#7: Advising
I can say with confidence that if you make the choice to intentionally speak into the lives of students this summer, God will give you many opportunities to meet, counsel, and advise students in the natural ebb and flow of camp. We hope that you will take the time to sit with campers, look for the outsiders, and minister whenever you can.
One aspect of camp that has changed is advising. We will no longer counsel students after the evening services in response to the gospel but will be giving the students an opportunity to use that time to allow their youth pastors/volunteers to bond and shepherd them into next steps with Jesus.
"One generation shall declare thy works to another."
You have the chance to fulfill this scripture this summer in a powerful way. Take time to pray with, encourage, and challenge students to be responding to the gospel (many for the first time) and remember, you have the freedom to preach the gospel this summer too. Speak of Jesus whenever you can! Share your story and what Jesus has done for you!
Many of you may be wondering how in the world you are going to have the right things to say to these students. Don’t worry, we will train you well in this area. And if things get too heavy (suicidal tendencies, abuse, cutting, etc), then we will be right there to help you navigate those conversations. These are rare though! You will mostly be a listening ear, someone to encourage them, share personal stories that they can relate to, and give them the truth of scripture.
So be prepared to minister at any given time (on your activity, in your dorm, at the cafeteria, etc).
Don’t be too worried about knowing exactly what to say and do right now. The Holy Spirit promises to give us these things when we need them. Plus, we have a whole section of training dedicated to walking you through advising sessions. In fact, we usually have some dramatizations of advising so you can see first hand how to handle an awkward situation (this is usually a highlight of staff training each year!). So don’t worry if you don’t know what to say yet, we’ll help you.
However, we would like you to begin to do the following:
1) Pray for the students that you will advise (guys advise other guys and vise versa)
2) Familiarize yourself with scriptures that will be helpful during advising sessions.
3) Begin to recollect personal stories that you are comfortable sharing that you feel would help a student through a certain time in their life (positive or negative!)
SOME THINGS TO PRAY FOR:
Pray that God would allow you to have divine encounters and meaning conversations with students
--pause and pray--
Pray for a hunger to be in the Word and prayer ahead of camp in order to be equipped to advise students
--pause and pray--
WEEKLY REMINDERS:
Submit your CPR/First Aid & Reimbursement Request, Driver Form & Medical Form. These are all due by June 1.
Keep checking the staff site for additions to each area.
