Lurecrest Stories

The Lord laid on my heart the desire to be a camp counselor as I transitioned from college to seminary. Summer camp is a great environment for building daily relationships with the campers as well as encouraging them to grow into a richer relationship with Jesus. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at the young age of four with the understanding of the sacrifice He had made on my behalf and His desire to be King over my life. To most people this might seem like an unrealistic age to accept the gift of salvation but my life has been Jesus’ from then on out. My whole life Jesus has continued to make Himself more and more known to me. Because I have known Christ for the majority of my life I can’t imagine living a day without Him by my side, I want others to know they can have a relationship with our Lord and those who are fellow believers to know they can walk in a deeper more intimate relationship because we all have room to grow in our walks. I want to encourage youth to be a generation who seeks the Lord’s face as the first desire of their heart (Psalm 27:4). It was such a privilege being a camp counselor to a cabin of girls each week during the summer. I had a blast leading cabin devotions, serving, and playing with the campers at the different activities. It was awesome encouraging the campers to grow in an authentic relationship with Christ.

As a camp counselor I knew I’d have the role of pouring into others but I didn’t realize how much I would be poured into at Camp Lurecrest. The staff I worked with was amazing! Camp Lurecrest impacted my life on so many levels. I felt so encouraged in my walk with the Lord. I felt a renewed inner strength, focus, and excitement as I prepared to attend Bible School that fall. The staff and campers really touched my life. I thank God for using such special people whom I admire and respect to speak into my life and encourage me in this way.

Some of my favorite times at camp were staff devotions and personal meetings with Jerry Martin (Poppy). I remember sharing with Jerry how I used to think I didn't struggle with pride (I know that sounds ridiculous) – but I was prideful in that. I wanted to be able to ask God to strip me of my pride but at the same time I was afraid to ask for this because of the process God might use to humble me. Jerry helped bring clarity to this situation. He assured me that God only wants to better me and build me up in Him. My flesh will be humbled, yet I am no longer my flesh because I am in Christ. My fleshly tendency is to be afraid but I can completely trust in the Lord. According to Romans 8:9 "…you are NOT in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." So even though asking God to humble me will break down my flesh, it will build up my Spirit and I am my Spirit NOT the flesh! What reason do I have then to fear in asking God to humble me? None! Wow, I'd read and heard this verse so many times but this time God used Jerry to remind me of this truth, it gave me a sense of greater freedom! The deeper issue for me is truly trusting in the Lord. I feel like the past couple years God has really stretched me to trust in Him, and at camp I began to hand over another area of my life I was clinging to – trusting in Him fully! I know there will be other areas in my life God will reveal to me that I need to trust in Him over – but I have experienced that the more I hand over to Jesus, the more I feel a sense of His peace. This revelation has made me love Jesus more. I am amazed at how I was freed from areas in my life I didn't even fully know I was in bondage in at the time. I feel so thankful that God used Jerry to shed light on this subject. I will forever remember my time serving as a camp counselor at Camp Lurecrest and a lot of the reason for this is the staff and their individual walks with the Lord. I continue to be in awe by the bond of Christ and how it links Christians together so quickly. Jesus is amazing!

Elise Green
Counselor 2007