Camp White Pines and Upstate Evaluation Center

I have decided to "redo" my blog. I am not really much of a blogger. I post a new blog here and there. I deleted all of them but one...and that is my testimony from last year.

God has been SO amazing this last year. Nick was out of a job for 11 months. All of our bills were paid and we never went hungry. Our church family has been truly...Jesus. We love them so! Nick is now working a job an hour and a half away but we are praying that when the time is right He will provide a job closer to home. Amen.

The kiddos are well. Allison is really getting piled up in college and she is part-time Children's Minister at our church. Cody has a new puppy named Macey that had parvo but is now doing well. He is driving to school everyday then has Cross Country practice. Johnie is doing well in school...could be better :)...and likes super corny jokes...a master at the Rubix cube!

This last year Jesus has had me on quite a journey. I really wish I had the gift of words to express what is going in me. But, I don't. It's Jesus. What began last year on Oct. 3, 2008...has been ongoing and evolving over the last year. My blog from November 3, 2008 will kind of explain it. I guess what best describes it are these verses:

Acts 5

17But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

18They laid hands on (Peter and) the apostles and put them in a public jail.

19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said,

20"Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life."

Colossians 1
25Of this church (the body of Christ) I (Paul) was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,

26that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,

27to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

28We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

29For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.

So what do these two verses have to do with what Christ is doing in and through me? I have been called to teach the whole message of this Life. The whole message being that when we trust and believe in Jesus...He comes and lives in us. This Life is Jesus (John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 10:10b "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." Colossians 3:3-4 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory).

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

We are always trying to find out what God's will is for our life. We make it so difficult. We think, "maybe THIS is what God wants me to do for Him." And we do because that is what we think we should do. We don't wait on God. We forge ahead and ask God to bless it.

I have done that so much. But unexpectedly and in NO WAY what I thought would be God's desire for my life...there it is!

Since God began this great work in me, this revelation of Jesus last year, I have shared my testimony several times. One such time was during the last night of Vacation Bible School. Afterwards, David Herndon and Andy Rollins came up to me and asked me to share my testimony with the boys at Upstate Evaluation Center in Union County. These boys are being held for various crimes they have committed. At UEC they are evaluated at to whether or not they go home, to a camp or another jail.

I had already agreed with God that wherever He wanted me to tell others about this Life...I would. So one Thursday night in August Nick and I drove down and met David, Andy and Laurie Ballenger. There were some 30 boys there that night and I shared with them how broken people have broken children. We are all broken. We are born broken because we have no relationship or fellowship with God. Our relationship with God had been broken by our first parents, Adam and Eve. And we have continued that cycle. The only way we can become unbroken...complete and whole is through Jesus Christ.

Let me tell you...it's as if God grabbed me by the shoulders and said, "HERE". But me, being me...didn't really want to spend my every Thursday night there. For goodness sakes, I do enough already don't I? I was not willing to give so much.

Then in September our church had a missions conference. Missionaries from all over were there that week. On Sunday September 13th, Dr. Jerry Rankin, president of the International Missions Board preached. He spoke about being "willing". I had already told God that morning that I just wasn't willing to go wherever. See, my problem was that I didn't have the desire to go overseas or anywhere like that. But Dr. Rankin said, "It's not an external calling from God...it's internal." I though because I didn't have an inward calling from God to go...wherever...that it was me. That I wasn't really willing. But you know, that just wasn't God's calling for me. I was trying to make other peoples calling, my own. God was calling me, inwardly...without a doubt..elsewhere. Dr. Ranking looked right at me and asked..."Are you willing?". I said, "Lord, he's talking to me." And God spoke to me and said, plain as day, "No, I am."

Well Amen. Starla, are you willing to go and teach this whole Life, Christ in you, the hope of glory to these boys?

Yes.

So on Thursday September 19th...I began going down to Camp White Pines with Laurie and Andy. I am teaching the devotional books wrote by Will Gunter (my kids youth pastor and my very dear friend) and Scott Wolfe of InYou Ministries (inyou.org), "A Brand New Me." We met at Bethlehem Baptist Church at 4:30 on Thursdays. We are at Camp White Pines from 5-6:45 and from there to Upstate Evaluation Center from 7-8:30 (or so). Then on our way home we read the prayer requests the boys write out.

At Camp White Pines the boys are there for longer periods of time. It is voluntary to come to "church". Andy and Laurie have been going there since July of this year. Sweet, sweet Laurie was providing MEALS for the boys because they were missing supper. Now they are held for them and she provides WONDERFUL desserts, snacks and treats for them. She also has praise music and words for them every week. She also writes each boy in attendance a LETTER every week. We have to keep our list down to around 17-19 each week. They want to come in but we just don't have the room, yet. But the smaller group is so good! I love getting to know these boys, praying for them and interacting with them. Almost ALL the boys at both places come from broken homes. Most have no father figure. Most ask us pray mostly for their mothers and grandparents. A lot of them have children. Their ages are typically 13-17.

At UEC (Upstate Evaluation Center) the boys are there weeks at at time. It is also voluntary, the boys come if they want...nobody makes them. A guard is with us at all times. We have 20-30 boys there usually. Some come in with long hair and within a week or so they get a buzz cut. They look MUCH better! Andy or David usually teach at UEC. Laurie did provide snacks there but some were taking them out and they are not allowed to do so...so that's on hold for a bit. We have a song or two there also.

These boys are hungry. They are thirsty. We feed them the Bread of Life and the Living Water.

I will ask Andy, Laurie and David if they have time to write about how they began going to Camp White Pines and Upstate Evaluation Center and anything else they would like to share.

Each week I am going to share with you prayer requests and concerns from the boys. Please pray for them and for us each week as we share Life with them. If you would like to go down with us..we'd love for you to come! You must be 18 years or older and NOT on parole :)

If you would like to provide snacks sometime...contact me and let me know!

Thank all of you...and remember...

"Christ in you, the hope of glory"!

Starla