The gift of tears

That’s how this story will end, but let’s back it up a bit. 

It is Wednesday. The last full day of Higher Ground Extreme Faith. We have record numbers again this year. There are 195 of us. 150 middle school campers, seven high school prayer team members, 27 young adult small group leaders, three priests, seven support staff and the Cham family.  

To start the day, small group leaders woke their campers up and then said morning prayer together, while the prayer team began the day interceding for us all. 

After breakfast, small groups engaged in activities together such as kayaking, ziplining, archery, and making crafts. This is when our photographer, Oscar Erives, showed up with Sister Jesusmaikelyn and Sister Jesusabigail. The excitement in the kids over our religious sisters showing up was fun to see. They especially loved it when they got to roller-skate with them.  

After the morning activities, we all celebrated Mass together before lunch, as we do each day at HGXF. But today was different. Kids take a couple of days to grow in their appreciation of Mass, and with nearly all receiving the sacrament of reconciliation the night before, they were ready and reverent. You could sense they were at peace and happy to be there.  

After lunch, we took our large group picture, which is not an easy task with nearly two hundred people. Then we did some wacky relay races, in anticipation of this summer’s Olympic Games. Campers had fun running with marshmallows stuck to their head, wet sponge relays and dumping solo cups of water on their leaders. We all got wet and had lots of fun on our hottest afternoon at camp.  

Following the relays, small groups hit the beach, the gaga ball pit, the ice cream shop and other free-time activities. They spent time having fun and building relationships with each other and their leaders until dinner time.  

After dinner, we have Extreme Faith Club. This is our youth ministry program event. It involves some wild and crazy games, such as Screaming Yellow Zonkers, a diocesan go-to at youth ministry retreats. We also sing some fun songs and have a silly skit. Today some kids got to throw cheese balls at their leaders in a competition between small groups while the rest of us cheered them on. Extreme Faith Club is also when our speaker for the week, Carol Wiget, shares some stories with the campers. This was her fourth talk of the week, and she beautifully led the kids to understand God’s deep love for them and prepared them for experiencing his love through his Eucharistic presence at adoration later that evening.  

After Extreme Faith Club, the kids spent time in small groups with their leaders unpacking what they heard in the talk. This is one of the most important parts of camp. Leaders help the kids reflect on the Gospel message and what God is doing in their lives.  

This brings us to the pinnacle of our week together at HGXF: Eucharistic adoration. Undoubtedly God showed up. As he always does through his real presence in the Eucharist. But when I say undoubtedly, I mean he made his presence known in the hearts of all those who were there. The veil of bread (and wine) was lifted, and the kids could sense his love for them in a powerful way. Well over half were moved to tears, and God healed hearts and filled us all with joy. It was beyond even what I expected. It was a remarkable time of prayer and an encounter with our Lord that the kids will not soon forget. It was reassurance that God moves mountains and performs miracles when you invite him to.  

Camp Maranatha sits along the Platte River. Let’s just say it’s flat, as many imagine Nebraska to be. But on Wednesday, when God made his presence known, there was no doubt we were on Higher Ground!