What do you think of when you hear: Agape Valley
Bill and Carol Duncan
(Bill is the Treasurer on the Board of Directors)
When my wife, Carol, and I think about Agape Valley, we think about summer camp. We ponder on what children will come, many for the first time and we pray that each and every one of them is going to enjoy camp. We think about the camp volunteers who do such an important work with the campers helping them create memories forever.
Everything on the camp schedule is activity oriented, nothing is a chore and the campers learn without even realizing it. There is something for everyone: crafts and cooking for the artistic minds, nature for the sciences, sports for the athletes. Each leader is different in the gift that God has given to them to build up and relate to the campers. We are God’s hands, He strengthens us to do His work. The way that we treat people and lead people is a testimony to Christ in us. Not only do the campers learn, but the leaders from one another also.
See these kids, they come in for just one week. Year, after year, after year, and it affects their life. They build on what they learned the year before and they probably don’t even realize yet how it is changing their life, the impact it has on their decisions. Many of them do not get this teaching anywhere else, and we pray that it acts as a ripple effect, spreading wider and farther. The Gospel spreads that way today. You don’t have to change the world single handedly. It is enough to just be part of the wave and touch those around you, who in turn touch others, until they have felt the movement. Don’t ever feel like your part is not significant or important.
Acts 6:7
Then the word of God spread, the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
I become emotional thinking that many children who come have never heard the Good News of Christ dying for them. When I was 12 years old, I couldn’t have been more thankful for the man who came into my classroom at school and shared the Gospel. God used him to affect my life and it totally changed me. It will change their life. We can plant a seed. We encourage them.
Agape is filling a need and God is using this ministry. Camp develops the campers. Camp develops the leaders. It changes our lives, it changes our future. We need this in our community. Relationships are created in this ministry, but the most important relationship someone can ever decide to have is with our Lord and Saviour. Please pray with us for each camper that comes to camp this summer to have a seed planted and come to know Christ as they personal Saviour.
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