Real Stories of Real Teens Encountering a Real God

Saturday August 30th 2014
46 Young People made a public declaration that they now belong to Jesus
TESTIMONIES FROM CAMP
AWAKENING 2014
These are the names of the History Makers who on this day
made history by taking the step of Baptism
Mckala Canezalez
Nathaniel Perez-Espitia
Jasmine Tovar
Alejandro Diaz
Gaby Morales
Asley Camacho
Dacey Limon
Tim Gonzalez Jr
Arnaly Perez
Jaime Carillo
Kelly Medina
Luis Martinez
Daniela Martinez
Ruben Garcia
Kelsey Jusino
Jonathan Montano
Daniel Spicer
Miguel Garcia
Valerie Sayavong
Joshua Ortiz
Norma Diaz
Isaac Orr
Jasmin Plancarte
Saul Pina
Britney Castillo
Steven Camacho
Real Stories of Real
Teens Encountering a
Real God
Shirtley Leon Robles
Jyrese Stewart
Reyna Marin
Joey Wurtz
Monica Payne
Shaun Bernal
Scarlett Amezcua
Johnny Trujillo
Margarita Amezcua
Juan Cornelio Jr
Sandra Diaz
Cristian Cervantes
Jadziah Braker
Roberto Martinez
Antonio Arroyo
Jose Luis Cisneros
Berenice Martinez
Raul Robles
Noe Flores Montoya
Heziquio Arenas
A n d t h i s i s t h e t e s t i m o n y , t h at G o d
gav e u s e t e r n a l l i f e , a n d t h i s l i f e i s
in his Son
1 J o h n 5:11
Jonathan Montano
At Camp Awakening 2014 I chose to take
a leap of faith and get baptized. I grew up in a
Christian home but I really never had a relationship with God. At Camp Awakening since
day one God spoke to me and said he was going to do something great in my life. I had faith
on what he had told me because I honestly wanted my life to change. God has impacted
me greatly, and from that point I felt like I
needed to seek him in every area of my life. I
believe if I get baptized, it will be the start of a
new life and my faithful journey with God.
SCARLETT AMEZCUA
Before I discovered that I could have a real and true relationship with Jesus Christ I
felt sad, angry, unhappy, incredibly hurt,
and most of all I felt alone. I would put on
a front to most of my friends at school and
then when I got home I would take out
my pain on my family. God has brought
healing in my heart and given me a passion for him that nobody can take away.
Now that I have recognized that God is my
Lord and Savior I am getting baptized as
an act of obedience and love, because all I
want to do now is please the one who set
me free and showed me a love that I did
not know existed and does not exist in the
world.
Antonio arroyo
Before I came close to Jesus I was in darkness. I
use to be really mad at everything and never talked
and never opened up to people. I use to get in trouble a lot and I use to smoke , but not anymore it's
been almost a year and when I met you guys telling
me about God and Jesus and what He done for us, It
got me thinking a lot about my family and me and
the people around me. Jesus has got me out of the
darkness and I'm now a bright light cause Jesus is in
my heart watching over me and a couple months
ago my mom's doctor said she might have cancer
and I was really upset but I knew Jesus was by my
side so I prayed for my mom because my mom
means the world to me. I cried really hard when the
results came in 2 days ago that she has no cancer
and I was like so happy and thanking god and the
reason why I want to get baptized is because I'm
tired of the old me I won't to get out of this old skin
and let the new better skin to come out you know
and I want to follow Jesus I want to be with him for-
Ruben Garcia
Before I became a Christian, I knew there was a
creator but I did not want to believe it was our God.
I did so many things that I'm not proud of. I used
drugs, alcohol, things that made me feel cool, but
they weren't. I saw how blessed my brother was, so
I wanted to be like him. One of them was being a
Christian. So I became a Christian just because I
wanted to be like him. But then I started to realize
that this is what we were made for. To praise God.
Then I knew that this isn't a religion or a club or a
gang but a lifestyle. A lifestyle that Jesus wants us
to live, to live for him because he died for us. I want
to get baptize because its what I have to do as a
Christian. Its part of my life. I'm obeying the person
who created me. I know this is the right thing to do.
I would do anything that is part of being a Jesus
Freak.
