Wednesday - by Shea Slayter

Yesterday was our first day waking up in New Jersey. It was our beach day, and we were all excited for a little rest and relaxation after a tiring day of traveling. I was surprised to know that some of the participants would be coming on our bus with us, and joining us at the beach. It was a little intimidating because there were a couple kids that came to the beach day that had decided to not be participants at this weekend, so it put a big pressure on all the team members’ shoulders to make them feel as welcome as possible and give them a really good time to maybe change their minds on coming to our weekend. When they got on the bus, they were obviously nervous about walking on a bus full of 38 people they had never seen before, and they all sat together towards the front of the bus. A couple of us at the front decided to start a game of mafia to break the ice with the potential participants, and although mafia is a really silly game, it got rid of a lot of the awkwardness and it was a really fun time.

At the beach, everybody had such a great time. I think I swam for about two hours straight, and it was really cool to get to know the participants and bond with the team members more. The best part was, after we got back to the church after the beach, Katie, our New Jersey leader, told us that the students that had decided to not come to the weekend had changed their minds, and they committed to coming. It was a really good feeling knowing that we had done our job and we had made such a good impression that they were willing to trust us and spend an entire weekend with us without knowing what’s in store for them.

Later that night, we had our dedication ceremony, where our CoLeaders wash our hands and pray for us, and then we knead bread that will later be used for communion on Friday night, and we pray for our participants individually. As we are doing all of this, we are also singing some of my favorite worship songs. When we were done praying for each participant and kneading the bread, we sang our theme song for the weekend, which is Light the Fire. Singing that song was probably my favorite part of the day because it felt really powerful to me. It was the song we sang the loudest and with the most confidence and it sent chills down my back. And I know that I wasn’t cold because it was really hot in that room last night, so I knew it was God showing his presence. As we started to sing, I looked back at the New Jersey adults and saw the looks on their faces, especially Katie who remembers that song from when she went to LOG when she was in high school, and they all looked like they were feeling the same chills I was. Afterwards, I talked to Bennett, who was sitting by me in the circle and he said he felt the chills too, so I am confident that God was in the room to bless the participants and the bread, and focus our hearts to the weekend we have ahead of us.

Shea Slayter