Eight Campion Academy students committed last summer to furthering their relationship with Jesus and igniting the faith of others by participating in Wildfire, a youth-led evangelistic effort. This traveling evangelistic program took the students to Durango, Fruita and Pueblo, Colorado; and to Wyoming. At each stop, they put on VBS programs, led evangelistic series and learned to prepare and preach sermons.
Fourteen people were baptized with one confession of faith as a direct result of the Holy Spirit working through the efforts of the Wildfire team. Prayers for safety, baptisms and local church support were answered.
Not only did the students impact the lives of others, their lives were impacted as well. Ashley Halvorson said, “Wildfire made me realize that people might have something going on inside that you don’t see, so you should always be kind to them and be praying for them.”
Nolan Eickmann reflected, “It’s been awesome to grow in my relationship with God and to help others grow in their relationship with God.”
More teams, more churches
Pastor Nestor Soriano started Wildfire in 2015 out of a desire to help youth preach the Word of God. The name comes from Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers and tongues of fire appeared above their heads. Wildfire has since grown to include a week of prayer during the school year at Campion Academy and a summer program from the beginning of June to August.
In addition to Halvorson and Eickmann, the students who participated in Wildfire this summer were Lauren Fry, Nathaniel Sanchez, Josh Ramirez, Xander Asa, Josie Reeves and Austin Rotinsulu. The supervisors were Pastor Esequias Perea, chaplain at Campion Academy; Pastor Phil Jones, retired evangelist; and the Campion Church pastoral team.
The Wildfire team not only worked hard to spread the gospel, but included some recreation in their summer as well. They enjoyed four-wheeling in Moab, Utah, camping and hiking in Colorado, and paid a visit to Wyoming for Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Pastor Esequias said, “Next summer we are hoping to have two to three Wildfire teams. The more kids involved, the more churches we can reach.” With God’s help, Wildfire will continue to grow and bless others.
Ashley Herber is student editor at Campion Academy in Colorado.