Monica Payne
Valerie savayong
Before I came to Jesus I wasn't good. I was
stuck in a world where being in a relationship was all that matters whether it was
good or bad. And my relationship was bad,
but I felt that it was better then not having
one at all. But I was wrong and when I came
to Jesus I learn to let go of all the bad and I
just want to get baptized to officially let go
and publicly testify that Jesus is my lord and
As I entered camp I had one question on my mind, I wanted to
know my purpose for being on this Earth. Being a senior in high
school I've been told many times that I should already know, but for
a few years now I've been clueless. As camp went on I had been
feeling built up rage and hatred toward a few of my peers as well
and this drove me to think and say some awful things, I had felt this
way off and on for years. On concert night I had had enough of the
hate and was going to discuss it with the pastor after the service,
but when the service entered the its time of prayer I broke down
and begged God to take all my hatred away. As I was brought down
to the floor I bowed before him and started telling to him we are all
his children and shouldn't despise each other no matter who or what
we are or what we have done, Jesus didn't die on the cross for us to
hate and kill our fellow man. I was chanting these words over and
over again then I abruptly paused, lifted my head with my eyes still
shut and gently stated “I know what I am meant to do”. He was
trying to give me the answer the entire time, but my hatred kept
me from hearing him and when I finally began to feel forgiveness in
my heart his words became loud and clear. I am meant to serve and
help God just as he has done for me by helping people to see his
fantastic work around them and assure them that through all the
tough times he will always be there because he loves all of his children and he wants nothing more than for them to follow the path
he's laid out for them for it is the path to righteousness.
Gabby morales
Alejandro Diaz
"I want to get baptized because since I was
little, watching everyone who has gotten
baptized, they seemed so happy with God in
their lives . I want that feeling of being happy , & I know with God in my life I will be .
So I'm ready to give my life to God. "
Before Christ I wouldn't want to go to
church and I didn't read the Bible, but
now that I’ve met him I feel different I
am excited to go to church, I want to get
baptized because I want to obey God it
makes me a step closer to Him.
Shaun bernal
Growing up I was raised in a domestic violence household I had witnessed
my dad and mom beating each other up.
When I was 12/13 my dad was never really a part of my life and my mom
was always at work so I began to develop an altitude and started smoking
heroin and partying. I lived in a area were everyone was afraid of me even
the seniors. I was always fighting propel and just mad at the world
When I was 16 I stared drinking and smoking cigarettes. I was also homeless at this time in my life I was in Foster care. and one day i went to my
counselor and told her I was going to drop out of high school .
When I was 17 I had attempted suicide by overdosing on pills and before I
went to sleep I said
"God if you love me you will let me die tonight in my sleep". I woke up the
next day. In June I became the first person in my family to graduate high
school.
This summer at camp I was honored to be a part of the cowboys. For the
first time in my life during the concert I had broken down into tears and
accepted Jesus into my life. I had then realized that its time for me to get
baptized. This week was actually tough for me I was tempted to go out
and party but I didn't I was tempered to go by some cigarettes and I didn't. I hope that I can get my twin sister to come I want to influence her
because she influenced me in a negative way.
I have been clean and sober for 3months off of heroin.
Camp awakening changed me and if it was not for Rhema soul and the
cowboys I would be back to my old ways and this weeknight actually was
starting to loose myself but I gave it to Jesus.
Arnaly Perez
I want to get baptize because I love
God and I want to get more closer to
God. Also I would like to restart in
life. Leave my old path and start a
new on with God. I want to stand up
with God by my side.:)
Saul pina
Since a young age, I had attended
church with my parents but I didn't really pay attention nor was I involved.
Once I started getting older I would
really only go to church because I was
forced to and not because i wanted to,
but within these last two years, something awakened in me and it really
changed a lot of things, including the
way I act, think, and speak. I would
like to get baptized because it is a
public proclamation of your obedience
to God
Johnny Trujillo
Before Christ I'm from a family who was broken by
drugs, alcohol, dysfunctional teen parents, and
abuse. I moved to Washington from California 8
years ago and that was when I first met Jesus . In
8th grade I started getting off the right track and
started smoking. I've been to church camps before
but after I always went back to the same thing. Till
camp awakening was when I finally realized that
it's time for a change. So I gave my everything to
god from the 1st day of camp to the last. It was
the strongest presence of god I have ever felt and
my group leader Will gave his testimony and
showed me that god does give second chances
that's when I knew it was time for me to get baptized.
Christian cervantes
I was the kid who followed the crowd who acted bad,
and pretended not to know Jesus out of embarrassment, I denied him I disobeyed my parents and didn't care about anyone but myself.
Now I know he is real and that he is my savior he
gave his life for me, and I will never deny him again
I'm not afraid to accept him, he changed me I’m a
new person, I know that I have to lead and not follow. I have to lead people into his arms.
