Adventures at King's Domain! @joannamichelle - Tumblr Blog

Amethyst Brook #homesweethome #prayerwalk

Went to the Big E yesterday with two of my favorite people, batman and a coral enthusiast 😁 @danswitzer @cassiopaeia20 #foreverfriends #jenkstahs #thebige

#thebige #jenkstahs #foreverfriends

One of the Jenkstahs in this picture is all grown up and getting married today! #llplum2015 #foreverfriends

#llplum2015 #foreverfriends

Today one of the preschoolers pointed at my face and told me "I don't speak THAT language!" I replied, "What? You don't speak English?" He returned a dazed stare and shook his head yes, then no. After that he wasn't sure what to make of me so I have him a basketball and he galloped away. I'm far too pleased with how badly I confused that little 4 year old. #stereotypesarewrong #racictremarks #outofthemouthsofbabes

#racictremarks #stereotypesarewrong #outofthemouthsofbabes

Ohio may have less snow than MA right now BUT we have Olaf! Fun with new roommates #douwannabuildasnowman

#douwannabuildasnowman

Tank with the faith climbers retreat this weekend. It was like a little taste if summer. #icantwait #thatonetimeatcamp #fearless #youhadtobethere @thatlaurenmi11er

#fearless #youhadtobethere #icantwait #thatonetimeatcamp

whenmylightislow-deactivated201

girlwhowasonfire

TIME TO BRING THIS BACK

divinityschooldividends

ONLY VALENTINES IM REBLOGGING GOODBYE

prolifeproliberty

These are the best.

joannamichelle

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

On the way to our half day of prayer this morning @kingsdomain and it looked like Narnia. #beautiful #sorryiwaslate

#beautiful #sorryiwaslate

This picture was taken during the first week of camp. These girls were both in my cabin for the week, the youngest girls cabin. I have always found that playing with kids in the pool is one of the best ways to build relationships.

Hiked the Robert Frost Trail behind my house after a wonderful Summer at King's Domain and a week at Pinebrook Camp. Led beside still waters for some much needed rest. (8/19/2014)

Update #12: Two for the price of one! Listen to Truth, Rest, and Trust. (July 27, 2014)

Sorry this update is late, but it just means that this one update will have two weeks’ worth of information! First teen week… I forgot how difficult teens are to work with. Wonderful don’t get me wrong, I love it, but Teen Week was a difficult week. Luckily I had all-star co-counselors to help me through the week and God was faithful and refreshed me every time I cried out to him, which was often. I felt heavy hearing about all the things my girls were experiencing at home on a daily basis. The thing that weighed on me the most was the cavalier attitude they had about the sin and the pain/suffering in their lives. It was like nothing was sacred to them, like they didn’t know how to cling to what was good. At the age of only 14-16 the devil had such a strong foothold in their lives. My co-counselor reminded me of the song “Jesus Friend of Sinners” by Casting Crowns, about how Jesus befriended the outcasts and sinners, spent his time with the “wrong crowds”, and how we are called to be like him. This song became our anthem for the week, and by the end of the week I had no doubt about whether or not all of our girls had encountered God and felt loved at KD.

This past week was the last week of residential camp for the whole summer, and I was on day camp (or Camp Connect), and it was wonderful! Normally I would prefer being in a cabin for overnight camp over day camp but I loved everything about day camp this week. I got to spend time with good friends from last year’s project during the nights, and I had the opportunity to NAP! [I was so exhausted this past week. Partly from how emotionally and physically draining Teen camp was but I was also exhausted because residential camp is like running cross country, and day camp is like running sprints. This past week I felt very stretched trying to switch from running marathons (like Teen week) to running sprints, the result was a very tired Joanna who needed lots of naps.] I got to co-lead worship for day camp, my girls were ANGELS! Even though they came from churched homes they didn’t provide only “Sunday school” answers. They were teachable and eager to learn more!

