Prairie View

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Obsess: An Overview

Obsess 2010 was the second annual summer event for 13-16-year-old girls at the Calvary Bible School campus. The activities are designed to be spiritually, emotionally, and physically stretching. As one of six ladies who were asked to address the group on assigned topics during general sessions, I can attest to every one of those triple stretching goals having been reached.

With their leaders’ blessing, a group of young ladies from the Cornerstone Mennonite Church at Harrison, AR plan and publicize the event. Some of the young men in these ladies’ lives help a lot with set-up tasks, and then at least one of them lurks mostly out of sight during the weekend–close enough though to be summoned quickly if an emergency develops. Older ladies from the church help with cooking. Cooks and speakers are urged to mingle with the girls as much as they desire, or as the girls request, and they are often recruited to help when there is a need for input on something the staff needs to decide or when the girls need counsel.

When the girls arrive they are divided into groups, with each group having one or two young adult counselors. These group leaders work very hard. They share all the activities the girls participate in during their stay, guiding with words and by their love and example.

Funding is handled on a donation basis, with the Cornerstone church standing by to fill in any gaps that remain if donations do not cover costs.

The girls arrive with the help of older people who provide transportation for them. These people disappear, usually to other church communities in the area, until the weekend is over–unless these people are playing a role in the planned events. Counselors and speakers who drive to the event often bring a load of girls with them.

As I understand it, Obsess started after some young girls from the Cornerstone church read the book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. The book represents a “rebellion against low expectations.” The girls were impressed, and the book awakened a desire within them to be young people who act responsibly and unselfishly, with a passion for the things of God. They asked their mentors for help, and their mentors came up with a plan for a girls’ camp. The Obsess name reflects the intense focus on walking with Christ that is the aim of the Obsess event.

The element of mystery is part of the appeal of an event like Obsess, so I won’t give away too many secrets on what happened this year at Obsess. In general terms, however, the time (beyond sleeping and eating) is occupied with “sessions” and “initiatives.” The sessions were like a large Sunday School class in a tent, with a teacher (speaker) leading the way in thinking about a specific subject. Some time after the session ended, the counselors led the girls in an initiative--an activity that explored, elaborated on, and implemented an understanding of what the previous session addressed. Some of the initiatives were physically demanding, and, while that was probably what the girls initially thought the activity was about, along the way they had to interact productively with the rest of their group, or the activity just couldn’t happen. Often they had to make the best possible use of limited resources to accomplish their goal. In the process of this interaction, they had many opportunities to choose to exercise Christian graces or doom the activity by their refusal to do so.

Besides sessions and initiatives, some activities beyond the scheduled ones continued throughout the weekend–establishing kingdoms and guarding the treasure and acquiring more treasure for the kingdom, for example.

The natural setting at Calvary Bible School is perfect for an event like this–except that in August the place can be pretty hot and muggy, and chiggers and ticks and poison ivy all frequent the area. Shady woods and a shallow creek help people cool off. A lot of the initiatives this year involved some use of the creek.

Girls who wish to attend Obsess fill out an application beforehand. They also are asked to find people who will pray for them during the weekend. A list of verses for memorization is suggested. Campers bring their own bedding and towels. A photographer documents everything.
Although Obsess involves grueling, sweaty efforts, a significant amount of pampering occurs as well. I have never in my life had my hands and feet soaked and scrubbed and generally babied as I did at Obsess–by girls with a servant’s heart.

For everyone who attended Obsess this weekend, the most memorable part was entirely unscheduled–a time of revival on Saturday after the last event of the day was past. The girls gathered outside to sing, and one after the other, they were prompted to confess something to the group, to pray for or give encouragement to others, or to continue singing. Many of them sought out a counselor for help, and they would walk off together to pray elsewhere, and then return to the group.

The next morning during session, when–also not scheduled–the girls were invited to say something to the group if they wished, many of the girls who had made new commitments the night before were able to verbalize them before others. Through this time the work of revival continued and expanded.

In our vehicle on the way home, one of the girls said, “One thing I learned this weekend is that prayer works.” Amen. They talked about how glad they were for the people who prayed for them, and how wonderfully prayers were answered.

Obsess is really about the glory of God, and I think God noticed last weekend that a lot of glory was directed to Him from an obscure and often uninhabited place near Calico Rock, AR.

1 Comments:

  • Enjoyed reading your impressions of Obsess! Perhaps Kansans can be involved again next year. I am grateful for (and 'proud' of) the ladies who grew up at our house, and they are grateful to you and Lois for your support and assistance throughout the weekend. The rest of the family would have been there as well, except for other travels (and another wedding coming up). Oh, and Elsie says Thank You for the flowers!

    By Anonymous Omar, at 8/17/2010  

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