Camp

Camp was a blast. I am the camp director for a week-long, echumenical, charismatic, Christian boys camp for Middle School aged boys. I remember vividly my first year, as a 7th grader, in 1982. I had an amazing time at camp. My three years of camp as a camper changed my life. I've been to camp every year (except one) since 1982.

This year we had 104 boys and a huge number of amazing staff. The theme for the week was taken from Romans 8 (one of the parts of the Bible). "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba Father." The Spirit himselfe testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..." Romans 8:15-17

This passage is very rich and meaningful in many ways. We talked about the Prodigal Son, which is a story Jesus told to a crowd of people. You can read about it in Luke 15. It is a story of forgiveness and mercy, and the joy of seeing someone who was lost come home and be found in good standing. Sin is a big deal. It is not some insignificant thing. In fact, it is such a big deal that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Accepting this great gift from God means that our sins are forgiven. Our adversary, the devil, accuses us and makes us feel ashamed and guilty when we sin. Often, we try to do as Adam and Eve did when they first sinned; they tried to hide from God. When we find ourselves in sin we often stay away from prayer or church until we "get our act together." The problem is that we, like the prodigal son, have nothing but pig crap to stand in. We are powerless to overcome sin and weaknesses on our own. And, just like the prodigal son, we need our Father to clothe us in the best robes, to put a ring on our finger, and to have the best life we can have. The act of putting on the best robes, the gold ring, and having the best calf killed for the party for his son, who was dead but is now alive, who was lost, but is now found, is the act of mercy. This is a very accurate description of how our Father sees us when we turn to him and repent. Rather than yell at us or punish us, he sees us for who we really are - his lost son who came home. We aren't the scum of the earth. We aren't terrible people. We are heirs to all that our Father has, and co-heirs with Christ. The robe is status and comfort to the lost son. It reminds him that he is still his father's son. It reminds him that he is still an heir. The ring is the authority as a son. The authority is restored. The accuser, the devil, has nothing to say to the Father's heir because the son has real authority and real acceptance by the Father. Neat stuff!

We also talked about the fact that our only hope is in God. As children of God, we can boldly ask our Father for what we need to live out our lives the way He calls us to live them out. We also have the responsibility to share the love of the Father with others because, as it says in Romans, all of creation groans and waits for the revelation of God's sons. God wants to set all of creation free from slavery through us. That is amazing power that He has given to us. It is real power, and we need not fear anything, because it comes from God, the Father.

Many kids were touched by God, freed to experience the Father's love, freed from shame, guilt, condemnation, and performance spirituality (a type of unhealthy external perfectionism that is twisted into performing for others, rather than accepting God's love for who we are and being real with Him and others about our flaws and weaknesses as we cry out to God our Father for help in dealing with our internal struggles). Lots of kids just fell in love with God at camp and had a great time in prayer and in worship. Many received spiritual gifts from God to heal the sick, care for the poor, preach the Gospel to the lost, and to pray powerfully for people.

We played a sweet game of Conquest ( a complex game that combines team-building activities, capture the flag, and tag). It really looked like campers and staff were having fun. It was a very hot week, but we really didn't have much difficulty with heat exhaustion.

I was very impressed with the talks this year. Last year I was frustrated that several of the guys spoke for over an hour! This year, they were short, interesting, and powerful. Many of the kids commented to me that they enjoyed the talks and found them very helpful.

The food was better this year. For several years, the quality and quantity of the food was getting worse and worse. This year I had very few complaints about the food.

The Gong Show was great. There were many hilarious skits. Much laughter! I even got in on the Gong Show and let an 80 pound kid beat me up in a boxing match in which I did not hit him back. I had several clipboards broken over my head. I dented a steel music stand with my head.

I had a great time watching the Junior Counselors embrace their roles and step up as leaders and counselors. I was very impressed.

God only knows if we will have camp next year. I hope we have camp again next year. Hundreds of kids have come to camp over the years and have met God, fallen in love with God, and have had their lives changed forever. I have a heavy heart about this. I don't want to belittle parents and be overly critical; I realize that I am not a parent and have no clue how hard it is to be a parent. I just wish parents would take more seriously their duty to evangelize their children, see them as precious gifts (even teenagers), and enjoy them more. It breaks my heart to hear of parents yelling and raging at their children for things like forgetting to turn lights off in the house, getting a B instead of an A, and for expressing how they really feel about life. As a teacher I sometimes get calls from parents who are outraged with their kids for getting an A- instead of an A. I really wish such parents would step back for a moment and see how amazing their kids really are, and just play with their kids. How many fathers rough-house and throw a ball around with their kids? I know there are plenty who do these things with their kids, but there are so many who don't have a clue how to enjoy their kids. I have been doing youth work for 18 years and I NEVER encountered a bad kid. Every single one of them have been precious, amazing, and enjoyable kids. How many parents pull their kids aside to let them know they are awesome?

This is one of the reasons why I don't want to see camp end. It is a chance for God to let these boys know that even though they may not be the best students. or the best athletes, or the best behaved, even though they are sometimes forgetful and egocentric, God not only loves them, but enjoys them just as they are. This isn't to say that parents should let their children be mediocre. I just think it is better to build a kid up rather than tear him down.