One of the best parts of this past week was the confirmation I got on Family Friday. On Family Friday all the families come for the last half of day camp and run through the family obstacle course with us and then we have a big closing ceremony with worship and a picture slide show. This week it was firstly just awesome to see how involved all the parents were in their children’s lives. For only a few kids for day camp nearly all of the parents came AND participated in the extremely muddy obstacles. But secondly, and most importantly for me, was the feedback we got from the parents. Parents told me that they could SEE how we had been building into their kids all week, they could tell that we cared about their kids and they said they could see CHRIST WORKING THROUGH US. It was so awesome to have that kind of confirmation. So much of camp is about planting and watering seeds. We don’t often get to see any fruit until the next year when a camper comes back changed. It was so amazing to get to hear positive feedback like that so immediately!

One of the big themes God has been revealing to me this summer is that I am really good at listening to the lies that the enemy tells me, or sometimes the lies I tell myself. Lies about the worth of what I’ve done or accomplished that week. Each week so far God has been so good to show me tangibly how HE has done good work throughout the week, and he’s been extra good to choose to use me. This past week was the loudest God has spoken that truth. So this is just the first of the three big themes I've pulled out of my summer here so far; Listen to Truth!

Also this past week I successfully convinced most of my campers that I AM POCHAHONTAS. So that was pretty fulfilling as well.

Now I am heading into my last week of camp for the summer of 2014. All the counselors will be helping to run Camp Connect this week, with the exception of a few who are going to be off camp assisting with adventure camp).

This week especially pray for energy as it is the last week because it’s getting harder to act like it’s the “first” week all over again. We want to be able to provide the kids coming this week with just as much crazy fun as the kids who came six weeks ago. Please also be praying for the ladies adventure camp. The teen ladies there have a great need to encounter the Lord this week. This week I’ll be praying that God will reveal himself to them in life-changing ways and that they will be eternally impacted by what they hear and learn this week, so please join me!

Thank you for your prayer and support!

Love,

Joanna

Update #11: The first EVER Teen Week is upon us! (July 13, 2014)

EXCITING NEWS! I am waking up at 6 am tomorrow to help pick up about 20 Teens from Cincinnati for KD's first ever week of Teen camp! I am so excited, the curriculum, the activities, the prospect of getting to work with teens all sounds AWESOME! One of the KD staff, Candice, has had a vision of this happening for a while, and seeing her excitement at that vision becoming a reality is definitely catching. We will be focusing on talking about who God is, who they are (in Christ), and what their mission is. It’s going to be great to get to dig deeper with teens and talk about spiritual things at a deeper level (as well as play games more competitively... I hope =D)

Prayer Requests for the Week:

- Energy and Patience - waking up at 6 is rough, and the schedule for the week is packed. It’s going to be exhausting, so please pray that we will lean on God throughout relying on his strength to cover our weakness and operating out of the overflow of his love and patience with the teens.

- Weather - the programming always depends on the weather. Please pray for good weather so that we can do as many fun things with both the teen camp and the day camp that is happening this week. (I won't be working with the day camp but most of the projects students will be this week because there are about twice as many day campers as teen campers).

- Prayer Life - Keeping a Christ centered focus throughout the day, remembering to pray without ceasing is very difficult for me, especially when I'm trying to maneuver an every fluctuating schedule and keeping account of campers. I find my weeks most satisfying if I am focused on God through prayer!

- First Time Around - It is the first Teen week KD has ever run so there are bound to be hiccups and things we didn't anticipate; new difficulties, trials vastly different from prior camp weeks. Please be praying that things run smoothly, that the speakers who are scheduled to come are able to travel safely and that they would be able to speak to where the teens are coming from well.

