Story summary so far: We left Atlanta the first Tuesday afternoon in July. We landed mid-morning Wednesday in Barcelona and headed off to find a hospital that could stop the bleeding caused by a little shot in my stomach. Thankfully, the doctors stopped the bleeding and Susan and I took a train to meet the rest of the coaches in Gerona, a town not too far from L’Arcada Sports Camp. We ate a late dinner and as we settled into our cabin, my nose started bleeding.
According to the report the previous day at the hospital, I should not have been bleeding, because my blood counts seemed pretty good. I arose early Thursday morning, went to the huge eating pavilion, and talked to God. He still gave His peace and I knew He was with us. I had not slept very well as my nose bled through the night. I prayed I would feel stronger as the day went on, but after breakfast, I felt weaker. As the 10:00 meeting approached, where I planned to encourage everyone with ‘the truth that God has chosen us and we are His beloved children,’ the bleeding started again and I filled my pockets with tissues.
After a time of worship, where I couldn’t even sing, Dave introduced me as the guest speaker for the week. I knew around 30% of the people there, and wondered what everyone thought as this guy wearing a mask stayed in his seat and thanked everyone for the welcome.
Then I noticed the raised hand of a twenty-four-year-old young lady. “Yes?” I asked. “Do you mind if I pray for you?” “Yes! Please do!” I must have really looked bad as this was the first question of the day. Hannah prayed a sweet prayer and it seemed everyone was pulling for their guest speaker to survive our first session.
Though I was still bleeding and my voice was weak, the discussion was rich. The question centered on God choosing those no one else would choose. Are the lost and outcast and hopeless ‘beloved’ too? Dan, a leader from Spain, reminded us of the story of the Samaritan woman and referred to its video depiction in The Chosen series. What a perfect example! Jesus re-routed a long journey to Jerusalem in order to reveal this woman’s worth and to let her know she was loved by God. God wants this powerful message to be heard and believed today! He wanted everyone in the room to know they had been chosen and that in a few days over a hundred campers, most of whom had never even heard the Gospel, would have a chance to know the One who created them and to know how much He loves them.
After the morning meeting concluded, Hannah, the girl who had prayed for me, asked to visit. She told Susan and me that I reminded her of her dad, who had been a doctor and died of cancer when she was 12 years old. “If Dad were still alive, he’d be sharing the same message you shared today. After he passed away, so many people told us they loved and followed Jesus because of his influence. Even up to the last month he lived, Dad represented Jesus and let people know of God’s love.” Susan and I were honored Hannah told us about her Dad.
I spent most of Thursday with an ice pack on my nose. “Susan, I don’t know that I can finish the week. Think you should call Delta and see if we can catch an earlier flight home?” Susan called and then asked Taylor to call from the States. There were some seat openings, but it would cost $2000 per ticket to change the dates. Since we only paid $1000 per ticket for the round trip, this was not a good deal. I asked, “What about the emergency insurance we had to buy before signing up to work at the camp?” We called them and they were very nice. Their company would get us home, but we first had to have a doctor’s signature saying I was healthy enough to fly.
We told Dave and Cindy that we needed to go to another hospital to check my blood counts and ask a doctor to sign the documents the insurance company sent us. The plan was made for Dan’s parents to drive us to Girona after I led the second session Friday. I asked two brothers I had gotten to know to lead the last two sessions if we worked things out to leave early.
Meanwhile, I just continued to feel weaker and weaker. “Help us Lord.”
“I love the Lord for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live. The chords of death entangled me; the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’ The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simplehearted. I was helpless and He saved me.” Psalm 116:1-6