Hardened Camper Leads to Softened Counselor
By Joe Johnson

Personal Essay

I really, really wanted to scream, "No, I can't go" when I was told I'd be leading a group of middle school boys at a Young Life weekend at Waitts Lake, but for some reason I couldn't say no. Here I was being put in charge of a Young Life ministry that I had no passion for and was actually trying to get out of. How was I supposed to lead middle school age kids to Christ, when I was struggling with whether I even believed in Christ?

My worst fears of the weekend were confirmed as I stepped on the bus and was immediately pelted with a spitball right between the eyes. The bus reeked of un-showered middle school kids and the noise level rose close to unbearable. They climbed or jumped from seat to seat and played football in the back of the bus. Boys burped, cussed and used unexpected parts of their body to make farting noises. Standing in the chaos, my resentment grew. Why was God doing this to me?

I squeezed into a seat next to a kid name Jake, whose 6-foot 3-inch, 14-year-old body dwarfed my own, and attempted to start up a conversation. We shared stories of baseball, prowess and gridiron glory. I asked why he had come to camp. "Cause my mom made me. I don't believe in any of this God crap though." How do you reach a kid with that kind of attitude?

The answer to my question was cabin time. At a Young Life camp, cabin time is a quiet time set aside for leaders to talk honestly and openly with their campers and attempt to understand their attitudes towards God. During the weekend I led a group of six middle school boys in cabin time, except my cabin time more resembled the chaos on the bus more than the controlled environment I was supposed to be supervising. Above the din of your-mom jokes and grunts from wrestling matches, I asked the boys to rate how their relationship with God was on a 1-10 scale. Jake confidently and arrogantly raised his hand: God ranked below a one, he said, because God had never done anything good for him in his life. I envied Jake's honesty.

The last cabin time of the weekend I again asked the boys to rate their relationship with God. Once again Jake raised his hand confidently and arrogantly. Once again, he said God ranked at a one because, "All this God stuff didn't make any sense." I was dejected that I had been unable to make an impact on Jake's life. As I walked out the door to leave, Jake pulled me aside and engulfed me in a huge bear hug. He said he had a lot of questions and was wondering if we could talk about all this God stuff. Excitement swept over me as I realized that I had actually been able to make an impact on Jake's life.

As I climbed aboard the bus I was once again met with a spitball right between the eyes. Without even thinking I dove into the seat next to me, made a spitball and sent it hurtling towards my assailant. Before I knew it an all out war had erupted on the bus.