This last week has been filled with despair, arguments and hate. We saw a tragedy of the broken state of the world, when hatred drove the events in Charlottesville. There has been hatred from both sides, there has been loss of hope in America and there has been a division in the American people. However, this article is not to focus on the brokenness, but to tell you there is hope.

Over the last weekend, I had the amazing opportunity to be a counselor for a camp called IMPACT retreat. Impact is retreat for the incoming freshmen at Texas A&M University and Blinn College-Bryan that allows them to connect with other believers in Christ, help them find communities in College Station and get them in the local Churches. This retreat was one of the defining factors of my freshmen year. I not only made lifelong friends, but was able to connect with the local church that has taught me so much about living for Christ. This past year, because the Lord used Impact, I was able to grow in my relationship with Christ despite the hard changes.

One of the coolest things the Lord allowed in my life, was that not only did I get to have Impact help me through my freshmen year, but I got the privilege to go back as a counselor for the Fighting Texas Aggie Class of 2021. This process included weekly meetings with my camp (the other counselors, Co-Chairs and Prayer Teamers), a growing desire to pray fervently for the upcoming freshmen and new friendships that pushed me to pursue Christ even more.

While I could talk for hours about how much I love my co-counselors and other members of my camp, I am here to talk about the things Our God is doing. Before camp, we met weekly and prepared for the freshmen, throughout the summer we met weekly and prayed for specific things for the freshmen, since February, we have loved these freshmen who we did not even know, but come August 6^th, the Lord’s faithfulness in this ministry shown more evidently than I have ever seen it.

God is at work here. There is no doubt. These freshmen came to camp, some on fire for the Lord, some hesitant to even be there, some wishing they could have not come but their parents made them. These are the freshmen we prayed for. These exact freshmen. The broken ones, the healing ones, the ones who felt out of place in high school or had a rough senior year, the ones who have lost loved ones, the ones who have come out of toxic relationships, all of them. Yet in this time, the Lord could have worked at camp and answered prayers without our knowledge, but God faithfully let us see the works of our labor.

Through four days of retreat, my eyes were opened to numerous specific prayers for the freshmen. When we were tired or running out of will to keep working, God gave us answered prayers. These were not just answered prayers but encouragement to keep moving forward. Encouragement that the Lord was so present in the work He was allowing us to do. These four days I saw freshmen changes the way they saw themselves, I saw girls realize they are worthy of love, I saw men stand up to be allies with women to give them respect, I saw freshmen give their brokenness to the Almighty Healer, I saw a community form. God is so good, y’all.

These are the next people who will be on our college campuses, these are the people who will be in the work force soon. These are the men and women who will stand against the lies of the devil that spur on the hatred seen in our country. These are the people who will be our next politicians, doctors, lawyers, moms, dads, missionaries and so much more.

So in this, we have hope, not because of the people, but because of the God who is moving. The God who is using brokenness to heal. If we can live by the Word of God and show the true love of Christ, we will no longer be living in fear or hatred, but in the unity that was designed for us. We will never reach perfection on this earth, it is too broken, but we can have hope that one day, we will be in Heaven worshiping the Almighty where skin color doesn’t matter, age is no longer and praise to our Father is everlasting. The speaker at Impact said this, “(If we know Christ) Earth is the closest to Hell we will ever get.” Let that sink in, it can only get better from here.

Let me leave you with a couple verses,

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;perseverance, character; and character, hope.And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:1-8

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28