Summer's End.

Sad to say, this is the last post of this blog. It's been amazing summer and I can't begin to tell about how God has worked and is still working at Camp Oak Hill.

I wanted to share with you guys something from the summer that I got to say in front of most of the camp. Each morning we have a camp wide time where everyone comes together and has their own quiet time for 20ish minutes. Someone then comes up and gives a short devotion. The very last week we had mostly just Jr. and Sr. high kids for the week. I had the opportunity to have the last devotion of the summer so here's what God laid on my heart to say.
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"'Let anyone who think that he stands listen closely, lest he fall.'

This is not real life. This is God's gift to you to have this week here. Here you are surrounded by your Christian friends and by counselors, whose whole reason for being here is to love on you and to share the gospel with you. And how dare you waste God's gift to you? When you leave you here you have a choice. This week, you chose to come and hear God's Word.

So, truly I tell you,

'Be doers of the word, and not hearers, so lying to yourself. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, He is like a man who stares intently at his face in the mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he looks like.'

The world would like nothing more than to see you quiet. To tell yourself that you have everything under control is a lie straight from the devil. For the devil is like a roaring lion waiting to tear you apart. For you to leave here and go back to the same lifestyle makes you a hypocrite and tells the world that Christ is the same. When you go home and make the choice to leave God at camp, the world laughs because you have lied to yourself.

'What then shall we say to these things? If our God is for us then who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also graciously give us all things?'

When you leave camp today, leave your pride here. If you believe you can change your life by yourself then you've missed everything we've said this week. You will live life as if this never happened and the whole world will welcome you home with open arms.

'But now you've come to know God, or rather, be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak, worthless, and childish ways of the world, whose slaves you want to become once more?'

Everyday is a choice. Will you choose death, or will you choose life?

Guys, will you choose to continue to look at pornographic sites or will you stand up and respect women? Girls, will you continue to compare yourself to other women, or will you compare yourself to the only thing worth comparing to... Jesus Christ? Everyone, will you choose to waste your life or will you choose to live it abundantly?

I say these things because of the love I have for you guys. Every counselor here loves you too much to let you leave here and go home without having heard of God's love.

Christ said this,

'These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full'


Christ has given us a full, abundant, joy-filled, redeemed, and renewed life. All you need to do is to ask and He will gladly give it. So, what life will you choose to live?"

(1 Corinthians 10:12, James 1:22-24, Romans 8:31, Galatians 4:9, John 15:11)

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You may think some of these to be harsh words, but it is the truth. Too often Christians live lives that speak God's name but deny Him by their actions. The words I said are not words coming from someone who has everything figured, in fact I'm far from it. But the truth that I want those who read this to know is that Christ died to take away our need to follow laws and to suffer; instead, He gives us true life in Him.

It's sad thinking that this is the last blog for Oak Hill, but it's so encouraging to see God moving in my life and in the lives of those that came through Oak Hill.

God is good!

-Aaron Fleming (ajflemin@ncsu.edu)

"Have you not heard?"

 Just to let you know how legit camp is… I’m writing this from an Eno hammock.

The past couple weeks have been insane and this is really the first chance I’ve gotten to actually, or more felt like, writing. Just as a preface, I’ve lost my phone so I’ve literally been without technology for a solid week and I don’t mind too much. Also this is one of the only nights I have off for the next week or so.

So now all that’s out of the way, let me tell you about camp life from the past two weeks.

Last week was extremely different in several different ways. There was a church group that came in (much like week 1) but this group had their own counselors. So the whole staying with the campers thing didn’t happen. Instead there was a lot of time was taken up with doing rotations, serving the kids at meals, working free time duties, and working side projects with Jerry the maintenance man. To me though it felt more draining then a regular week because it didn’t seem there was ever really a good break. Thinking back though I think the reason it was more draining than I thought it would be was because we didn’t have the campers there 24/7. It sounds weird but I think having the campers there and tangibly seeing the effect you God can have on them gives more and more motivation.

That week though, on one of the days, Jerry took all the guys out to a ranch his friend owns… that has 11 Clydesdale horses. And yes, like the ones from the Budweiser commercials.

And now let me introduce you to 2-week. These next two weeks are a non-stop camper filled some of the best two weeks of the summer kind of deal. It’s completely different because the oldest campers from the week 1 (12 years olds) are now the youngest campers of 2-week. My Apache cabin went from 6^th graders to 9^th graders.

I absolutely love it.

