Love is an Open Door

As this year’s camp meeting moves toward its final moments, a clear message has echoed through the Young Adult Room: God rebuilds what life tries to break if only we will open the door of our hearts and allow Him to enter.

Each day has carried its own activity designed to turn strangers into friends and friends into family. Thursday evening, for example, opened with a comedic activity as attendees launched into an “Adventist Cringy Pickup Line Contest.” Needless to say, the room was filled with groans, laughter, and the kind of shared joy that breaks down walls. Alongside these moments of fun, the young adult group has gathered for prayer circles, shared brunches, and whitewater rafting.

Yet beyond the social connection, the main focus of the week has centered on the doors we encounter in life —doors God opens, doors He closes, and doors we must choose to walk through. Through personal testimony and reflection, Pastor Bryan Arvelo has encouraged the group using stories from his own journey, showing how God’s leading can be trusted even when circumstances feel uncertain or overwhelming.

Towards the end of the week, Arvelo turned to John 10, contrasting the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy with Jesus, who comes to give an abundant life that is rich, full, and restored. To anchor this truth in lived experience, he shared the story of the Monroe Spanish Church, where a drunk driver crashed through the sanctuary just two weeks into his first pastoral assignment. Structural beams cracked. A gaping hole opened in the wall. The future of the building was unclear.

But the congregation refused to let destruction define them. They gathered in the fellowship hall, sitting on toddler chairs, worshiping anyway. Attendance grew. Hope grew. And by July 2023, the church reopened a beautifully renewed sanctuary: new lighting, fresh carpet, restored pews, and a brand-new storefront door. The first activity in that restored space was a baptism.

That door became a living parable: God doesn’t just repair problems; He rebuilds people. He restores what destruction tries to erase. And He stands at the door of every heart, knocking still. God is always an open door. He only waits for us to open ours.

— Benjamin Lawson