This summer I was fortunate enough or unfortunate enough (depending on your viewpoint) to go on 2 summer camps. Both were for a week but their style and delivery were very different. The whole experience led me to reflect on the concept of summer camps and the merits or otherwise of doing them. They can be incredibly hard work particularly for the volunteer leaders, they can take a great deal of organisation and they carry with them a huge burden of responsibility for other people’s children. And yet, every year thousands of leaders and children go away to various parts of the British Isles and even the world to camp, indoors or under canvas. That left me wondering, why do we do it?
For me, it’s because more than anything else we do in our programmes a camp is an adventure for the young people, in every sense of the word. For some it is the first time away from home for a whole week, for others it is the first time sleeping in a tent for a week. It might be discovering what the leaders are really like over an extended period of time or it might be learning more about themselves in a different environment and with different people. It may be doing an activity they’ve never done before or it might even be a camp romance (if it happens to be a mixed camp).
However, the most exciting adventure for me on a camp is the spiritual adventure that comes out of the devotional times that we have with our young people. There is a chance to really get into discussions about Christianity and how we can apply it to our daily living. It can be an opportunity for the young people to see first-hand how their leaders live out their faith and for the leaders to get alongside the young people. I was blessed to be on both the camps I attended because not only did a considerable number of the young people move forward in their faith and make a commitment to follow Jesus but I myself found my faith challenged, renewed and restored through the whole experience.
So in answer to my question, summer camps: good or bad? The answer would have to be resounding good! I would encourage every group to consider some sort of residential experience with their Juniors or Company and Seniors, whether it’s an overnight trip locally or a two week project overseas. They have the potential to be an amazing adventure and to transform lives and I say that as someone whose life was transformed.
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