Encountering God at Camp

Camps play a vital role in the way we minister to and through young people. In this special edition of Speaking of Life, we’re on location with our youth camp in Southern California’s San Bernardino mountains.

In our denomination, we’re blessed to have hundreds of adults and older teens who faithfully serve as staff members in our many camps. These camps are devoted to helping children and teens encounter Jesus. This year in the United States, we have 15 camps, and we’re thankful to have many more in other parts of the world.

It’s been said that “WCG” stands for “We Camp Good.”  I thank God for this special gift, because it seems to us that our Heavenly Father takes great joy in using camps to transform the hearts and lives of young people.

In our experience, camps are places where people of all generations – children, teens, adults, and in some cases whole families – share the joy and love of God in Christ.

Our camps are designed to be Christ-centered, cross-generational environments – places of refuge, renewal and mission where participants leave behind everyday distractions and focus on the relationship with God that he has given us in Jesus.

In short, our camps are places to encounter God.

Our camp here in Southern California is called SEP SoCal, which stands for Spiritual Enrichment Program, Southern California. It’s directed by WCG Pastor Mark Stapleton and his wife Anne , who live in San Diego, California.

Mark:  Welcome to SEP So Cal.  Anne and I are privileged to lead a staff of 80 men and women in serving 188 campers. Our campers vary in age from 8 to 19.  Our principal goal here is simple, yet profound. We want everyone here – campers and staffers – to have an encounter with Jesus Christ – and by doing so learn even more deeply that God loves them.

Anne:  We’ve learned that this message about God’s love is more “caught” than “taught.” So our goal is that our campers would experience a loving God through a loving staff in an environment that is both safe and fun.

Mark:  The fun here comes in many forms – sometimes quite challenging.  At SEP So Cal we have archery, riflery, high ropes challenge course, swimming, canoeing, water polo, team building, creative arts, drama, dance class and water slide.

Anne:  Even  in the fun and activity, our focus is on helping the campers encounter Jesus Christ. We seek to show his love to the campers in tangible ways and we look for “teachable moments” to tell them in words about their Savior and his love for them.

A primary focus of this teaching comes in our chapel services where the awareness of God’s presence is heightened.

Mark:  The messages in our chapels and our Christian living classes focus on Jesus Christ’s faithfulness to us as God’s children – a faithfulness that is our source of assurance and our source of motivation to participate with Jesus as he ministers in the world.

We want campers and staffers to leave here with a deeper conviction of God’s total and unconditional love for them, and then knowing that, to have a deeper desire to serve God in our world.

Joseph Tkach:  My thanks to Mark and Anne and all the staff who serve our camps around the world. You are all making a lasting difference in many young lives.

If you are a young person interested in coming to camp or an adult who would like to send a child or teen to one of our camps, you can find out more about our camp and event ministries website.

If you would like to sponsor all or a portion of a young person’s camp experience, just call us at 1 800 423-4444 or go to www.wcg.org/go/camps.

These camps are a wonderful opportunity for our young people to have lots of fun, experience new challenges and make friends – all in a Christian environment.   

I’m Joseph Tkach, Speaking of LIFE.

Copyright 2008 Grace Communion International