Fire Camp
The only identity that matters
Today, I want to have a heart-to-heart talk with you about identity.
Pretty much the whole of human philosophy can be boiled down to, “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” We humans have a deep need to belong, to know where we fit and what our purpose is. That need drives people to define themselves in all kinds of ways – by the color of their skin or their nationality, or by the sports teams they follow, or the kind of foods they do or don’t eat. These days, things like sexuality and political views have become banners that people flock to, desperate to define themselves in any way.
I wish I could say Christians were a different story, but we see it all the time – Christians defining themselves by which denomination they belong to, or which dogma they adhere to, or what kind of worship music they like or which news they’re most outraged by. Sometimes it sure looks like we love our labels and our divisions just as much as the world does.
Maybe this sounds harsh, but I’m going to be straight with you here; I believe only a fraction of Christians are walking in the full potential of what God has for them. This is not a judgment, it’s an observation. The reason is heartbreakingly simple. They don’t actually know who they are in Christ. They don’t know that they are, first and foremost, sons and daughters of the living God.
I’m not saying they haven’t heard or read that they are children of God. I’m saying they don’t know it.
Do you know why I am confident in what I am saying here? Because I have seen with my own eyes what happens when someone ‘gets it’, when they grasp that they have truly been adopted by our heavenly Father. They’re overwhelmed by His love. They can’t get enough of being in His presence, of reading His Word. They suddenly see how He wants them to live – not through performance or achievement, but through relationship.
That intimacy, that love compels them to act. They change, not because they have to, but because they want to. They listen for His voice because it’s sweet honey to their lips. They leap to serve, to act on what the Father wants, because there’s no other response possible for them anymore. In the face of such love, how can they not?
Does that sound like you? Or are you reading this, feeling like your heart will burst from longing, because you’ve never really known that intimacy?
This letter today was supposed to be about our Fire Camps in Europe, and believe it or not, it is! As I was preparing to write it, I was reading through testimonies like this one from Bordeaux, France:
Fire Camp in Bordeaux was absolutely powerful—one of the most intense and impactful camps we’ve seen yet. It all began with foundational sessions on identity. Right from the start, the Holy Spirit began moving in deep and unexpected ways.
On the very first morning, students were visibly shaking under the power of God. One man, a believer for over 30 years, came forward in tears. He said he had never heard God described as a loving Father the way it was shared that day. That truth shattered something inside him. He encountered real freedom during Tuesday’s session and has not been the same since. When he returned home, even his children noticed. “What happened to you?” they asked. “Your face is glowing. You look completely different.”
And he was just one of many. Throughout Monday and Tuesday, the Holy Spirit ministered powerfully. Students were set free in deliverance sessions and experienced radical transformation in their identity. When it came time for preaching and outreach, it was as if everything clicked. Many received confirmation of their call to share the Gospel. They were equipped, strengthened, and sent.
I received so many testimonies from Fire Camps all over Europe and what leapt out at me was this – a single thread runs through all of them. If you leave out the names and the places, it’s basically the same testimony over and over again… “I came wanting more of God. Jesus revealed the Father’s love to me. Now that I know my identity in Jesus, I’m losing my fears and growing in boldness. I can share the Gospel, and I want to share the Gospel.”
Fire Camp is an invitation to leave the superficial behind. It’s an opportunity to stop scratching the surface of what God has stored up for you, what He longs to give you if you will just receive from Him. Start finding out how wide and how deep and how high the Father’s love is for you.
It really is that simple. That’s what Fire Camp is all about. Anyone who comes willing to receive and to grow leaves changed. I say that with full confidence, because it’s not up to me or any other Fire Camp leader to make that happen. It’s up to Jesus. It’s His job to reveal the Father’s love to all who seek Him. Stepping into your full identity in Jesus changes absolutely everything. It is the only identity that matters – and it matters for eternity.
Together with you for the Gospel,
Evangelist Daniel Kolenda
(here with the worldwide CfaN team)
P.S. You can find out about upcoming Fire Camps
