Quinn - Update 4: EA SLAM Service Camp Reflection

I’d never had the opportunity to participate in SLAM service camp so this experience was phenomenal and enlightening for me. And I say enlightening because the sermons that were taught by Mr. Garner were impactful and moving in such a way that the words he spoke helped me make sense of a reality that has for the longest time stirred up so many negative emotions in me.

Mr. Garner preached from Matthew 13:1-12. The part that moved me the most was when he explained that God plants/sows his word in good broken soil that has been readied by countless hard times and challenges. It was even more moving to see that all the students who attended the camp developed a confidence after coming into realization that they, like many broken, poor, yet beautiful people in the continent of Africa, are part of the ones with that good broken tested soil. The soil representing weary, beat down hearts that hunger for the word. It was incredible to come into the understanding that regardless of how beat down I/we are, the LORD still loves us and he is motivated by that love to give us the opportunity to participate with him to help the poor; even if we aren’t considered by the world as people who are valuable and worthy.