Summer Camp: Moving Forward
by Breda Sunderland

Zerubbabel Summer Camp began with hearty welcomes and joyous reunions. The opening session was enriched by singing from our revised songbook, expanded to include some traditional hymns. In many ways, the more serious note, once sounded, set the tone or many of the week’s meetings.

During the first and second morning sessions, we watched a video recording of Norman Grubb teaching. The impact was profound, undimmed by the passing of more than a decade or the exigencies of recording. Norman taught that there is only one Person in the universe and that we have one essential choice: to be self-for-self, like Satan, or self-for-others, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. He repeatedly and joyfully testified that once caught in the Christ/I union, there is no escape.

The sheer vitality of Norman’s explication of the gospel embodies how totally Jesus Christ transforms lives which are completely surrendered to Him. These were not the ramblings of some eighty-something year old man. Norman’s insight was incisive,  his enthusiasm infectious, and his commitment total. He did not attempt to hide the cost: he related how his young son died of fever in Africa. Instead, he moved quickly from personal cost to recounting how, by speaking the word of faith, the needs of his ministry were continuously and meticulously supplied by God, in apparently the most hopeless situations. Most impressive was his word of faith, at an ostensibly low ebb, for ten missionaries and funds to support their work. He related how God, exactly and in the most specific detail, supplied needs spoken by faith into visibility: "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24).

Listening to Norman reminded us that our commission–living out the message of Christ in us outpoured for others–is a high calling. It is not surprising, therefore, that much of the week focused on sin and its consequences. We became acutely aware of the various guises of Satan. Silence, for instance, is often the outward form of negative judgment against other Christians. Those who sit in silence frequently fear exposure of lies and secret, sinful contracts in their own lives. However, God is relentless and faithful. He exposes and deals with Satan’s lie of independent believing. By His death, Jesus Christ frees us from the inner turmoil and outward havoc, which are the consequences of sin, once we are prepared to own our sinful choice, be broken, repent of it, make amends and turn from it: "Though you sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow…If you are willing and obedient you will eat the best from the land" (Isaiah 1:18-19).

During Camp there was a recurring sense of the urgency of repenting and turning from exposed sin at once so that no-one impedes the mission of Zerubbabel: bringing the message of "every man perfect in Christ Jesus" (Col. 1:28) to a fallen world. There is no place for introspection and self-absorption (i.e. sin). Nothing less than total commitment, purity, and obedience will suffice so that the whole body of believers is ready to moe forward, outpoured for others: "In this way, love is made complete among us…because in this world we are like Him" (1 John 4:17).

The emphasis on moving forward led to an awareness of how Zerubbabel has expanded into so many areas of outreach. As the numbers attending camp and conferences continue to increase, the range of talents and expertise available to the fellowship expands apace. It was decided unanimously that now is the right time to appoint a Secretary, who will lead the work of a seven-member team of General Staff. Tommy Prewitt is to be Zerubbabel’s Secretary and he, together with the General Staff, will facilitate the best possible use of God’s resources for His purposes.

Camp had its lighter moments. Painting, maintenance, and landscaping projects were undertaken, completed and interspersed with spontaneous exchanges of insight and testimony. However, the abiding memory of Summer Camp 1997 is the challenge to reach ceaselessly beyond self-for-self so as to become effective channels of faith for the purposes of God’s grace.