2019 Summer Recap

Hard to believe another summer has come and gone (even if Siri says it doesn’t officially end until Sept 22).

We’re now settling in to our “down time” of the year with fundraising events, 2020 summer camp planning, work projects, staff recruiting, hosting off-season retreats, and finding a home for all these towels left behind from the summer.

Before we get too far entrenched with our off-season activities though, we wanted to give you a recap on this past summer.

As you may already know, this summer’s “non-theme” theme was simply the gospel. We spent time with our campers showing them the entirety of God’s story: “Creation”, “The Fall”, “Rescue”, and “Restoration”, and then took them through how to live out God’s story and then also share it.

Here’s a brief rundown of each camp:

• Base Camp: Discipleship Training Program (High School) – This camp was new in that we combined our traditional high school camp with our summer staff training camp. We used this 10-day camp as an opportunity to dig deeper than we normally do with this age group as we keyed in on areas such as specialized Bible training, apologetics, spiritual disciplines, hands-on ministry training, biblical conflict resolution, why we serve others, and what it means to be a disciple of Christ. One of the highlights was having the Managing Director of Search ministries (a national apologetics organization) out for a couple of sessions to provide training for our campers and staff in defending their faith and having meaningful conversations with others about God.
  • “I felt that I grew a lot closer to Jesus because the chapel time and prayer times were really moving and helped me…” – Base Camper
  • “Camp was awesome! Just listen to those testimonials last evening!!! So encouraging! We are pumped about camp!” – Base Camp Staff Member
• Discovery Camp (3rd-6th grade) – Several campers came to faith, made rededications, and were baptized during Discovery Camp. One of the highlights of the week was an exchange between a 5th grade camper and one of our speakers after an evening chapel session on “Restoration”. This particular camper went on and on about how he’s never been so excited about heaven because he didn’t realize how incredible it would be. He went on to then tell our speaker that if he (the speaker) ever feels down, he just needs to remember that he’ll one day be with Jesus too.
  • “This is the best week I have had at camp in years.” – Discovery Camp Staff Member
• Girls Quest Camp (6th-9th grade girls) – This first-time girls only camp had plenty for our young ladies with a spa night, glow party, “Get Fancy” banquet, and talent show. Daily “TAG” (Time Alone with God) was also built in each morning for the girls which ended up being extended after several girls requested that it be longer than the allotted 20 minutes.
  • “My daughter had an amazing time at camp last week. She was just glowing when I picked her up and she had so much fun & learned a lot. I will definitely send her back next summer. She said she wished she could have stayed at camp for 3 months!! Thank you for putting together such a great staff; they truly discipled all the girls.” – Girls Quest Camper Mom
  • “I think that God made me feel loved, and I hadn’t felt that in a long time.” -Girls Quest Camper
  • “Favorite thing: Getting to hang out with God with no distractions.” -Girls Quest Camper
  • “I watched the Lord working in the hearts of my campers especially as they all thoroughly enjoyed the ‘TAG’ time in the mornings and shared the new things they were learning about God! The girls in our dorm benefitted so much from the rest time and early bedtime and the amount of free time built some dorm unity I haven’t observed in any other camp! Thank you for being used by Him, you guys!” – Girls Quest Staff Member
• Boys Quest Camp (6th-9th grade boys) – Our first-year boys only camp saw two young boys brought to tears after separate chapel sessions after realizing their need for a savior and the sacrifice Christ made in their place. These are two boys who both come from Christian homes, but whose hearts weren’t ready to receive the gospel until this year’s camp. One of the boys couldn’t stop saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” because he was so overwhelmed by Jesus dying on the cross because of his own sin. In addition to these two young men, there were several other rededications throughout the week.
• Explorers Camp (2nd-4th grade) – Another brand new offering this summer,  Explorers Camp was our shortest summer camp session designed to help our youngest campers “test the waters” of an overnight camp experience. One of the most memorable moments from the weekend had to have been this hard-hitting illustration during one of our chapel sessions.

Please be praying that God would use what our campers learned this summer to grow them closer to Him and to also share His story with others that need to hear it.

Blessings!