A summer camp salvation during Go Now Missions

This article is by Collyn Tate, a Go Now Missions missionary in Georgetown. Go Now Missions is a missions program that mobilizes Texas university students to share the love of Christ across the world.

I asked for prayers before the week started about a little boy who was placed in my group who has autism, I am going to call him "J". I was really nervous going into this week of camp because I have never worked with a child who has autism, but God showed up in big ways this week to help me connect with J.

The first day of camp, J was doing really well in the morning, and then after lunch, it was like a switch flipped, and he wanted to go home and wanted nothing to do with us. He told me he hated me and hated the camp. His mom came to pick him up early from camp, and I was unsure if he was going to come the next day. J saying those things made me feel like I was a terrible group leader and I was pretty sad. That was something that I have never experienced before because I have always been great at working with children. God taught me through that experience that I need to rely on Him and not my own ability to work with kids.

Thankfully, J showed up the next day and I got to work with him more one-on-one. J and I connected more. I got to play cars with him, and we read books together. J and I were walking down a hallway in the church and he saw a poster that said something about Jesus and he asked me who Jesus was. I got to share the Gospel with J in that moment and he was really engaged, listening, and asking me questions about God and Jesus. It took everything in me to hold back tears of joy and disbelief that I got to share the Gospel with this little boy who told me he hated me the first day of camp.

On the last day of camp, J came up to me and said, “Collyn guess what! I accepted Jesus into my heart!” I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. He told me he talked to his mom about it on the car ride home from camp and asked Jesus to be his Lord and Savior. I am so grateful to have been able to plant a seed in J’s life and be able to hear about the harvest. I know that God put me on this trip for this reason, and I am so incredibly grateful. God has taught me so much this week and in just this one week I have grown so much in my faith.

For more information about Go Now Missions, go to gonowmissions.com.