When I thank my Heavenly Father for what He has done in my life, one of the first things that always comes to my mind is His leading me to be a staffer at Camp Pinnacle. Camp Pinnacle has been a place of constant joy, fulfillment, growth, and confirmation in my life. As a camper, I learned to truly love God and to praise Him with the gifts He has given me. As a staffer for three summers, I learned to be a disciple maker and a faithful friend. It is at camp where God confirmed my call to be an elementary school teacher. It is at camp where I began to truly love missions and pray for missionaries. It is at camp where God called me to go to Tete, Mozambique.
This past summer, God did a HEART CHANGE in me and He used our focus on missions at Camp Pinnacle to do so! This past summer, we learned about Chris and Katie Nalls and their three precious little children: Abigail (age 8), Emma Claire (age 5), and Daniel (age 2), and their ministry among Nyungwe people of Tete, Mozambique. Chris and Katie serve as missionaries through the International Mission Board. Each week at camp, the girls prayed for the Nalls family, carried water on their heads, played games like the Nyungwe children play, mudded a hut, and did many other things to help them experience what life would be like as a missionary in Tete. The Bible verse we focused on throughout the summer was Ezekiel 36:26. This verse states that God came to remove our hearts of stone (those things that are hindering us from following Him fully) and give us hearts of flesh (having a heart that is in tune with His will and Word). The Lord convicted me of my “heart of stone.” Though I wouldn’t admit it, I thought that being an international missionary was for others and not for me; “God called me to be a teacher in Georgia.” God wanted to turn my “heart of stone” into a “heart of flesh”—one that follows Him wherever He leads. As I prayed with the campers each day that the Lord would send someone to go and serve with the Nalls family, He continually burdened my heart with the question, “Why not me?” He gave me a love for the Nyungwe people so I prayed about going to serve with the Nalls in Tete, Mozambique.
At Camp Pinnacle we heard about an opportunity to go serve with the Nalls from January to May. Chris and Katie had requested two college-aged girls to come serve as missionaries with their family through the International Mission Board’s semester-long project, Hands On. I began praying about this possibility. Two weeks after I applied for Hands On, I received an email that stated I had been chosen to go to Tete, Mozambique!
Something that the Lord has been teaching me is to never put boarders on what He can do through us. His plan for us might be different than what we think is best, but when we chose to trust Him, He will lead us to do more things for Him than we could imagine! It takes a trusting heart to either stay or go wherever He might lead us. Whether in another country or at home, God calls us as Christians to first love others, and second to share the Gospel with them.
With whom might He be calling you share His love and the Gospel? Could it be across the world, at home, or at Camp Pinnacle? Ask Him.
-Melissa Ringwalt, former staffer and Missionary in Residence, 2016
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