Looking ahead to Render Fest this year, I needed God’s help big time. We were in between youth pastors, and I personally felt pretty maxed out capacity wise. Regardless, I felt strongly that God wanted me to keep moving ahead with plans for RF ‘24, and not cancel it. I prayed a lot for Render Fest over the few months leading up to it, out of sheer desperation. I prayed for God to simply make it happen. I prayed that teens would come. I prayed that God would send help and reinforcements.
God far exceeded all of my expectations, answering these prayers, and prayers we’d prayed for years for our teens. God sent help, and not just any help, but excellent help. The amazing and experienced Ruth volunteered to come on as interim youth pastor. Duncan (who helped run the first Render Fest and a few subsequent years with me when we were youth pastors) said yes to jumping in after he got back from DTS. Mia, fresh out of YWAM and full of the knowledge that comes from attending RF as a teen herself, took the baton from Ruth and came on staff full time for a few weeks to help with all the final preparation. A team from America and an amazing group of Re:Hope volunteers gave the 5 days their all and made the experience an absolute joy.
Teens came. I’d been praying for a specific number, not for numbers sake, but so there’d be a fun atmosphere, and teens could have the best possible experience with friends and know they weren’t alone in the Jesus stuff. We saw numbers beyond the numbers I was praying for — but even better than that: teens came hungry. Hungry for God, and needing no spiritual warm up. It basically felt like a mini revival as they responded each night in worship. I’m still not over it. Back in the day, there’d been one consistent teenage boy in our teens ministry. We prayed for years for boys to come, and young men to rise up and love the Lord. At Render Fest ‘24 we got to watch hoards of boys and young men worship God together, spur each other on, and step out in faith. It was the best.
In all honesty, I was sort of dreading Render Fest. I was battling fears that it would be a disappointment for the teens and the team, and that I’d just have to push through and try to keep morale high — pressing ahead for better things in the future. God showed me once again this summer that if He tells you to do something, you can trust He will look after you. He showed me again how my expectations of Him are often too low; His goodness far surpassing my grasp of it so far. He has shown me again that He is in charge of what happens here with our teens. He loves them, and He’s looking after them. Thank you Jesus for Render Fest ‘24 and for your incredible kindness to me. Help me remember this the next time I face something similar, that I might walk forward with hope and not fear!
Laura Campbell
Re:Hope West End
Is there anything on the horizon filling you with fear? Come to Jesus with faith today, trusting He is even better than you think.
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