The rest of the summer went on as planned. Except it didn't. I noticed that the campers were nicer to each other, Chris and Chef began treating the campers much better, and both my Wednesday night lessons and Sunday morning services were PACKED, as everyone on the island would come and worship with Jesse and I. At the end of the summer in mid-August, Jesse and I were packing up our things before we left. As we headed towards the portable, we were greeted by everyone on the island.
"Good morning, Pastor Max and Pastor Jesse!" Everyone greeted us in unison. There had to have been about 40 people there in total, inclding the campers, Chris, Chef, and the interns. Chris then comes forward.
"You guys were truly amazing at this camp, not only as teachers, but as true ambassadors of God's Kingdom here on Earth. And because of that, we want to present you with this." Chris presents us with a fancy Bible, gold-gilded pages and all, with both inside covers bearing the signatures of everyone there.
"Aw, you guys really shouldn't have." Jesse and I blush as everyone chants for a speech as we begin to share our thoughts. I start us off.
"When we arrived here two months ago, this place looked like a spiritual wasteland. We honestly both came in with the expectation that our work would be a dud here, but instead, the Gospel has flourished here at Camp Wawanakwa. Even though the laborers behind this were few, the harvest was clearly plentiful (Luke 10:2) and it shows." Jesse then concluded our speech.
"In the time since our beginning here, we have gone from a mish-mash of rebellion to all being brought into the fold of God. It was clearly God's plan for us to come from hundreds of miles away, just to spread the truth of The Word. By the end, we are seeing the results of this, as all of you exemplify the gifts of the Holy Spirit, that is, to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:38). We both give our thanks for your welcoming of us, and we hope that you may continue to bear good fruit in all that you guys do." The crowd of campers, staff, and interns gave up a standing ovation for our work.
After we finished packing up all of our things, I lead everyone in one final prayer before we depart:
"Dear Heavenly Father, we are all so grateful for your amazing, wonderful works in our lives, and how you continue to bless us in all that we do. Lord, we thank you for the opportunity we had in these two months, when we were all brought together to glorify you in our lives. We also thank you for giving us the strength to face our adversaries, and overcome them all; for you said yourself, if you are for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31b)? Lord, Camp Wawanakwa stands today as a testiment to your love and mercy, and we pray that you may continue the fine folks here at this camp for years to come. Lord, we thank you for all this and pray this all to you in Jesus' holy name, and for his sake. Amen."
The whole crowd then let out a resounding "Amen" in response.
A short while later, Jesse and I were back out on the road, on our trip back to Louisville. Sure, the trip was long like before, but it was never boring. During our drive, the two of us kept bringing up our experience from this summer.
"Man, Jesse. I sure am going to miss that bunch. Hard to believe that our first missions work was such a success."
"Hey, at least it shows that what we did, worked. Wasn't even anything too fancy, just using good old scripture to take them back to the basics of the Bible and refamiliarize a lot of them with the faith they may have once had. Who knows? We did so well, we might end up being called back again."
Jesse was right on that; for the next several years, Chris invited us back to the same positions. Not only that, but he turned Camp Wawanakwa into "Total Faith Island," where young Christians could come to learn the truth of God's word. In addition, Chris also donated much of his former wealth to his new local church, Lakeland Baptist Church, as well as various Christian charities.
After a few years of having us, both Jesse and I took up positions at Hope Baptist Church, so our role was eventually replaced by younger interns working in our missions department, seeking to continue what me and Jesse, and ultimately, God, started.