Daniel Monroe growing up in a Christian household has felt the pressures that come with leading a righteous life in a world that represses it. With the weight of it becoming overbearing to him, a mother whose main focus is her Church community and a...
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"Alright everyone, settle down please," Miranda clapped her hands, gaining the attention of the people in the room. We all went back to our previous sitting position and I was glad to see Penelope by my side smiling at me in an encouraging way.
"I have a few announcements to make before we conclude. The first being our weekly assignment. Please I want all of us to preach to at least two people this coming week. I know it may be difficult but we need to raise a bold generation of christians. We'll give our report in our next meeting and hopefully we'll be seeing some new faces," she smiled. Freddy whispered something into her ear.
"The flyers are yet to be delivered widely. Zeph is distributing them as we speak, two for each person to give out. I entreat all of us to do it," she said. "And finally the preparations for Youth revival camp are in progress as we speak. Can I get a hoot hoot!"
I watched the members erupt in cheers and murmuring amongst themselves about how this camp is going to turn out. The moment I got to interact with the people here all my worries disappeared. They were... normal? They didn't behave anyhow is what I mean, just simple teens trying to live their lives by the pattern of God. I imagined everyone to be serious without a concept of fun in their lives—I think a lot of people assume this.
"Freddy will be in charge of registration. Meet him at the porch to sign up."
"Ooh I can't wait to write my name down," Ruby jumped up and down excitedly, "The rumors of last year's camp were insane, I can't miss this year's own for anything. And who knows all the fun packed Christian activities waiting for us."
"I'm excited for the competition," said Jennifer. "I wonder what this year's topic will be about. I need to start looking for a partner."
"Nope, not me. I had to put up with you last year and it wasn't exactly fun." Erica raised her hand in surrender, scooting away from Jennifer who grinned at her.
"It's not supposed to be fun Erica," Nathaniel said. "But then again Jennifer does know how to work a person up."
They all laughed at his comment.
"What about you Daniel?" Penelope asked, drawing their attention to me. "Do you think you'll stick around for the camp?"
Her question was something I didn't consider. Now that I've decided to relearn everything about my faith I should be thinking about going home yet I didn't feel like going back. Despite my decision, home wasn't an appealing place to me anymore. I should at least try, right? And Mr Richardson must be tired of housing me, we had a deal. So many questions without answers.
Trust in God.
"I don't even know what this competition is about," I said.
"Our Pastor and church elders in collaboration with the youth group decide on a topic for us to research and learn about. At the end of camp we have a competition consisting of two persons in a team on the decided topic. Sometimes they inculcate it in a fun way like puzzles and stuff to make the competition more lively and interesting. It's a really fun way to gain more knowledge," Joseph explained. "It started eight years ago and Jennifer here has had the privilege to win once with her partner Simeon."
