Since I could not go to Germany this year with Ten2 due to COVID-19, and our virtual Ten2 discipleship program encourages us to stay on mission where we are, the Lord has led me to serve at Sky Ranch Family Camp in Horn Creek, Colorado. Joining my twin sister for this adventure was definitely last-minute, but so worth it. Since coming here, the Lord has helped me overcome many fears, and really press into Him in constant prayer! I will be here until August, serving families in the “Camp Works/Retail” position, where I get to photograph families, be in charge of the mail, the retail store, and have many other responsibilities. This journal entry below is from the beginnings of training. Families haven’t even arrived yet, and it’s already been amazing! God is so good.
Journal Entry: June 5, 2020, 10:10 p.m.
“Be free from the captivity that limits God and exalts yourself.”
Be free from the desire to please people and blow their minds. Lay down the need to impress others, the need to know all about tomorrow, and the anxiety, etc. These are the words that Mike, our camp director here at Sky Ranch Horn Creek, said to all of us this morning in our devotional as we sat in training. Wow. I set—I put—expectations on God a lot, and these things may not be what He has for me right now; these, expectations—things I wish or want God to do for me, in my selfishness.
“Lay down the pre-set expectations of how I think or want God to work this summer.”
Lord, help me to do this, by your grace. I’m not sure why God has led me to Sky Ranch this summer instead of serving in Frankfurt, Germany, with GEM and Ten2. As a young, single adult woman, it’s easy to fall into the dream that maybe He’s going to help me find a romance, and He always could. Or maybe this opportunity will help me find the next one, help me do the networking I need to do for my future career path. “God could do this or that for me…fill in the blank” is what I tend to think. But my thoughts can be very self-centered. Our camp directors and managers have constantly reminded us in training that this summer is not about us. It’s about the gospel, and what God wants to do here at Sky Ranch this summer. When I take the focus off of myself and place it once again where it belongs—on Jesus Christ—it is so much sweeter, so much better.
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Tonight was a beautiful night of worship here at Sky Ranch, under the twinkling lights, surrounded by the magnificent Horn Peak outside. We sang beautiful songs I’ve sang a thousand times. But I got teary-eyed when I thought of the huge mountains outside, the fact that we could all be here this year, and the fact that it had been awhile since I had worshiped with anyone in person, and not just on a laptop with a live stream video.
For the first time since COVID, I am surrounded by an in-person community of passionate people who are so ready to minister to families this summer, in a safe social-distanced way. But the gospel still goes forward!
– Roma Osborne, Ten2 Participant and Storyteller