- Teens - Of course pray that God would be working in their hearts and minds this week. I would love to report at the end of this week that teens gave their lives to Christ; made realizations about themselves, learned a lot about the Lord and the importance of studying the bible and the importance of prayer. Please pray that I could report that at the end of this week ;)

(Picture: Me and one of my campers from Camp in the City two weeks ago at Cincinnati Leadership Academy. She was one of the 5 year old WHIZ Kids who attended and we ran into her by chance when we went to King's Island. She and her sister were both there with the "A Kid Again" program because they both have Sickle Cell Anemia. It was AWESOME to get to hear their Mom talk about the influence we had in their lives from only 4 short days of day-camp. Running into them because they were a part of the "A Kid Again" program was sobering because it dawned on me that they not only lived in a difficult area with a rough crowd but they lived with this condition AND STILL they were joyful and learning to love God!)

Thank you for praying for me and these kids and for partnering with me in this ministry. I am so grateful for you! Please contact me if you have any questions about anything that is going on or what I'm learning. There is so much more going on that what I can post in my updates

Update #10: Half way through and Happy Fourth! (July 4, 2014)

So I missed last week’s update! Whoops!

Summary of the second week of camp:

- Domania and Domania X (WHIZ kids) campers (suburban churched kids AND kids from inner city Cincinnati)

- I had the oldest girls’ cabin.

- ALL of them, WHIZ kids and Domania alike, had been to camp before so the week was more about helping them build on their faith and knowledge of God rather than introducing them to the Gospel (although the gospel was presented many times that week)

- great quotes from campers: *when walking back from a late night bathroom run one of my WHIZ kids looks up at the sky and says "I think I see fireworks!" *silence* "Nope. Them stars"

- It was a LONG week, camp started Sunday night and went till Saturday afternoon!

- Lowest point, I was sick and dead tired on Wednesday and luckily my fellow counselors and the camp director noticed and they encouraged me NOT to swim, and set up a hammock for me to rest in. I read my bible, took a nap for about an hour and then woke up and read more scripture. It was SO RESTFUL!

- A High point, one of my campers had to go home for a day and then come back because she had some poison ivy on her face (NOT FROM CAMP ACTIVITY, she came to camp with it!), but even with having to leave for a while, at the end of the week she shared that this year of camp had been the best of all her prior years because she learned the most about God (SCORE!) and got to be closest with the other girls in her cabin (GREAT!).

Summary of week 4 of camp:

- Camp in the city at Cincinnati Leadership Academy, the kids were also WHIZ kids, ages 4-12.

- I had the second youngest girls group, about to go into first grade, ages 5 and 6.

- Day camp is much MUCH faster paced than residential camp because we try to fit SO MUCH into the day. But, it still seemed much easier to me than residential camp. For that reason I think it was more difficult spiritually because I relied more on myself and less on the Lord. I was not as prayerful or patient, or aware of God's presence as I should have been.

- My campers this week were the most vocal about not getting dinner at night I had ever heard before. They were fed breakfast and lunch at camp and apparently often went home and then went without dinner. One of my campers ate too much at lunch and then started doing cartwheels at "recess" and threw up a little bit because she overate. It was very sobering to fully realize that for some of them the only full meals they got were at school or camp.

- They loved VIOLENTLY. I loved all of my campers but they just climbed all over me and, like I said, loved violently. They hugged and squeezed, pinched and climbed, and generally demanded hugs every minute of every day. At one point one of my campers was sitting in my lap and requested “Hug me tight” … “TIGHTER!!!” , this same camper at one point when I gave her a hug started squishing her head into my face. It was difficult but I was glad I could give them some of the love I know God has for them, especially if its love they were most likely not getting at home.

NEXT WEEK = REST WEEK!

- There is no camp and it should be amazingly fun and restorative.

Thank you for reading! Prayer requests remain to be for the kids, molding and preparing of hearts etc., for the counselors health and community, and for my own patience and prayer life as I try to walk with God. Happy Fourth everyone!

