How do you put into words something that is God-sized? That’s what I am trying to do with this post.
Sulphur Springs Workcamp was incredible. God showed up in a real, tangible way. It is so humbling to be a part of something that has so much of God written all over it.
As the director of SSWC, my job is pretty intense. I get to orchestrate everything from the work projects to the evening worship services to the raising of the money to the organization and supplying of all the supplies needed to complete the jobs. I love my job. I do not get to sleep much and I tend to forget to do the essentials such as eating, but I love my job. When God “impregnated” the idea of SSWC into my heart two and a half years ago, I knew he was going to do something special through it.
This year, we painted and restored twelve houses in the community of Sulphur Springs. CLICK HERE TO READ A LOCAL NEWS REPORT ON SSWC 2008. So much more happened this week than simply painting twelve houses. 150+ teens and adults from five different churches (four different denominations) came together to show and be Jesus to our community.
The highlights of SSWC for me came during the evening worship services. Jon Webb led the worship and Brandon Mitchell shared God’s Word every night. God worked through them in mighty ways and they did a great job. I had the pleasure of leading the crowd during a time we have entitled “God Sightings” where the students would share stories of how they saw God during that day of working. So many of those stories brought tears to my eyes.
We saw God move in a very real, supernatural way at Sulphur Springs Workcamp. People became free for the first time. Chains were loosed. Lives were changed. God showed up. The light defeated the darkness.
Thanks to every student who picked up a paint brush and participated in SSWC. Thanks to every adult who led a crew. Thanks to every person who prepared or served the food that we ate all week. Thanks to every person who donated the money that is needed to complete a program like this. Thanks to all the people who let a group of teenagers come paint their house. Finally, thanks to God for blessing this event, for giving us amazing weather all week, and for showing up in such a powerful way.
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For those of you who were able to go to Sulphur Springs Workcamp 2008, please share your thoughts on SSWC 2008. Share a story. Share a God Sighting. Share what you learned and what God showed you during SSWC. What was your number one highlight from the week? How did God stir you and shake up your life? Please communicate that because your words could be a huge blessing to other people. Thanks.
Wow!! Where do I start? I honestly can say I had the best time ever and when I came back to work people noticed the change in me right away. I got the chance to see God in each and every child and adult. I also had the chance to meet a whole lot of new awesome people and hear their stories of how God has worked wonders in their lives. When you take a step back and look at other people’s problems, you seem to realize your problems are so simple and small. I don’t know if anyone will ever truly know how much I needed SSWC. I thank Brian for giving me a chance to feel my dead heart beat again.
Heyy guys , just thought i’d share a little bit about My SS. Workcamp experiance..
Well to start off , I just want to say that it was unbelivably amazing, from waking up early with a smile on My face, to morning worship , to going to our site , running home for a quick shower , coming back to eat , and playing on the playground with friends , closing worship, the bus ride to Wesley , and the long night talks about our day , the whole experiance was awesome !
I loved getting to hang out with friends from My church FUMC
, and friends from others , including the new ones I made . You never had to worry about not having fun this week because , which ever direction you turned there was always a smiling face 
!
I had the honor in working on Mrs. Mary’s house , and something We could tell right off the bat , was that all of Mary’s life she had given to other’s expecting nothing in return. For example Mary bought our whole crew an ice-cream machine maker , and all the ingrediants , and gave it to us , and then she shared her very own recipe and made us some , oooooohh and it was yummy
!! Mary , came outside the first morning and told us that she wasnt being rude not to come out , she simply just wanted to be surprised at the out come , and oh boy she was , with tears of joy .. It was an amazing thing to see so much joy , that changed her life , when all we had to do was take a little time to help !! We all made sure that we had it as close to perfect as we could , because we had all fallen in love with the idea , of helping others 
!! We had a true blast this week , I miss it already so much !!
All My friends that werent able to go , asked me how camp was and painting houses , and I said amazing .. and they said how could painting houses be amazing , and thats when I was able to explain that it wasnt painting the house it was as B.C. and Brandon said – ” Seeing a Need and Meeting it “..
and to Me that was just an awesome thing
Workcamp changed My life in so many ways I cant explain .. and I want to go out and do more
, in fact at My church FUMC , I think we are going to try and get together some sort of deal where we all go out in groups to mow and do yard work , I cant wait to spread the word of God , and help others .. I also cant wait till SS.Workcamp ’09 , Im counting the days .. and wishing it were sooner .. SS. Workcamp was a wonderful thing that took place in My life 
!!
Thanks for your time in reading this .. and thanks to all that helped and participated ..
Jesus Loves You , God Bless ,
!!
Love , Lauren
WOW…what a blessing it was to be part of the Sulphur Springs Workcamp. I heard great things about last year that I was unable to participate in and had high anticipation of this year, but God blew my expectations out of the water. It really is true that some events in life can never be explained to the level to or give justice to that which was experienced.
There were so many highlights from this week that I will just rattle off some: during worship when everyone was shouting out to God about who He is to us, Tuesday night’s response and prayer time, the last night when all our home owners came to worship, Delbert’s awesome song, watching all the teens jumping and shouting to Crowder’s Undignified, watching Mrs. Shirley clapping and trying to jump too, and watching as a crew leader my teenagers work hard, become brave and open up to Mrs. Shirley our homeowner. By the end of the week they we sitting in her house just talking with her and listening to her advice on life. These are precious memories! Go lime green team (or guacamole as some of you name it)!
God stirred my world up by teaching me in the realest way possible not to underestimate His power. It’s crazy how God showed up in power in OUR town, in the SAME church I attend every Sunday, during a workcamp, but something extraordinary happened. For the first time in my (skeptical) life, I witnessed a person become free in an instant by speaking the name of Jesus. That’s all it took. It was battle. There is a song that became tangible to me in that moment. Here’s some of the lyrics: “Jesus, the most beautiful name that I know. You’re the exalted one. When I speak your name, mountains move, CHAINS ARE LOOSED. When I speak your name, DARKNESS FLEES. IT HAS NO HOLD ON ME.” At the name of Jesus, I saw darkness flee. How powerful is our God… I think we have only scratched the surface.
Brian, thanks for listening to God and being faithful to the idea He put in your heart. I love you.
WOW! What an amazing time I had this year at SSWC! I was so excited to get to go to Workcamp this year, I had had an indescrible time the year before and I couldn’t wait for SSWC ’08. I had the privledge of working on Delbert Williams home. Words can’t even describe how amazing this man is. He lives his life fully for the Lord, and is someone that I will never forget. I do have to say that one of my favorite parts of the day was evening worship. I can’t even explain how much I took out of the talks that Brandon gave every night. I have taken off my “flip-flops” and am now chasing after God in a way that I won’t “fall” quite as much. God loves me more for who I am than what I can do. I am truly willing to give up my identity to Him, no matter what the question. I can say that I pursue God with all that I have and all that I am. I am completely overwhelmed by God’s great power and love. My life has been changed forever. Thank you Brian for listening to God and getting SSWC started. I can’t wait for next year. Really, I can’t wait!
In Him,
Taryn