This week we had the pleasure of hearing from Ayla Johnson! Ayla is serving her second summer at Beulah on T-Crew. T-Crew is a team of highschool girls who serve in a variety of areas behind the scenes to keep the camp running. These girls run the Snack Shack and Dock, assist the kitchen and housekeeping staff, and even jump in to help Crew run activities for the campers. We truly couldn’t have camp without T-Crew! Here is what Ayla had to say in regards to what the Lord has been showing her this summer:
“This summer I’m witnessing God call the Beulah campers and staff higher. To thirst for Him and all His goodness, to want Him more than anything else. To have an unyielding desire for His word, His will, and the Holy Spirit. God’s plan does not disappoint. “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1-2)
I have undeniably experienced God’s goodness in my life; He is the only one who can truly satisfy my heart and soul. As a camper, I learned about leaking cisterns. The people of the city depended on them to hold their water, but the problem is– the design is imperfect. Our man-made structures fail; they need refilling, they aren’t sufficient. I am still discovering where the cisterns are in my life. Two that God has graciously revealed to me are performance and lust. Or in other words, trying to save myself by works, and the desire to feel loved. Two things that have left me emptier and emptier. In the book of John when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well, He said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again”. Jesus is the only one who can satisfy our thirst. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). I am learning to take to heart this grace that I do not deserve that is free and sufficient, as well as His unwavering love for me that is perfect, steadfast, and reckless. Which I find to be the two most complexing things for me to comprehend about God; His grace and love.
My God came not to condemn the world, but to bring life. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8). He has become my life. In Him I bear fruit. He has saved me, and it is only in God that I am truly satisfied. This changed heart changes the way that my team and I serve here at Beulah Beach and how we interact with one another. It is truly a blessing to be a part of God’s work here. Beulah hasn’t stopped pouring into campers with God’s truth and love that is changing lives each week. Every week the bell is rung by campers to declare that their very lives are forever changed by God! It is pure joy to watch God work in the staff and campers lives here at Beulah this summer as He is molding us to be more like Him. The desire for God here is profound and contagious.”