Whatever emotional state you find yourself in as you finish the school year and head into or finish chapter camp, I want you to know how thankful I am for you and your service to our Lord.
I vividly remember my first chapter camp as a student leader. I had only been following Christ for one year. I felt anything but qualified to be a leader. In the first couple of days, my fear was that someone would discover how weak a candidate I was for leadership and ask me to leave camp. I’d never been around such dedicated Christians who were together seeking authenticity in every aspect of their faith.
During that week and all through my first year of chapter leadership, I slowly learned what it meant to lean on God with all my uncertainty and doubt. I even discovered that I had a gift or two to offer the body of Christ. They weren’t necessarily the gifts I wanted, but I learned that even a couple of what I considered to be “second class” gifts could be used by the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ’s name on my dorm floor and throughout our chapter.
Whether you are limping to the finish line after a year of exhausting leadership or exhilarated by the privilege of chapter or staff leadership, please know how pleased Jesus is that you are giving him your best for the sake of the gospel on your campus. Please also hear my profound thanks. As you head into the summer, I am praying these verses for all of you: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17).
