Ready to Minister…

It was a great weekend at Briar Ridge. We ended up with 18 kids, and 23 total for the weekend. We only had one buck down with a terrible weekend of weather, but the messages were wonderful and that’s the most important part.

We all came in pretty late on Friday evening and got to enjoy a wonderful stew made by Bro. Edwards, and then a message from Bro. Ridge, Pastor of River of Life Church in Brookhaven. We got to meet new people and old friends and it was a wonderful time in the Lord.

Saturday morning we woke up early to the phones going off with tornado warnings, and thankfully nothing came our way except lots of rain. Our morning hunt was put off and we got to stay around the camp for breakfast and a devotion by one of our youth. Bro. Ridge had to leave after the service, but we were glad we got to spend time with him and hope that we will see him again soon. Then it was off to our first hunt of the weekend. Plenty of deer were seen, and we all had a wonderful time in the stand. Temperatures began to drop and most of us were ready to head in way before the sun went down. We got to retrieve our one and only buck of the weekend Saturday evening and we had one happy camper with it being his second rack buck. We ended the evening with a message from Bro. Jake Adams and a wonderful meal cooked by our mentors for the weekend.

Sunday moring came early, with a lot of hope and expectation for the hunt. We came back for our final message, brought by Bro. Byron Floyd and got ready to pack up and head home. We had a wonderful weekend, and were blessed with the Word of God and good fellowship all weekend.

And now for our blog, this weekend I got moved by the willingness of our youth to speak to others about God. This weekend I began to see young men and women step up and begin to minister to others. To me that’s what Briar Ridge, and our walk with Christ is all about. Watching older youth take the time to spend with younger ones and try to lead and guide them in the ways of Christ. At the end of the weekend we even had a youth step up and volunteer to become a mentor anytime we needed one. I don’t know what that does to your heart, but it makes mine fill with hope.

When I watch the news, or even pay attention to what is going on at our local school I worry about everything our kids are going through. Bullying runs rampant, drugs and alcohol being used by our youth is the new normal. And I begin to pray for Christ to give our children a hope. This weekend I saw a hope in the hearts of youth at our camp.

Christ is the only hope any of us can have, but many times we get blinded by everything that is going on in the world around us. Today I am here to share the news, He is still on the throne. Christ is still working in the hearts and lives of our youth. And I hope He is also still working on you. None of us will ever get too old, or too important to learn more or be used by God. We are all vessels, I just pray that each of us are being used by The Master.

If you need prayer, or know of someone that could be blessed by our ministry please feel free to contact us.

Love in Christ,

Briar Ridge