You showed Samuel God’s love when he needed it most
He was bullied... but your support helped show young Samuel the love of Christ
Thanks to your support thousands of young people, like Samuel, have been impacted through Youthworks camps, as they explore faith in Jesus while challenging themselves in the great outdoors.
Chantel, a Christian Outdoor Education leader, shares how your generosity helped 12-year-old Samuel experience God’s love in action:
“Each student needs to do the swim challenge at the beginning of camp. If they pass, they get a blue wristband. If they fail, they get a yellow wristband and need to stay in the shallow end of the pool.
“Samuel couldn’t complete the challenge and he was really distressed. As I went to hand him a yellow wristband he started crying, saying, “Don’t give me a yellow one … I don’t want to get teased for having a yellow one!”
In that moment Samuel shared that he gets teased a lot and cried, “I don’t want to be bullied anymore”.
“I said to him, ‘Will you try the swimming test one more time with me?’ He said, ‘I want to, but I’m scared.’ I’m a swimming instructor, so I offered to hop in the pool with him and teach him how to swim.
“I wanted Samuel to see God’s love in action, and to experience the best of camp instead of being upset about this one thing. And his swimming quickly improved with a little bit of help.
“After I told him he’d passed, Samuel was ecstatic! He was jumping around and smiling, and he thanked me like seventeen times for getting in the pool with him. He said he was going to enjoy camp way more now that he was able to swim.
We talk about God all the time on camp. But I knew that if he wasn’t happy at the start of camp, he wasn’t going to take in anything from our talks and Christian Discovery sessions together. Now Samuel knows that God loves him and he can trust Him.
Thank you for helping Youthworks amazing Christian Outdoor Education leaders like Chantel care for struggling young people like Samuel, so they can see Christ’s love in action and have their faith challenged. It’s your prayers and support that make life-changing moments like this possible!