by Pam Durso
I have now been at youth camp for just over twenty-four hours. My daughter and I are attending Passport Camp this week in North Carolina. I must say that being an adult sponsor is much easier when you have only one teenager to chaperone. And I must admit that youth camp seems different than it did when I last attended—twenty-eight years ago. The music seems louder. The games seem messier. And the cafeteria food seems blander. What hasn’t changed at youth camp for me is the unexpected ways in which God works.
Today I was in a group in which we talked about hospitality—Genesis 18. Remember the story of Abraham and his guests? Those three guests were strangers who dropped by, received a warm welcome, and were offered some really good food, and then the guests invited Abraham into a new conversation, a conversation about the surprising ways in which God was working, would work. The guests became the hosts as they welcomed Abraham into the story of God’s work of redemption, a story of a new baby to be born to very old parents.
I enjoyed hearing this story again. I enjoyed the conversation about hospitality, and I really enjoyed that our group then had the opportunity to do a little cooking. It was all fun, and I loved watching teenage boys and girls take over the kitchen and work together.
Later in the day . . . came the unexpected. I sat down—tired and ready for a break from the heat and from all the walking. And I just happened to sit down next to a teenager camper. What you need to know is that I am generally a very nosy person. I don’t mind asking complete strangers lots of questions. It drives my children crazy that I talk to people in elevators and in the grocery store. But today, I had no questions. I just sat down to rest. And while I was sitting quietly, this teenager invited me into her story. She told me about her life, about her fears, about her struggles. And I just sat and listened.
The other thing you need to know about me is that sometimes I am slow. I don’t always put all the pieces together very quickly. And only now, as curfew approaches, am I finally figuring out that today God provided me a glimpse of true hospitality. A young woman shared her story with me—for a few moments she welcomed me into her life. She was my host. I was her guest. She taught me about welcoming the stranger.
I love youth camp. Why did I wait so long to come back?