“They
say the happiest place on earth is Disneyland. They’re
wrong, it’s camp.”
As difficult as it is to believe, summer is a
few weeks away. Summer break will be here soon. So what are your children doing
this summer?
Hopefully, you have some vacation time
planned with the whole family. As the nice weather arrives, I hope you’re
trimming the schedule to the essentials, making room and planning quality and
quantity family time.
If you’re a grandparent, I hope you use this time
while school is out to spend chunks of time with your grandchildren. It’s an excuse
to give their parents a break and a great opportunity for you to invest in their
lives. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are of staying with my
grandparents in South Georgia. So have
you considered Christian camp this coming summer? A week at a Christian camp can be life changing for a
young person. I hope you’ll seriously consider sending your child off to a good
one for a week or two.
After graduating from high school, I worked at
a Christian camp as a counselor and lifeguard in upstate New York. It was a
great opportunity to invest in the lives of young people, most of them from the
sin-saturated world around New York City. Some of them made decisions for
Christ that week, whether for salvation or committing their life to Him. When I
get Home, I hope to meet a few of those campers and learn that the summer of
1977 at Camp Robin Hood was when they came to know Jesus.
For most parents, there are more options than
funds. Yet, investing in a week of Christian camp can help set the trajectory
of your child’s life for a godly outcome which can carry them through
adulthood. It can be one of the best investments you’ll ever make in the lives
of your children. Why?
Long time friendships. Your children
are going to have friends. The key question is: What kind of friends? Will they be Christian friends with a biblical
worldview? Christian camps are staffed by college age young people committed to
Christ who love the Lord. Your child is going to have someone besides you
sharing a biblical worldview. Your child will potentially ask questions, share
fears and hopes with these godly leaders they might never share with you.
They’re going to be given responses which line up with what Scripture teaches.
With technology they potentially will remain friends with these leaders and
other campers for years to come. They’ll hear Bible teaching from someone who
knows how to relate to them. They’re going to have the same biblical truth we
teach at Grace affirmed. It will give it more credibility in their skeptical
world.
They are going to experience God’s glorious
creation. A week at camp will give them a much needed break from technology
so they can experience God’s handiwork and really listen to the Lord. Camp will
keep them so busy having fun and building relationships, that after a few hours
they’ll forget they don’t have their phone, aren’t watching TV or playing video
games. They won’t care about texting because they’re talking to real people. A
technology fast helps them learn technology isn’t crucial and they can actually
survive without it. They’ll learn how to build relationships and how much fun,
not to mention, how fulfilling life is without it. Most importantly, they have
an easier time focusing on what really matters – eternal matters, because they’re
not so distracted.
Quality
spiritual nourishment. For a week, they have the opportunity to
saturate their minds and hearts with God’s Word. Many young people come back
from camp on a “spiritual high” because they’ve actually tasted the greatness
of God and His Word. Spending time each day studying God’s word, hearing Bible
lessons, praying together and singing praises to God will do that to you! Afterwards,
it’s an opportunity for your home to take some new spiritual directions because
your child is on your team, rather than opposing what you want to do as a
family spiritually.
But Christian camp isn’t only for kids. All of us, even sophisticated adults,
need times like this too. Most of us would do well to take a page from the
Christian camp handbook. We can make our homes a place where our kids hang out
with Christian friends, have limited technological distractions, spend time
studying the Bible, singing praises to God and enjoying His creation. This
summer why not determine to make your home a place where your kids are spiritually
charged up all year long?
At
Grace Church we are a family…and family takes care of family! A
constant theme of Scripture is of those in the family with more financial
resources helping those who don’t have them. With our commitment to a new
building, we rarely challenge you with other financial needs. Our new building is
merely a tool to help us see lives changed. We are committed to investing
generationally! Young people are our greatest hope to impact our world in the years
to come.
We
have some families at Grace who can’t afford to send their child to camp. Or,
they have several children and can’t afford to send all of them. We have
families where going out to eat is big treat. For a few, they may need help
with all of the costs. For most, they just need a little help.
Because we believe this is so important, we’re asking those who can to
please give to a Christian camp scholarship fund, along with their regular
giving. We’ll then use this fund to assist families who wouldn’t be able to
send their child to camp. Please understand, too, we’ll only be collecting
these funds for scholarships this week and next Sunday.
Perhaps
your own children are grown or you just feel passionate about investing in the
next generation. Please pray about it and if the Lord lays it on your heart to
help a child go to a Christian camp, then give accordingly.
Looking for quality used Christian books and other types of books at prices lower than even Amazon. Check out our family's online used bookstore at resurrectedreads.com or visit our store at the Waterford Unique Antique Market at 209 North Milwaukee Street in Waterford, WI -- .
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