Summer Camp – How was it?
“Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God so that you may stand against the plans of the enemy.”
Armed with a glow-in-the-dark swords, this is the verse from Ephesians 6 that us three camp counselors (Kristin Harpold, Jason Cancino and I) prayed over each camper at the last night’s “knighting ceremony.” Taking each camper individually, we “knighted” them a knight of God, prayed over them, and shared with them the qualities in them that were strong, those things they needed to hear that were good and right and wonderful about each of them. As we stood out under an open blanket of stars in the Trinity Pines lakeside amphitheater, facing a beautifully lit cross seemingly standing on the water, it was a moving and emotional end to summer camp. We had tears, and so did many of our own campers.
With twice daily worship, daily small group bible study activities and quiet time work, the theme of camp this year focused on being a knight of God. They studied 1 Peter 2:17 and learned about honoring others, respecting authority, brotherly love, and fearing God. They learned about having faith (being brave when facing fears) and what we can do to grow our faith. And most of all, they heard the salvation message – two nights, two different pastors presented the Gospel, sharing exactly what it means to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. One night, there was a short drama of how Christ stepped in to take punishment that we deserve. At every worship, kids were invited to pray silently to themselves…. asking Him to be the leader of their life for the first time, or asking for help to come back to Him because they may not be leading life as a knight of God should be. During this camp, out of 350 campers, around 70 of those walked to the front of worship to talk with a counselor about accepting Christ into their heart. Three of those were from our own church group.
We took nineteen 3rd – 5th graders this year to Camp Trinity Pines near Lake Livingston – this was our largest group so far. We were blessed to have Kristin Harpold and Jason Cancino take precious time off of work and away from family to be on mission for these kids. Even though it is very rewarding and lots of fun, it certainly is not an easy job for the counselors – keeping track of 19 kids stuff, making sure they actually get into the shower, and taking care of all sorts of minor boo boo’s and some headaches from not drinking enough water in the sun. Next time you see these counselors at church, be sure to give them a big hug, or at the least thank God for them in your prayers. They did an incredible thing ministering to these kids, and even others from other church groups.
Of course we had a blast every day doing and going…..the zip line, rock walls, lake blob, canoes, relays, swimming, field games, sand pit dodgeball, black light dodgeball (now, THAT is fun to do dodgeball in the DARK and call it “The Dungeon”). ALL of the kids lived for the twice daily worship time where the band rocked the house, led the kids in loud songs where they danced and stomped and shouted rhymes. We sweated and sweated some more, but it was ok, because there were enough smiles and laughter to overcome that pesky sun.
Better than all that though were the interpersonal lessons learned by the kids. This year more than ever, we had great conversations about relating to others. God brings who He wants to bring to church camp….kids from all backgrounds, all nationalities, all family situations and more. There are plenty of kids from non-believing backgrounds at church camp. This creates an interesting dynamic, bringing kids together with others of differing beliefs – yet, in a safe environment, surrounded by loving Christian adults who can guide them through questions they have about relating to each other. And, this isn’t just within our own church group, but church groups mix during the first half of each day at camp, so kids are mixed with others that they don’t know at all for each part of the day. Kids are placed in a situation to pair up with others who they probably wouldn’t normally be friends with at school. This was the recurring topic of conversation, I found, between us counselors and the kids. It was a great way to talk about being on mission to others, how to show Jesus to others, what exactly to say to others in certain situations, and how to pray for people, to recognize that compassion for others is part of being a Christ follower.
Thank you to all of you who donated towards our camp scholarship fund. You enabled four children to attend this camp, you provided for our van rental, and your help contributed to 19 children being impacted for the Lord this Summer over 5 days. Before we left camp to return home, many of them were already talking about next year’s camp, and saying they weren’t ready to go home yet! The best comment I heard was one of our boys who said: “I don’t want to go home, I want to stay here and keep hearing about Jesus!”
Please continue to keep Crossbridge kids in your prayers. They want so desperately to both fit in and be led. Pray for confidence in their faith, discernment and love for Jesus to overcome them each.
‘Til next year…..maybe I’ll have caught up on my sleep before then…!
Tisha
