Cadence of Camp
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. Pericle
You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts, 2 Corinthians 3:3 NIV
This week, many of my dear friends and associates are serving at West Coast Honor Camp, a Christian camp that I joyfully served at for more than a decade. Every year, hundreds of happy campers, middle school through high school students, would attend for a week to share time with God, each other, staff, and themselves (minus cell phones!). It was always such a precious time of fellowship, fun, and, most of all, faith. Somehow, it’s always easier to love and learn in a beautiful natural environment without the distractions of technology and the wider world.
From mornings of quiet introspection memorizing and learning about Scripture to breakfast shared with friends as well as Bible study time and rollicking fun game time. Lunch, again shared with friends, followed by quiet time. Afternoon free time to hang with friends, swim, visit the nature center, play paintball, make crafts…to enjoy relaxed time with others pursuing your individual interests or even just resting. Finally, dinner time, more games, and ending with worship and thought provoking messages by speakers followed by individual talk time in cabins.
For high school students, there were three days of preparing for a ministry trip which would then take place mid week at a variety of locations. Ministry trips to give students experience in serving in a variety of ways. There is a trip to a park to hold a mini Vacation Bible School hour with games, songs, lessons, and testimonies of faith. Another group might do a similar, but modified program when visiting seniors living in a care facility. Still another group might be working in a homeless shelter. And one group always did hard physical labor requiring team work while clearing ground at a sister camp. Students were always amazed at how enjoyable and interesting it was to work in each of the settings. Service often inspired students to go home and serve in their own communities in a variety of ways. Sometimes, it even inspired students to choose a career path (such as gerontology).
Above all, students and staff alike shared the experience of camp to connect and grow in faith and fellowship. Those were such special years for me and I’m still in touch with many of the girls that shared cabin time with me; they are an amazing group of women, many of whom have gone on to pursue careers as professionals or homemakers. It brings me great happiness to see them moving along in life with marriages, children, and working and serving in their own communities.
Sometimes, I think about going back to camp, but God has moved me in other directions and I realize that season is past now…and it’s okay. Currently, God is using Paths of Joy, both the daily blog and nature photograph…so that is a big way in which I touch lives of others now. Still, any of you who have ever gone to a summer camp, Christian or otherwise, know that familiar tug of nostalgia recalling wonderful memories of camp times past…times that helped define our lives and helped create who we are now.
May you be blessed with memories of summer camps…or perhaps moved to volunteer at a summer camp to make a difference in the lives of others….which always makes a difference in our lives as well. And if camp is not your cup of tea, find another way to volunteer this summer. Make summer memories that will warm both your heart and the hearts of others!