Not Me, But God

By: June Wi, Summer Intern at Flemingdon Park

Before Sonshine Day Camp started, I was nervous. I really hoped to build great relationships with the kids, but being the introvert I am, I wasn’t sure I could do that. And on top of this nervousness, I was growing stressed while planning. I started to have thoughts like “Can I really teach God’s word to these kids?” and “What if I don’t do a good job?”.  I struggled with these thoughts for a while, until I was reminded of a verse that I read during the school year

‘Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.’ (1 Corinthians 12:3 ESV)

Paul tells the church of Corinth that truly no one can confess Christ is Lord without the Holy Spirit. When I first heard this passage, it struck me hard. I realized that I was so weak, I couldn’t even acknowledge my Creator without His help. So I began to pray, asking for the Spirit to guide me. God helped me to see that I felt nervous and stressed because I was relying on myself – not Him. I was telling myself “I have to teach these kids the truth” and “I have to do a good job” when it should’ve been “God will use me to teach these kids” and “God will help me to do a good job”.

So, I started camp with this mindset, constantly reminding myself of this truth from morning team devotionals to end of the day debriefs. And each day I could see that God truly was with me as I developed close relationships with the kids, and shared fruitful conversations with them. They even remembered that my birthday was a few days ago, and made me cards! I didn’t expect them to remember such a minor detail about myself (I had told them my name was not June because I was born in June), but through their actions I could see they genuinely appreciated me as much as I appreciated them.

I can truly see God moving in the kids’ lives through Sonshine Day Camp and I’m so glad I am able to be part of the plan He has for them. I hope that I will continue relying on God as I further grow the relationships I have with the kids, and confidently teach His word to them.

June is serving as a summer intern at TCM for a first time. After volunteering at our KIC program during the school year, June began to see how positively impactful these programs are for the kids. He was in awe of how God was so present in a broken community, and hopes that this summer he can continue guiding each child at Flemingdon Park to live a Christ centred life.