Reflections on a Week a Camp

This week I was the leader of a camp for kids. Fourth through six graders. Half were boys and half were girls. Bunk beds, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a few home sick kids, swimming, dirty clothes, bug bites, campfires, and s’mores. You know the drill.

Most camps aren’t thriving in today’s culture. Too much competition for that. Camping seems almost an oddity in our world of comfort and conveniences. We spend most of the day outside. No electronics or cell phones are allowed. Us adults aren’t even supposed to use them unless we have an emergency, like writing a column for the weekend’s bulletin. But after a day of adjusting to our new lifestyle, most of us do just fine. 

The best part of the camp is the kids. Most are from rural Nebraska. They still see the world with a wide-eyed optimism. Some are social. Some are socially awkward. Some are mature eleven year olds. Some are naïve eight year olds. All are trying to find their place in the world. 

My favorite time is sharing the Gospel with them around the campfire at night. Campfires seem a little out of place when it’s been 100 degrees all day and the air temperature still hovers in the mid 90s, but the Gospel is never out of place. I don’t talk about too much: God’s love, faith, forgiveness, grace, salvation, and their potential are the only things they get to hear which is just as well because if they ever manage to figure out even half these things they just might find their place in the world. 

The boy with autism. The girl who never wanted to be there but did her best the whole time. The boys who always raced to the front of the line when it was time to eat. The four Sudanese girls. The baseball player with the tough exterior and the soft heart. The over-worked and under-paid counselors. God created all of them and even brought all of them together for five days in the drought-stricken prairie. As I was praying to close worship last night, God gave me a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Some of the girls were trying to guess how old I was yesterday. I got everything from 25 to 37. Flattery. Then one of the boys said his mom and dad were both 42. A girl replied, “That is so old.” Reality. 

Reality will come tomorrow afternoon and I’m good with that. I have a wife and two kids I miss. I’ll be a week behind on my work at the church and look forward to catching up. I’ll finally get to watch some of the Olympics. 

But the lesson from the week is as profound as it is clear: great and beautiful things happen when a diverse group of people gather to intentionally seek God and live as disciples. I look forward to doing this with you during the next seasons and years of our life. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig