It’s hard to believe that another season of camp is over. In the days following camp I kept having a sense that I needed to plan something for camp, spend more time prepping for cabin devotions or add something to my list to bring only to remember that camp had already ended.
I had more physical energy at the end than I ever remember having at the end of camp. That was happy but I think the reason it was that way wasn’t as happy. I did quite a bit of administration, more than normal, trading administration for time with campers. I enjoy the administration aspects of camp but I’m not convinced I am glad that I paid the price of developing relationships.
A highlight for me happened in the middle of junior camp. I was sitting in the back during chapel. Also at the back was one of the girls from my cabin. She had thrown up earlier and spent the entirety of chapel with her head in her arms. To top it off she had also broken her glasses. In short, she wasn’t really having a splendid day. From my perspective she had spent chapel napping. Uncle Bob was telling the story of Barabbas and at the end encouraged anyone who wanted to accept Jesus as their Saviour to stay behind. As soon as everyone was dismissed she turned to me and asked me to pray with her. What a privilege to explain the gospel to her and then talk about the ‘what now’, that it’s not just a ticket out of hell but a ticket into a relationship with God.
It’s always a little hard to see kids like that leave camp. She comes from a home with Christian influence, which is good. But you always wonder what will happen to these young people who have met Jesus or at the least heard the truth of Him.
There was another spot of light where another camper came to belief in Jesus as his personal Saviour and then called his dad (who has verbalized antagonism to Christianity, or at the least, church) and told him that he should become a Christian too.
Teen camp was more trying. There were some sharp contrasts between campers who were there because they love Jesus and want to grow in Him and campers who were there to have a good time. I need to keep trusting in the fact that God’s Word was proclaimed and He promises that His Word will not return to Him void but will accomplish what He sends it out to do. The week was a strong reminder that we live in a heathen nation that is apathetic at the least and antagonistic at the most to Jesus Christ. It also raised questions again whether we need to change how we ‘do camp’ (or any ministry in general).
I am thankful that we did have a non-Christian presence at camp. It helps us from living in a beautiful bubble with no problems and reminds us that we have work to do.
Something I’m thinking I want to take away from camp (and more recently, our youth camping trip) is that I want to ‘do ministry’ because I love Jesus rather than because it’s the ‘next step’. I want that to be my motivation.
the.happenings 