We all need men and women who are neither related to us, nor connected to our place of employment, to call out the gift that God has placed in us. Recently in July of 2016, I had the privilege of speaking at Dunes Bible Camp, and was blessed, not only by their generosity towards me, but also by their investment in me as a young African Pastor in my twenties almost two decades ago. It was such a delight to serve Christ with Steve and Linda this summer. They have led the camp for over two decades. As i reflected on my time ( 11 years) in the Northwest, and my speaking itinerary over the past (15) years, I was grateful to God for how He used Steve and Linda to plant a seed of truth and confidence in my life. Steve and Linda blessed me every summer with the opportunity to speak at Dunes Bible Camp consecutively for seven years. God has used a handful of people in my life, including Steve and Linda of Dunes Bible camp to communicate that God had gifted me to work with children and teenagers.
It all started during the Summer of 2005, I’d been serving in a church that loved me and cared deeply for my soul. I’d taken some kids to camp and was struggling with public speaking, and was insecure about my ability to pronounce some English words. A dear friend urged me to consider that as a strength, but I ignored his remarks. Dunes Bible Camp was the place that God used to change my heart and reignite a passion for public speaking to teenagers.
A scheduled speaker had become sick, and I was asked to fill in for him. At that moment, God connected me with the camp, and after that one time, Steve, the Camp Director, invited me to speak a couple more times. I enjoyed it and it became a burning passion within me. Since then, I’ve spoken at as a guest speaker to nearly a hundred times for over thirty Christian organizations. I thank God for how He used Dunes Bible Camp. The leadership of Steve and Linda challenged me not to quit public speaking as a ministry. The celebrated the gift of God in me.
Over the past 15 years, children and teenagers in Chicago, Alaska, Oregon, Washington state, California, Florida, Indiana and Kentucky will be blessed because God used a dozen Christian leaders, including Steve and Linda, to convince a black young man from Africa with a strong Nigerian accent that God could use him to speak to red, black, yellow and white children in North America because they are all precious in His sight. We all need men and women who are neither related to us, nor connected to our place of employment, to call out the gift that God has placed in us. God used Steve and Linda to do that for me.
