"Easter Was Different This Year"

A few days after Easter, I was sitting around the table doing morning devotions with our Breakfast Club boys. Al spoke up right away—not at all unusual for him—and said something that caught everyone’s attention right away:

“Pastor Scott, Easter was different this year for me.”

I asked Al what he meant, thinking that maybe he would talk about how he ate different food or went to someone else’s house. I asked if he went to church and got an Easter basket. 

But he said, “No, none of that was different. But it was different because of the decision I made at camp last summer.”

That got my attention! I asked him to explain, which can sometimes be very risky, but Al surprised me again.

“Pastor Scott, I now know the true meaning of Easter and celebrated the real meaning for the first time in my life. At camp I was told the true meaning of Easter—that Christ came, lived and died, and rose again. He is now alive, and He did that all for me because I believe. I started believing that last summer at camp and this was my first Easter I could celebrate and tell my family.”

Wow.  I had no idea he made that decision at camp, and I have no idea how many others like Al have made the same decision.  

Our week-long summer camp is one of the most important parts of our ministry each year. We’re able to get these at-risk teenagers away from their normal lives and share Christ with them. 

But these kids have no way to pay their own away to camp. That’s where you come in.

Would you be willing to help us take as many kids just like Al to camp as we can this summer? You can choose to sponsor one or more kids at $400 each or you can give a general gift to our camp scholarship fund. 

You can give online at www.leverageministries.org/give-now or send a check to Leverage Ministries, PO Box 1533, Auburndale, FL 33823.

Thank you so much for your support—both financial and through prayer—of Leverage Ministries. 

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner [just like Al] who repents than over  ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:7 ESV 

In His Service,

Scott Hirdes