Just to give you an idea of how crazy these kids are, one of them made up a song on the spot with his guitar about a fictional character named, Leeroy McButts.  He also proceeded to sing his song at the talent show this week. The week’s just begun and I’m so stoked to keep on hanging out with these guys. Also my guys love to poke fun at my use of the word “solid”.  More importantly there are a couple guys that are only staying for one week and I’m praying constantly that I can have the opportunity to have real genuine conversations with these guys… and honestly I’m worried that because most of the guys I’m talking about are really not very outgoing and don’t talk much. I know it’s in God’s hands though and that’s why I’m constantly asking Him for wisdom with how to reach these guys.

An awesome time we got to have with them though was this past Friday. We went out to the field at night to have devotions before we went back to cabin. John Larkins (co-counselor) and I got to pray individually over each guy and challenge them about everything they'd heard us talk about the week before. It was by far one of the coolest moments at camp so far. 

On a completely random note, I got to experience this week what it feels like to have a club hand. All thanks goes to the wasp that was kind enough to find me, land on me for a half second, and sting me.

If you haven't really read a lot of what I talked about in this post, it's ok... it's just me rambling. But please pray for me as the 2nd week of 2 week comes up. To be real, I'm tired as all get out, and another week ahead looks daunting. I'm in need of strength from my Savior and I don't doubt he will provide. 

Here's my reason why:

"Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not be faint."  -- Isaiah 40:28-31

-Aaron Fleming (ajflemin@ncsu.edu)

And so the madness begins.

So the first week of campers has come and gone.. and it feels like it's been a lot more than just a week. I can safely say that days are a bit longer when you're here at Camp Oak Hill. There's so many different things about camp that are different than real life, that it's kind of hard to believe it's all really going on.

This week's been amazing for many different reasons though.

For starters, I have 13 new best friends. The guys that were in the cabin were all really cool kids and all a bit crazy in their own way. Although I was one of three counselors for our cabin it was hard sometimes keeping up with all of them. Being kids that were going into the 6th grade it's hard to expect them to be angel children but they weren't far from it. I honestly feel bad telling the other staff how good my kids were cause I feel like they get annoyed.

My prayer is that the time Matt and Casey (other two counselors) and I got to spend with them is not something they forget and is something that God uses to affect their lives. I'm not saying that I wish they wish they could be like us... I'm saying that I hope they saw Christ in us and want to be like that.

Another cool part to the week was rotations. I was running the field rotation for the week so I got to meet every kid from each cabin. It was an awesome, yet humbling experience being the one to lead field though. I didn't realize how different each group of kids would be and how different the games I'd try and do for each one would have to be... definitely showed me that I have a lot to learn still when it comes to kids.

Also, dealing with a crying camper that didn't get the place he wanted in line in kickball because he got cut is a lot harder to handle than it seems.

The other thing about this week that I've loved is hanging with the rest of the staff at the end of the week. Yesterday and today have been a blast and been because of how cool and personable and loving the rest of the counselors are here. I love hearing comments like "the staff last year didn't hang out like this" because it makes me feel like God's the one bringing together the staff this year... not because of anything the we've done.

One thing I need desperately is patience and wisdom. Although the kids I had in my cabin were awesome there were definitely times where I was in desperate need of patience to stick through certain problems. Not only that, but also I've needed wisdom more than my own to handle situations that are super awkward [obviously talking about middle-schoolers here].

I know that as time goes on and I get more and more tired it's going to get tougher. But my goal hasn't changed yet and neither has the One who gives me strength to reach it.

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we would be called children of God; and such we are..." -- 1 John 3:1

-Aaron Fleming (ajflemin@ncsu.edu)

Welcome to Staff Training

Well, believe it or not, the week's over. It honestly doesn't feel like it should be because I could've sworn I was just getting to camp just yesterday. But time flies.

Before I talk non-stop about the week and how amazing it's already been... let me show y'all some of the crew that'll be here for the summer.

Credit for all photos: Jeff Basey

These are just a couple out of the 28 counselor that'll be working at camp this summer. I can't tell you how humbled I've been at how solid all these guys are. Already the counselors have grown together and built friendships that usually aren't there till the end of the summer.

God's been changing my heart to a couple different things and it's hard to say really what all that is. Loving others has taken on a whole new meaning. I'm still a bit nervous about being able to love well the kids that are coming in, but I feel so much more confident after this week. And the confidence I have really isn't in myself... it's in my heavenly Father and the other counselors that I know will have my back.

"Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  -- Philippians 4:6-7

The testimonies of the counselor's here honestly blow my mind. Stories of those with broken homes, friends that have been killed, trust issues, needs for happiness and fulfillment, and so much more all have Christ as their game changer. Without Christ there wouldn't be a single person at Camp Oak Hill this summer, yet God has brought those He's saved with his no less than perfect grace.

