CMF Globalscope – July 8 2015 -Fun, friends and God mix well at Unterwegs camp out

Campus ministry certainly isn’t all fun and games, but sometimes there’s a lot of it sprinkled into the holy moments. Here’s a story from Beth Jarvis Silliman, leader of the Globalscope Unterwegs campus ministry in Tübingen, Germany, about the group’s recent weekend camping trip in the Black Forest.

Well, what did you expect would happen? 

There was whipped cream, peanut butter puffs, and lots and lots of water balloons. Game time. As soon as I saw people running into the kitchen I knew this was getting out of hand. People came running back out of the kitchen with buckets, water bottles, pitchers, large serving bowls — basically anything they could find that would hold water long enough to pour onto someone else. Even our grocery bags were used in the battle. My one mistake was when I attacked Erin with whipped cream before realizing that she also had a whipped cream container. It got messy. 

But what did I expect would happen when we took about 30 people into the Black Forest for a weekend of singing, eating, games, talks, and campfire songs?

I still pause when I hear a student say, “I never expected to find so many good friends at University.” I think, really? You didn’t expect blue skies and grass stains and full bellies and laughter with new friends? And that somehow all of this would add up to you learning to love who you are and that person sitting across from you? 

Then there it is, the point of the whole weekend: countless moments of new students opening up and realizing that they belong, and realizing this new belonging comes with some expectations of ourselves and of God.

A lot of students, and maybe some of us, have stopped expecting to find the good. Some of them can’t even imagine expecting God — if there is a God — to want to do anything for them and with them.

For our annual weekend away the student leaders chose to talk about expectations. It was really a way to talk about the hope that God wouldn’t leave us where we are. One student leader talked about the physical abuse she had suffered as a child and how she believed the lie that she wasn’t loved. When she became a Christian it didn’t make everything completely better and perfect. It just made her loved. And this new awareness made the difference. She could believe and expect that her parents did love her, even though they couldn’t protect her. And she could forgive her abuser, which was the weirdest mystery of all. 

Because of her faith, she could name the injustice done to her. Because of her faith, she could see the new life rising up in her.

Another student leader, who two years ago didn’t even believe, shared the moment of when she realized she had fallen short. She had not met someone else’s expectations. And because of her faith she found a space for confession and forgiveness. She gave an example to all of us of how and why we need forgiveness. 

You are loved. And because of this you can hope and expect more. 

Before we packed up on Sunday morning we did what’s called “the thankful box.” For about 40 minutes everyone said out loud what they are thankful for. Water fights. Victories and loses at mini golf and crab soccer. Hand motions of “Moose Moose.” The kitchen team. The neighbor who yelled at us when we sang Red Wagon too loud at the campfire. Moments of just pure fun. And in the midst of that comes this: “Thank you for being a place where I can join in. Thank you for the talks. Thank you for helping me feel safe.” 

Thank you for helping us show these students in Tübingen, Germany, that God loves them. Thank you for praying and supporting our weekend away. It was an incredible weekend and a win for everyone. 

June has been an incredibly full month for us. But with it, we have seen that faith is giving voice to the pain in our lives while not ignoring the new life. 

And there are the remnants of cream and water and sunshine reminding us to expect the unexpected.