Hello, my name is Keanu Ruperti and I have the privilege and honor of being the high school overseer for our youth ministry here at New Hope Church & College! Our youth ministry has been a great place for middle and high school students to gather in fellowship, worship, and the Word of God! Our heart for our youth is that they would grow deeper in their understanding of the love of God that can change their lives and the world around them!
We just finished our first-ever high school summer camp here at New Hope West and are truly in awe of how God moved and brought his love down to meet every single student. We recognize that life as a teenager can be a very hard time and our hope for camp was for students to be able to experience the goodness of God and hear the truth that there is a God who loves them so much! We were able to witness lives transformed, chains broken, and faith built up. Many high schoolers experienced an intimate encounter with the love of God. At summer camp, our heart is to disciple young people through times of small group and devotions, worship, and teachings about the truth of God’s Word. It was truly a week unlike any other, and we are excited and expectant for what God will do next!
Our camp theme this year was “Deeper.” Our heart for this camp was for the students to be able to understand how deep the love of God is for them. We focused on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where Paul wrote, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19). We believe that it is the love of God that changes the world, and knowing this love for ourselves will change our lives for the better! We prayed that the students would walk out understanding that God loves them deeply.
I first started attending summer camps in middle school and remember every year being so excited and ready for what I would learn and how I would grow in my relationship with God. It was at summer camp that I gave my life to Christ when I was 14 years old. It was at another summer camp, when I was 16, that I felt the call to go into full time ministry. Here I am now, at 23 years old, serving in full-time ministry; I know that God has truly guided and brought me to where I am today. I have always had such a special love for summer camps and love that we get to put them on for the youth of our church, New Hope West, and community to experience. We know that summer camp is merely just the beginning for a lot of our students in their walk with Jesus and we look forward to walking alongside them in their next steps!
Our youth ministry is growing and we know that it’s by the grace of God that he has allowed my team and I to be able to help lead these young people. In the times that we live in, students are so heavily influenced by the things of the world, and we hope to show them the ways of the Lord and that their best life is found in Him. We have fun things in store for our summer as we continue to teach the youth how to grow deeper in their faith, love, and understanding of God! Come join us at New Hope West, on Wednesday nights, from 6-8pm for a time of worship, the Word, and fellowship!
