Mobile United Methodist Missionaries (MUMM) finished its summer season with JOY Camp at Wesley Woods during the last week of July. JOY stands for “Jesus, Others & You.”
In her blog, Allison Engel, the Senior Summer Assistant for MUMM, tells about a tradition at the camp that keeps the schedule a mystery each day. Campers are puzzled to learn that everything starts at 7:47!
Alison was feeling rather glum in the middle of the week until she found a camper who was searching through his Bible to find 7:47. Another curious camper came over, and they wound up reading Matthew 6:34.
“So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.” Or as The Message paraphrases the same passage, “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now.”
Alison wrote, “So what was God doing right then?” Her post continued, “Using two middle school boys to remind me that there is still good in the world, that’s what.”
Fifty at-risk young people attended JOY camp this year, and their camping fees were covered through scholarships. In 2017 MUMM is receiving $37,000 in conference grants from the apportionment gifts of the United Methodist churches of Iowa to support its outreach throughout the southern half of the state.