Update #9: First official week of camp! (June 22, 2014)

This past week was physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining. I had cabin 1, the youngest girls (ages 7-8), and I loved them all but it was difficult. I realized this past week that I underestimated how difficult this summer would be. I figured I’m a camp pro by now, counseling for my fourth summer in a row, but God gently reminded me that the only reason I could do anything well and with a cheerful attitude is through relying on him, NOT on myself.

There were a few things that were difficult or disappointing about the week. First the youngest girls, though adorable and I truly love them, were incredibly needy. They needed all the hugs, of which I can only give so many before I feel like I’ve been smothered to death. I always felt like one of them was clinging/climbing on me – because they were. Then there was the homesickness. The first two campers of mine were in tears when I met them on the first day. Luckily the Lord gave me enough patience and creative ideas to distract/entertain them that none of them ever asked to go home and nobody had to leave camp. The last, most disappointing thing was that because of their age and how tired their little bodies were they had an extremely difficult time focusing on the lessons we were trying to teach them all week. Although I was able to present the gospel to each of the campers none of them were able to grasp the importance of it or understand it in its entirety. None of them understood the message of the gospel well enough to commit their lives to God but at the end of the week when all was said and done, each of them had an amazing fun experience at camp and KNEW that God loved them, forgives them, and is always with them so they didn’t have to be afraid (this summer’s theme: Fearless – Psalm 23 “The Lord is my shepherd…”).

This weekend was very full with lots of fun things, like playing games, friends from last year’s summer project visiting, while still being RESTED and RENEWED. At the end of this weekend and the beginning of a new week (campers come again today!!!) I definitely feel well rested, despite the lack of sleep and how draining this past week was, and I realize that this is a gift from God. If God wasn’t restoring my soul (PSALM 23:2) I would be completely exhausted right now. It’s actually a miracle. With the amount of sleep I’ve gotten these past few days and all the active things I’ve done there is no logical explanation for why I am READY and EXCITED for this next long (Sunday to Friday as opposed to Tuesday to Friday) week.

Please pray for continued patience and energy this week. I’ll have the oldest girls so it will definitely be a different kind of energy and dynamic this week. Also, a major prayer request for everyone concerning camp dynamics this week is that we will have inner city campers joining our suburban primarily churched kids (who are coming today) on Tuesday. All of us counselors are a little nervous for that transition so please be praying that it is a smooth transition and the inner city Wiz kids are welcomed in each cabin. Also please pray especially for one of the ladies I’m disciple-ing this week. She had an especially difficult time last week and the enemy is definitely attacking her and feeding her fears about this coming week. Please pray that she would cling to God and be FILLED, RENEWED, and FEARLESS this week. I know God will be faithful and take care of her but please pray that she will be able to trust in him and that He would grow her faith this week.

Also, here is another bonus thing that I just want to share because it put me in a really good mood today. When I was in Waumbaland at Antioch today, teaching the two year-olds with my friend America (a wonderful project student who was on project with me last year as well) when we were leaving the classroom after first service one little girl nearly started crying when we left. I know it’s weird that her sad forlorn little face made me feel happy but it told me feel that I had really been able to be a good friend to her during the Sunday school time and be Jesus hands and feet. Sunday school today was really refreshing in general. The kids were all really happy and loving life so it made it easy for America and I and I truly enjoyed every moment of serving there today.

As always, thank you for your continued support through prayer and your finances. I feel blessed and comforted to know that so many people are supporting me in this way and excited to share in this ministry with you all.

Love,

Joanna

Update #8: JPP, Counselor Crud Wars, Rafting - Campers Coming Soon! (June 15, 2014)

This past week was SO FULL! So here is a (lengthy, sorry) itinerary of everything I got to do last week…

On Monday we went back to UC (University of Cincinnati) to do outreach. I got to talk with some almost freshmen on an orientation tour. Myself and Julie (a girl on KDSP who I'm discipling - a beauty and a champion) went through Solarium with them. Solarium is a group of pictures that we use as an outreach tool. We ask people to answer questions about their life and spiritual experiences and background with the pictures and its really attention grabbing and fun. We also got to talk with some other students as well as a pair of students who were doing "reach out" - basically the same as what we were doing but for a Christian group on campus called Disciples. It was really cool to encourage each other and see that other Christian groups are so active at UC.

