Post-Camp Celebration

14 Feb Post-Camp Celebration

On Sunday, January 30^th, our church auditorium was almost filled with our usual church members, plus our camp participants and their parents. We invited the children who participated in any of the three weeks of Bible camp this year along with their families to join us as we worshipped our Father followed by a camp celebration.  We enjoyed a beautiful worship service geared towards our visitors.  During our usual Bible class hour, we had a celebration of Bible camp and included a video of the children and all their experiences, Bible story skits performed by the children, and some of the children shared their favorite things about camp.  We had approximately 100 visitors, many of them for the first time. The elders of our church shared a sincere plea to each of the families to join our family and allow God to transform them for His glory and honor.  We also had the privilege of witnessing a baptism resulting from the third week of camp. During camp there were 2 other teens baptized as they gave themselves fully to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Concerns for COVID caused us to cancel camp last year, but this year we were determined to proceed with camp, taking all the necessary precautions to avoid illness.  We tested our staff weekly, just before the new campers arrived.  We also had a doctor on staff each week to treat any illnesses and test for Covid when necessary.  There were plenty of sore throats (mainly from screaming), but mostly bruises and scrapes from all the fun. We thank God that everyone stayed clear of Covid and that we were able to complete the three weeks of camp without any significant illnesses.

After the celebration, Phil and I invited the camp staff for pizza and cake.  It was a fun time of fellowship and gave us the opportunity to thank each of them personally for their sacrifice and service.  Every camp leader shared how the experience was spiritually uplifting for them personally and how encouraged they felt after serving in this way.