In the past 14 out of 20 years, I've spent at least one week of my life in a college dorm, on a sub par mattress, eating okay food, without my family, so that other parents' teenagers could travel 1.5 hours away, have a really long sleepover and play lots of crazy games. Okay, well, if that's all it was, I don't really know if it would've been worth the investment of my time or sacrifice of my family. Probably not.
Summer camp can be a sacrifice for almost everyone other than the student. Parents are sacrificing money. Camp can be expensive. Even our leaders are paying a portion of their own hard-earned money to take other people's children to camp; not to mention using their personal vacation time. That time and money could be used for something so much more tropical AND RELAXING. Ha! Don't get me going. I could come up with a list of sacrifices here!
But there's an upside to this camp-thing. More than games, thousands of calories in gummy bears, Pringles and Prime energy drinks (all working in unison to send our teens into eternity a little faster), there's dedicated time for worship, relevant teaching from God's word and group prayer and conversation. I've seen students confess and repent publicly their sins before the group. I've watched a student get up out of worship, go to the lobby and call a friend at home to share the gospel. I've even seen students leave camp and spend the next several months memorizing chapters and even whole books of the Bible. I've also seen a hundred pranks that I will not confirm nor deny my involvement.
So, DO NOT send your teen to camp this summer unless...you want to give them focused time away to unplug from this crazy world (who doesn't need that?!), connect with other teens around the truth of God's word, be called to a life devoted to Jesus Christ, and potentially walk away after 5 days being radically transformed for the glory of God. Camp Realities 101: Your teen may come home cranky after sleeping 5 hours in 5 days. Moms, think of it like a sick and twisted payback for all the times you slept 5 hours in 5 days after they were born. Both of you are making an investment that can change the course of their lives!
Will you pray?
- Ask the Lord of the harvest to bring every teen that really needs to have this particular time at camp. (i.e., need to be spiritually refreshed; needs personal/relational repentance; needs to be saved; needs to mature spiritually; to call some to full-time vocational ministry)
- Pray for our leaders to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to have strength, wisdom, and courage to care for your teens well.
What are next steps?
1) Register your student for camp! HERE!
2) Will you consider helping us scholarship students to camp? Click HERE!
Written By: Bobby Markham
