Everyone wants to be a leader. When I asked the grade six what they
wished to achieve by the end of the camp, everyone echoed those famous
phrases "I want to be a leader" or "I want to lead." There are many
misconceptions about leadership and it’s easy to develop
these mixed messages when we have observed inconsistent models
throughout our lives. The idea of being a leader comes with the idea of
being in control, tremendous power and authority. The highest position,
title and recognition. There is a lot that is said and written about
leadership and it’s sad to say that even Christian leadership today
seems frequently to get confused with the modern concept of celebrity.
Passing over the one true role model who should be our focal point –
Jesus Christ.
Matthew 20:28,that
was our theme and my aim was to bring back Christ as the focal point of
what it means to be a true leader and by pointing them to him as the
greatest leader who's ever lived and walked among mankind. Though King,
Matthew 20:28, He came “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
The humility expressed by His act with a towel and basin foreshadowed His ultimate act of humility and love on the cross. He humbled himself to the point of death,
even the death of the cross. During these two days we turned the
triangle upside down for our students and gave them the chance to use
every moment they had to put into practice what they were learning and
serve one another. Since serving and putting others head of ourselves
doesn't come so naturally to some of us, the first day was really hard
for some of the students. Serving was mixed with murmuring and
complaints. We had the students divided up into two teams and each team
had to come up with a team name, song and dance. So this was my favorite
part to watch as different personalities worked together in the most
amazing and creative ways in order to achieve a common goal. The
presentation was a great success indeed for both teams!
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I have indeed enjoyed every moment with these children. Every year and every new group brings along something different that it all ends up being a great learning process for both of us. For a leader the abuse of power is a major issue and temptation. But Christians are called to be God’s servants in every aspect of our lives.
From the Bible it’s clear that this means serving fellow man in
accordance with the higher purpose of serving God. That's my prayer and hope for these kids that by the grace of God they would become faithful young men and women who have the
capacity to
lead in the Savior’s way and “help other people become true followers of … Jesus Christ.
