“Faith and hope work hand in hand; however, while hope focuses on the future, faith focuses on the now.” ~David Odunaiya
FAITH in Mankato, Minnesota
Please enjoy Brian and Angie Fogal’s story of faith from this past Christmas.
As we look forward to the celebration of the most important birthday in history, we are reminded of the 32 birthdays we celebrate every summer during our week at camp. Every year, we witness unique reactions from our campers — some with uninhibited delight, others quietly refusing to be celebrated. We accept every reaction, make room for every emotion, and our actions never stop whispering the same message: You are royalty, a child of the King!
Often, this message is hard for our campers to accept. In fact, they have experienced the opposite message for most of their lives. For many, words are just words and sadly, actions have spoken much louder.This summer, one of our campers had an especially difficult time receiving this message. Jacob returned this year for his second summer at camp. His counselor, Nick, had also returned and the two picked up right where they had left off the summer before. However, it wasn’t long before Nick started to notice some differences in Jacob’s attitude and behavior. He was less willing to participate in activities, seemed angry, and frequently tried to cause trouble with other campers.One day, Jacob refused to join the group on the way to dinner. He ran into the boys locker room by the gym. Angry and crying, he climbed into a locker and shut the door. “No one loves me,” he yelled. “No one cares about me! No one even sees me!”Quietly, Nick sat on the floor by the locker. With every angry cry, Nick responded with truth. “I love you, Jacob,” he said. “And God loves you the most. He knows your name. He sees you right now.”For over an hour, Jacob sat crying in that dark locker, refusing to accept that he could be loved. For over an hour, Nick sat patiently right outside it, speaking to Jacob about how valuable he was, how important his life was, and how much he mattered to the King. For over an hour, Nick prayed silently on behalf of this hurting child. Slowly, the locker door began to open. An inch at a time, light began to fill the locker. This day, Jacob saw actions that matched the words being spoken. This small act of love spoke years worth of value into the life of a little boy.In Isaiah 43, we read about the proof of God’s faithfulness. Over and over, His actions match the words He speaks. God is faithful — to us, to our campers, and to you. We can follow Him with confidence because He is faithful in His purpose for us. We can point our campers to the one true God who has shown us over and over that He can be trusted, even from inside a dark locker.
Brian and Angie Fogal, RFK camp Directors in Mankato, MN