I want to get baptized because I want God to know
I'm serious about our relationship, I want to show
God I'm willing to follow in his footsteps I obviously
will never be as perfect as him but I can try my best
to I know this doesn't guarantee salvation and I'm ok
with that but I just want to show God that I’m giving
him my all that I'm serious and thirsty for his love.
Noe flores
Before Christ I was a lost kid looking for a
place to fit in by any means necessary, being around the wrong people led to me
making bad decisions and ultimately put
me in a position where I didn't want to be
in. My friend had mentioned her bible
study group, I started to sit in & couple of
month later I accepted Christ as my personal savior. I want to be baptized because I want to make it clear who to myself who I am serving and that I'm here
today because of him.
Juan Cornelio jr
Hesiquio arenas
Before Jesus I was a bad kid I didn't listen to my
parents and I lied , I stole and I used drugs and how
Jesus changed me .I heard about this camp and I
went to it because I knew Jesus could change me
and at this camp I received Jesus for the first time.
I've never felt so alive and now I have the trust, love
and faith from Jesus. I want to get baptized because
I want to become a follower of God and I want to be
a better person to everyone and I want to be just
like God.
Well God change me a lot from 2
years ago. I was in drugs and when I
went to camp everything changed I
saw everything in a different way
and I saw that Jesus was the way. I
want to get baptized as an act of
obedience and because I want to become a better person in life
Joey wurtz
Before my encounter with Jesus I
was a liar, rude, and inconsiderate of
other people. I didn't care about anything else besides myself. I was
blind. Now that I have met Jesus my
eyes and heart have been open. I
want to get baptized to take that
step of obedience and to have the old
Joey die and a new Joey be born.
Tim Gonzalez jr
I was a Luke warm Christian, who would come
to church but not truly have given my life to Jesus.
After camp every single year god changes me
dramatically no matter how many sins I have
committed or no matter how many times I have
failed him.
I want to walk with Jesus for the rest of my life,
so there is no more hiding. It's time to be born
again and give God my life by taking this step of
obedience by getting baptized.
Margarita amezcua
The reason why I want to get baptized is because before I met Jesus, I was nothing.
I always thought that at least one person was out to
get me at all times. Before I was filled with the HOLY-SPIRIT, I felt empty and incomplete. Sure, I
prayed but I didn't feel that....one on one connection with God. This camp (even though it was my
first) COMPLETELY changed my life forever, and for
the better. Camp Awakening (go Ninjas!) really
awoke the sleeping, almost dead, me. I thank God
so much for doing this for me. For opening my eyes
to show me that I'm not alone, he has me in his
arms, and that he has something big planned for
me.... I want to get baptized because I want to
show to Jesus obedience, but there are so many
other reasons....THANK YOU JESUS!
Anonymous
God has made my life better because He has helped me face my
problems and has helped me defeat them. I want to become a new
person through Gods promises and
His new direction in my life. By
getting baptized , I am showing
Him that nothing will stop me from
walking the path He has for me.
Young person
Daniel Spicer
Before I went to camp, every time that they would worship to
Jesus at church I would stay sitting down and my mom would
tell me to get up and sing and dance and before I went to
camp I also got out of Jesus path and started to do things I
wasn’t supposed to do like lie to my parents but now I feel
something in me that I can’t explain something so wonderful
and know that is the Holy Spirit within me, and now whenever they put a Christian song I get up right away and worship
Jesus. Now I’m so happy that I’m out of those horrible things
and I’m back in Jesus path were I’m supposed to be at. I love
you Jesus Christ thank you for everything that you’ve done
for my family and for me, sorry for leaving your path, but
Lord here I am to worship you to share you to talk about you
to speak to you and to be with you, I LOVE YOU LORD!
I was always really shy and in my shell before I
became part of the church and I wouldn't really
talk to anyone. And then I remember really
opening up after I went to camp .Jesus is the only
one who understands me. 100%. So I always feel
better after going to group or Saturdays . now I
feel better about talking to people and making
new friends because I have Jesus by my side
Sandra diaz
At the age of 13 and 14 I decided to do
everything alone, my actions brought me
consequences I felt alone and abandoned
but then at camp God spoke to me and
game me strength now I’m ready to get
baptized and give myself away so the
Lord can use me so I won’t be a part of
the lost generation but the generation
that brings light.
Stories and Testimonies taken from Summer Camp Awakening August 2124th 2014. These stories are the result of Real Young People Encountering a
Real God