Kickball, "Rabid" Possums, and The Gospel

We just enjoyed our Annual Bethlehem Life Coaches for Kids outing at Ham Lake Baptist Camp!  God get's a little bit more glory this year since we had double the amount of kids and adults running around playing soccer and kickball (10 mentors/mentees total) and all of our muscles and joints held together!

Enjoying some carpet bowling before our trail hike.

The highlight of the evening was a chance to talk about the Gospel with the kids at the campfire.  I was asking the kids (all boys) how significant God was compared to a person, and they were having a fun time showing how much more important God was with hand gestures and suggesting "to the moon," "to the stars," etc.  Then we talked about how big just one sin against God was compared to one sin against a person -- the same superlatives came up.  "How angry is God over just one sin?"  The boys probably knew where this was going, but they continued to enjoy suggesting "to the sky!"  I asked them what the consequences should be, and they excitedly talked about how huge of a punishment we deserve.  It was a pretty interesting sight to witness.  I'd never seen a group so happily talk about eternal damnation!  I remember thinking there's no way I can get these kids to mellow out.  Then the possums came.

The peaceful pre-possum campfire.

We were right next to the woods and heard three animals getting closer and louder.  All the adults sitting closest to the woods were trying to figure out what was going on with all the clawing around.  We shined our lights around and found one of the possums.  He just stared back and seemed intent to continue looking for a way to get under the fence to get closer.  This was strange, and one of the hunters in our group mentioned animals will do this when they're rabid.  We must have felt confident enough in our small mammal fighting skills, because we decided to not give up camp.  We put a couple people on flashlight patrol in case the possums launched an assault.

At the time I thought, "Great, now the boys will be even more giddy thinking about getting attacked from some of the silliest looking creatures in Minnesota."  But, surprisingly, their mood was much more focused than before.  We talked about Christ as the perfect substitute sacrifice for all who believe, His role as our ultimate reconsiler, and how He is proof of God's immeasurable love for us.  Then we had a nice little Q&A afterward about what it means to trust in Christ. 

To my surprise, the possums had actually helped settle the kids down -- and they even wandered off for the rest of the night after their surprise visit.  Perhaps they were on "a mission from God." :)  Whatever the case, we're praising God for an excellent evening of bonding, discussion, injury-free games, and unique campfire experience!

Our group.  They represent one third of our Life Coaches & Kids.