hosea", he said. "Oh, I love Hosea", I replied. He continued to tell me it was the story of great love. How Hosea had loved Gomer because God told him to, even though Gomer loved others and treated Hosea badly. I said, "Yes, and it is the story of how Gomer was always unfaithful, looking for love in everything but Hosea, just like the nation of Israel."

For some reason God put on my heart to study Hosea that night. Joel asked me to share about it in the morning discussions (which never actually happened.) As I read Hosea, the Lord reminded me of Jesus' lesson of plowing and not to look back because that causes the plow to go off course. Why, you may ask, do these things relate? I didn't really know but in the morning I sat down with Joel. As we talked about Hosea and obedience, I could see how these two stories were related. God found an obedient man in Hosea and Jesus described obedience in setting to the plow and not looking back.

Joel looked at me and said, "God is speaking to me through you right now."He told me of his difficult life with his single mother in Florida. She had raised him and his brother and sister alone. Joel had faced alot of persecution during school as often is the case for many of these campers with mental disabilities. He felt that there was not much for him in Florida and God was calling him to move north to Wisconsin. His mother was even trying to sell her house. We discussed that now that he was going to follow God, he felt he shouldn't turn back. That he needed to follow Jesus. He felt love among this group in Wisconsin.They had opened their arms to him and shown him that God had a special place there if he was willing to give up the old life ( which was not so great but all he had known) and just follow Jesus. 

The road was not easy for Joel. As I sat down and had these discussions with him, he appeared so wise and spiritual. Then other times, I saw him interact with counselors and campers and realized, he was just like all the campers. He wrestled and took things too far and was a little ornery like a young teenager (even though he was much older) but in these quiet times of discussion, I knew Jesus was in his life, in his heart and he had wisdom and knowledge about spiritual things, only God can provide. 

I came home and read the book of Joel. Joel means "the Lord is God." The prophet Joel warned the Israelites that their faith was hollow. They ate drank and were merry. They gave sacrifices to the Lord but their hearts were not in it. They had given their love to materialism and "good times". Sounds an awful lot like Gomer in Hosea. Joel, the prophet, warned them of the price they would pay for false loyalty. I would be a fool to not recognize that God was warning me through a modern day Joel. Do not pay homage to a false God. Do not give fidelity to the God of materialism. Be warned that the lure of that is a difficult challenge but the rewards of not falling into that temptation are great.

During this week at Camp Daniel, the Lord really opened my eyes to seeing His handiwork in everything. He arranged for me to be there. He arranged for my husband to not be there, which I  missed but I probably would not have had so many conversations with Joel if Jon had been there. If we take the time to build relationships and not be in a hurry, it is amazing the places the Lord will take us.