On Tuesday we went to JPP (John P. Parker Elementary School) and did a half day of camp with the kids in their summer program. I was able to witness one shy unconfident girl have an amazing and start building others up with her words as opposed to taking them down (as she was prone to) and have a BLAST! She told me that it was the best day ever. Also, another girl in my group (1st grade) had vocal surgery earlier in the year and during our half day of camp SHE STARTED TALKING! It was great to see her open up and become confident about her voice again!

Wednesday we had an hour of “rest”. Since we’re studying Psalm 23 – being led to green pastures and by still waters and letting the Lord RESTORE your soul – it seemed appropriate. I found it very restful. I hiked down the hill and set up atop a dirt pile in the middle of the woods because my preferred spot at the outdoor chapel had some chainsaw action going on. After that was more camp training. So a mix of classroom style learning and going outside to do fun team building games that we’ll be leading with the campers. That night we practiced Comando – a dinner party we do every week of camp. My team almost won ;).

Thursday, we had a half day of corporate prayer with all the camp staff. It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting but it was really nice to get to meet the facilities and other camp staff whom we don’t usually get to see because they’re off working hard. Then we went rafting. It was technically camp training because we had to experience it for when we have campers and have to take them, but it was also a ton of fun!

Friday was another work day like last week. I am convinced that I got the best job though. I got to run/walk/STOMP WEEDS on the Mud Guts and Glory course here at camp. Myself and four other wonderful people got to run around and enjoy nature and each other’s company. It was really a great time. We walked a fair amount because stomping weeds is hard work and there were a few in our group that had injuries. At one point when we were walking we started singing and honestly it was one of my favorite moments here at camp so far. Being out in the middle of nowhere singing praise to God, it was beautiful. Later that night we had small groups (bible study) and further discussed this week’s theme: idols. Convicting.

Saturday was our rest day! I did laundry in the morning, followed by a few hours of one of my new favorite games: spike ball! Later that night we had another worship night. Our summer project group is amazingly blessed with so many musically gifted people. I love worshipping with them. Worship is one of the ways I connect with God the most. When I’m worshipping I KNOW I’m doing what I was made to – ascribing glory to God. The beauty of the music is an added bonus.

Today, Sunday, was church (first service I serve in the Sunday school program: Waumbaland with the 2 year olds and second service I get to listen to the message), Momentum arriving (first campers!!!) and discipleship. I am LOVING my discipleship group. It is endlessly encouraging to hear how God is working in each of their lives, revealing idols to them and removing them.

God is doing amazing things here at KD this summer. Please pray that they continue! And now you know what a week at KD looks like… at least a week without camp. REAL CAMP starts on Tuesday!!!

Update #7: Fearless and First Campers (Robert’s Academy) (June 8th, 2014)

Even after years of camp I'm still boggled by how camp time is SO DIFFERENT than time everywhere else. So much has happened in the past week.

Praises ...

1) ... support has continued to come in and I am nearly completely supported! God always provides more than enough. I am amazed and undeserving. Thank you to everyone who has joined me in the ministry here at KD. God is already doing great things.

2) ... God used what I learned in my personal quiet time (Going through a Beth Moore bible study "Breaking Free" focused on Isaiah) to encourage a fellow project student.

"God's presence in our lives is absolutely unchanging but the evidence of His presence is not. On some occasions God may purposely alter the evidences of His presence in order to bring the most benefit from our experience. Sometimes we receive the most benefit from seeing may visible 'prints' of His invisible hands (or footprints, like the poem "Footprints") during a difficult season. Other times, we profit most from seeing fewer evidences. --God doesn't love us less if he gives us fewer evidences, He just wants us to learn to live by faith and not by sight (During storms is the only time we can see "footprints" of Jesus walking on the water beside us).

