SEP Ohio

SEP Ohio:
a Journey With Jesus

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio—SEP Ohio was home to 112 teen and 50 preteen campers together with 56 staff June 22 to 27 at Camp Cotubic in central Ohio. Most campers and staff came from Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Pennsylvania, with a few from as far away as Texas and Florida.

Several campers participated for the first time (including several not associated with any church). Angel Tree Mission sponsored two preteen campers. (Angel Tree is a group that ministers to children whose parents are in prison.)

Camper scholarships

Thanks to the generosity of several WCG congregations, many kids were enabled to attend camp through partial or full scholarships. The value of this mission outreach was confirmed when several of those who were scholarshiped came to faith in Christ and were baptized.

BAPTISM—Camper baptized in lake.
[Photos by Jay Richie]

Before the start of camp, Tom Smith, a WCG pastor and director and chaplain of the preteen campers and staff, mobilized 18 WCG congregations in the Great Lakes district in praying for the kids who would attend camp.

God answered those prayers in a powerful way as confirmed in a letter that Jim Valekis, SEP Ohio director, wrote to staff following camp: “Wow! What a week. It’s over, we survived, and actually thrived in the presence of Christ that was so abundantly clear at SEP Ohio!

“Twenty-two kids were baptized—many more made commitments to Christ and commitments to evangelize. In one breakout session alone, more than 200 names were placed on the kids’ most wanted list for evangelizing and discipling.”

THE BLOB

Recreational activities at SEP Ohio included basketball, volleyball, rock wall, zip line, archery, water trampoline, the blob (see picture), water slide, water polo, boating, dance and drama. Special events included a water balloon battle, sock hop, mud pit and a formal banquet.

MUD PIT

Connecting with Christ

While these events provided memorable times of fun, many campers commented that what they would remember most were the times of worship and fellowship that connected them to Jesus Christ and to one another. Worship times at SEP Ohio included a praise and worship evening, fireside chats, morning devotional times and daily chapels for teen and preteen campers.

EXTENDED TIMES OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP

Chapels for the teens were based on the camp’s theme: Journey with Jesus. The journey was explored in a five-part chapel teaching-series written for all the U.S. camps by camp chaplain Ted Johnston: Jesus’ person (knowing Jesus personally), Jesus’ passion (love for God and for people), Jesus’ purpose (to make disciples who make disciples), Jesus’ provision (his gift of the Holy Spirit) and Jesus’ promise (to be with us always).

The series was taught in the camp by several WCG pastors, collaborating with young staff members who provided testimonies, dramatic readings and skits to illustrate each message.

The chapels also included extended times of praise and worship through music (provided by the camp’s Ragamuffin Praise Band led by Pastor Rick Shallenberger). After each chapel, campers were led by their counselors in debrief discussions that strengthened their understanding of the chapel messages. The chapels were also supplemented by three breakout sessions that discussed personal evangelism, the doctrine of salvation and being a lifelong follower of Jesus.

Preteen chapel

Pastor Tom Smith led preteen campers in their own chapel each day with teaching centered on Group Publishing’s Super Cool Underwater Bible Adventure Program” (S.C.U.B.A.) Vacation Bible School curriculum. Preteen campers also had their own recreational activities including arts and crafts and many of the activities enjoyed by the teen campers.

Changing lives

God used the camp in a powerful way to reach out to young people—drawing many to Jesus Christ for the first time and building many more in their love for Christ and for his body, the church, as confirmed by the following excerpted letter from Autumn Metcalf from the Dayton, Ohio, area. She wrote after returning home from camp where she had been baptized.

“I am writing this letter to say thank you for everything that you and the church have done for me. I found Christ and took him into my heart. It has taken me almost 19 years to find him. At first when my mom asked me to go to church I didn’t want to go. Finally I said yes. I wanted to see what was making her so happy.

“At first I was nervous. Would everyone judge me like the other churches in the past? But as soon as I walked in the doors everyone made me feel welcome. I felt like everyone was part of one big family.

“A lot has happened in my life and I have felt empty. Well, due to the church and the grace of God, I am happy to wake up in the mornings and be so full of life. The Lord is in me and I’m proud to say that that my heart belongs to him. Keep the Lord in your heart and keep showing the way for others in the Lord’s name.”

Autumn’s letter points out one of the key strategies of the camp—to connect youths with Christ and their congregation back home. SEP Ohio, like all WCG SEP camps, exists to support the local church in advancing youth ministry—reaching out to lost youths, building up young believers in the faith, equipping young believers to be workers with Christ in and through their local church, and multiplying young leaders to serve in the local church. By working in partnership with the SEP Ohio staff, many local churches powerfully advanced Christ’s disciplemaking mission.

Contributors to this article: Jim Valekis, SEP Ohio camp director; Jay Richie, SEP Ohio staff member. Ted Johnston, SEP Ohio camp chaplain.

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