This past Sunday Chad Campbell from Good Earth Village (our
Bible camp near Spring Valley) came to Peace and talked about the wonders of a
camping experience. Memories from my
younger days flooded back to me. Bible
camps changed my life.
I’ll never forget the absolutely wacky camp counselors. These college age men and women were the
height of coolness. They put on bizarre
skits. They played practical jokes on
each other. They led us in huge games
like capture the flag and hide the counselor.
They loved Jesus. I wanted to
grow up and be just…like…them!
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| A Young Pastor Pete - The Camp Man with a Plan |
As I look back on things, I was a typically self-conscious
kid. For 51 weeks of the year I obsessed
about what others would think of me. For
that one week of camp, I felt free to be my wacky self. I remember the time that some girls dressed me
and my cabin mates in drag (hair…make-up…the works) as we shared our lip
synching ‘talent’ with the whole camp. Another
time, my cabin got ‘dinged’ during cabin inspections for having too many shoes
on the floor, so we proceeded to gather hundreds of shoes from people all over
camp. At the next inspection shoes
covered the floor…the beds…even the rafters. One camp tradition was that people
who received 3 or more letters from home had to sing to everyone before
receiving them. The day before I left
for camp I’d mail 20 post cards to my buddy Craig, ensuring that he’d get
nailed! The fun that I had that one week
a year exceeded anything that I experienced back home.
Bible Camp was a place where I felt free to be myself. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this
happened because camp provided a safe place for me to experience the
unconditional love of Jesus. Every aspect
of camp, from swimming to singing, from laughing to reading the Bible, from
counselors to cooks, oozed with the deep message, “God loves you just the way
you are.” As a kid, I desperately needed to hear that word. I didn’t have to conform to someone else’s
definition of ‘cool.’ God gave me my
weird sense of humor, and at camp I could use it.
Bible Camp became a place where I grew deep in my
relationship with Jesus. The awesome
counselors provided wonderful examples of people who loved their Lord. They put on goofy skits that told the story of
God’s work in the world. They led us in
times of quiet reflection on our lives of faith. They sat us down and taught us about the God
who has done so much for us. Every year
I left camp with a deeper relationship with the God who claimed me. I found that following Jesus wasn’t just
about rules and regulations! I
experienced the absolute joy of the Lord.
A week at Bible camp can change a kid’s life...it did for
me! That’s what happens when the unconditional
love of Jesus washes over people.
For more information about Good Earth Village, check out their website at
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