I am blogging live from Lakeview Campground in Maypearl, TX, at the 2008 North Texas Junior Leadership Training Academy (NTX JLTA), where staff have been working since 8:00 this morning to get the camp ready for the boys to start arriving Sunday afternoon. Things are coming together and we are looking forward to having a great time at this years JLTA. We have boys from all across the district that will be attending different leadership camps this week ranging from Discovery Rangers through Expedition Rangers attending camps such as DTC, ATC, FBC, JTC, and AJTC [AMC was canceled due to low numbers]. These boys will have the opportunity to not only develop leadership skills while working together as a patrol, but also work on merits that tie into the objectives of their respective camps.
Please be in prayer for safe traveling mercies for the parents and boys that will be traveling to the campground on Sunday to drop their boys off that God will put a hedge of protection around them as they travel.
While there isn’t currently any rain in the forecast for Maypearl, we need to keep the weather in our prayers. The lows are expected to be in the upper 60s to low 70s while the highs are in the mid 90s for the week. Pray that there will be no serious health problems that arise from the heat. Let’s also pray for the safety of the camp that we will not have to send any boys to the hospital and that we will not have any serious first aid problems.
Let’s also be in prayer for the commanders that are giving up a week of their time, most of them taking vacation time, to be present at the JLTA to help teach these boys to become effective leaders. We are training the leaders of today and tomorrow. Through these camps, we are developing these boys in the four ways that a boy grows: mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially. We are building the skills in these boys to go out and be the leaders in their outposts and in their churches, communities, and schools. This evening during the meeting, staff had an opportunity to mention prayer requests and during the prayer time, we prayed over all the requests. These requests are listed on the white board located on the first floor of the lodge. While you may not know the specifics of the different prayer requests that are listed on the board, you can still pray for these needs. We do not have to know the specific requests to pray over them, just pray as the Lord leads.
Let’s be in prayer for the boys that will be attending the different camps, that God will open their hearts to be receptive to the instruction that they will be receiving, that they will have a teachable spirit. Pray that God will give them the peace to know that now matter how busy they get and how little time they feel they have, that they will have peace that comes from above and the knowledge needed to get everything done that will be expected of them.
We also need to be in prayer for the evening council fire services, that God will have His way in each of the services that God will be present and pour out His Spirit on the campground during the evening services. We are believing that God will begin even now to prepare the hearts of the boys that will be attending, that they will be receptive to the move of God. Be in prayer that any boy that will be coming that doesn’t know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, that through the evening services of this camp that they will come to know him and accept Him as their Lord and personal Savior. Also be in prayer that the Holy Spirit will be poured out and that boys will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Pray for healing in the lives of the boys that will be attending, that they will be made completely whole. We are believing that their will be boys here that through the course of the camp will receive the call of God in their live and that we are going to see boys called to be preachers, evangelists, and missionaries.
While I won’t be present for the whole camp, having only come up for the weekend to help get things ready for the event, I will be keeping the men and boys that will be out here all week in my prayers and I hope that you will join me and lifting these men and boys up in prayer.