It's a great study so far. Shout out to Betsy Baglow for letting me borrow it!

3) ... It was amazing to have the Roberts Academy kids here last Tuesday (? time flies.) There were a few hiccups working with the kids for the first time but all the kids had a great time and we were all happily exhausted by the time they had to leave. The theme for camp this year is FEARLESS, so we talked about David and Goliath. We went around in a circle and said "God is with me so I don't have to be afraid of ____". It was precious to hear campers tell me that they don't have to be afraid because Jesus is in their hearts. <3

Prayers...

1) ... We are doing a "camp in the city" day this Tuesday with kids at John P. Parker elementary. Please pray that this day of camp goes well. We probably won't be allowed to explicitly share the gospel with kids because we will be in a public school, but we can still help the kids have a great time and feel loved!

2) ... Please pray for my personal prayer and thought life here at camp. It can be so easy to get annoyed by unimportant things when you're tired or spiritually dry. Pray that I keep in the word and am refreshed daily so that I can be a blessing and not bum.

3) ... Pray for relationship and community. This is an AMAZING group of students (and some graduates HOLLA!) but please just pray that things keep going well. Relationships get stronger, more spontaneous fun things happen (Like Ghosts in the Graveyard - What is this? Ask Carl.) and that we continue to experience the Lord together in amazing ways (Through campers, impromptu worship jams, and the sharing of how God has worked in our lives).

Thank you everyone! Your prayer and support is incredible!

Joanna

Update #6: Fund Raising Update, Team Building and Camp Coming Soon! (June 1st, 2014)

First of all, I’m just completely amazed and immensely blessed by how God has been bringing in the support I need for KD! I’m currently at %70, only $1,270 left until I’ve completely reached my goal for the summer. Thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting me financially and a huge shout out to all the people who have been on their knees for me through the support raising process and who have been lifting up our summer project team and the kids. God is so good and I’m in awe seeing his hands pull everything together to provide for me.

I’ve been at King’s Domain for nearly a week now but it almost feels like I never left last summer. There are lots of changes from last year but the goal and purpose of being here are the same: To reclaim the culture for the Kingdom of God, Pursue Christ and learn to live WITH Him (not FROM, OVER, FOR, or UNDER Him), To learn and grow in our own relationships with God and help others do the same.

That learning/growing/pursuing/living WITH aspect lends itself to a lot of seminars and talks here at KD. So far here are some PARAPHRASED nuggets of wisdom I’ve enjoyed hearing from various speakers here at KD (Wendell Deyo-President of King’s Domain and Leeann Willis-Ministry coordinator)

- There are only two things besides God that are eternal: people and the word of God. That’s why we invest in learning how to study the word and in people. We’re not “human do-ings”, we’re human beings.

- We need to learn to live WITH God instead of trying to live our lives FOR Him, or in fear UNDER Him.

I’ll end with a few prayer requests:

- Continued prayer for my support raising. Although I’m nearing my goal there is still over a thousand dollars left. Please pray for myself and some of the other students here on project with me who are struggling to raise the full amount.

- Please pray for our team. We have an AMAZING group of students, an extremely musical group (I’m enjoying that aspect especially ;D), but because we’ll be doing hard work under spiritual warfare in difficult circumstances (intense heat, sleep deprivation, ALLERGIES!!!) there are bound to be difficult days ahead. Please pray that we’ll give each other grace and focus on the common goals we share.

- This Tuesday we will have our first campers out here. Only one day of camp but I loved the one day we had with these kids last year. They are mostly Guatemalan immigrants who come from a bad neighborhood. They are very sweet and open to the Gospel. Many of them have heard about the cross before, but many of them haven’t. Day camp with them is a great opportunity to share the gospel and give them a fun time so please pray that we make the most of it. (For people who want a picture reference, my facebook background picture of that little boy trying to eat my face, these are those kids =D)

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