 One of the things that I realized this week is that by the end of the summer, I'm gonna be exhausted. And I might just get there before then. This week was only training and I know that when the kids are here it's gonna take even more out of me. But at the same time I look forward to it. I'm looking forward to giving everything that God's given me and show that to the guy's I'll be working with. So because of that I treasure now more than ever my time alone with God and his providence in my life day after day.

This is a passage that's encouraged me and I hope will do the same for you if you're in need of love and strength.

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."  -- Ephesians 3:14-19

- Aaron Fleming (ajflemin@ncsu.edu)

Favorite.

I'm realizing more and more that a lot of the reason I started back on blogger was to keep up with other people. It's so encouraging to hear other people's story already from this summer and what's been going on. I guess it's basically as if I'm getting to catch up with them in person... sort of. 

I wanted to tell y'all something though.

It's been only a couple days and I'm already exhausted. Everything is go, go, go literally from 8am - 11pm and it's insane. Sometimes I catch myself repeating "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me".  But, with the insane schedule, God's already given me a sweet time to really enjoy Him and dive into His Word. 

In the morning right at 8 everyone gets up to go out to "scheduled" devotional time, which sounds a bit campy, but when you get into the Word with a sunrise right in your face reminding just a small taste of God's beauty... it's a game changer. 

One of the biggest pursuits in my life is for peace. There's so much struggle and hurt in life that I'm constantly finding myself begging for somewhere anywhere to find some comfort. Let me tell you though, my Father knows that. Honestly, there's no other time during the day that I'm as peaceful as when I'm in God's Word. I'm incredibly thankful that my Father give me simple little things like the "scheduled" time in front of a gorgeous sunrise to be immersed in His love on my life. 

-Aaron Fleming (ajflemin@ncsu.edu)

Summer Start.

So, here we are. I'm a week away from heading off to Camp Oak Hill where I'll be working for the summer as a camp counselor. I was kind of hesitant at first about creating a new blog because I already have another one that I use. But, I realized that I want this summer and the posts about this summer to be something entirely on their own.

Before I talk about the summer I want to let you know more about me... and what better way to do that than to tell you how God's changed my life (my testimony).

The bulk of my testimony begins in high school, so that's where I'll start. I didn't go to your typical school because I was homeschooled. I had been raised in a Christian home and blessed with two amazingly Godly parents who love me dearly. I had been homeschooled so I was never that far from home and I never had the opportunity really to be on my own and make a lot of my own decisions.

However, at the beginning of freshman year a lot of things changed. I went to a music camp that summer for 4 weeks and was all of a sudden in an environment where I was suddenly the one who decided what life I was going to lead and who I was going to follow. So, I followed the crowd that looked the most fun. Because of that I got into a relationship with a girl that started me down a path that I'd follow till my senior year in high school.

What I found in that relationship was happiness. But it was a happiness that I had to make compromises for. I decided it was worth more than my parents trust, more than God, more than doing what I thought was right. And the kicker was that happiness ended pretty quickly.

So I wanted more. For most of high school I was looking for relationships to make me happy. They would give me purpose and fulfillment.. I was sure. But it was never enough. And it wasn't until the end of my senior year that things really changed.

That summer after senior year I was in a relationship that had been in for 6 months and it was the closest I had ever been to someone. I thought that was it. But God, in his loving grace took that away and that relationship ended. All of a sudden everything that made me happy, that I invested so much time and emotion in, disappeared. I was literally crushed.

But it was then that God opened up my eyes to the relationship he wanted with me. The happiness I had before couldn't hold a candle to the joy I found in the arms of Christ. I found peace in the midst of having lost something dear to me. I had believed in God since I was a child and knew of Jesus, but I didn't experience Him until that point.

I can't tell you enough of how much God means to me and is at the center of my life. It's my want to be more in love with God everyday that I can and to share that with those around me.

So that's my goal this summer: to fall more in love with Christ. On top of that I want to love these kids with everything I have and have them hear the gospel and love God with everything they have. It's definitely not going to be a piece of cake and honestly I'm a bit nervous about how to really to do this whole camp counselor thing well.

"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain..." - Psalm 127:1

I know that if anything is going to work this summer it'll be God doing all the work and me just being along for the ride, which is hard because I'm always trying to fix things. I'm so stoked for the summer and I know it's gonna be a blast.

"By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us." -- 1 John 3:16

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." -- Matthew 19:14

- Aaron Fleming (ajflemin@ncsu.edu)