Saturday, June 30, 2007

Young Life Summer Camp

photos should be coming soon once my friends upload them onto facebook and tag me.  in the meantime, i’ll just write a short intro.

the camp was at lake city, michigan; home of natural and man-made lakes.  for those of you unfamiliar with young life, it’s a non-denominational, relational youth ministry at its finest (i’m biased, of course).  as a leader, i make an effort to live life with a group of high school kids throughout their high school career until they graduate.  so that usually means at least 4 years of mentoring, hanging out, challenging each other, and learning to live a meaningful, Christian life.  some high schoolers aren’t Christians, others have grown up in Christian families.  my group is mostly Christians attending Forest Hills Northern Public High School.

every summer, we head off to one of many Young Life camps scattered throughout the country.  the Young Life organization owns these camps, and the camps are staffed by student volunteers who sometimes fly across the country to serve others.  for a week, campers get away from cell phones, internet, and television and experience Christ’s love.  a typical day might be like this:

9:30 - breakfast
10:15 - free time
10:30 - club
11:30 - free time
12:30 - lunch
1:30 - camp activities
6:30 - dinner
7:30 - free time
8:30 - club
10:30 - cabin time
11:30 - bedtime

club is the time when there is a short skit, sometimes involving audience participation, some sing-along-songs (ie. 50 cent), multimedia presentations, and a talk by the featured speaker.  this year, eric kuiper of grand rapids spoke.  he reminds me of pastor rob bell at my church, mars hill bible church.  i heard a rumor that kuiper and bell actually know each other, which might be why they are so similar.

during free time, campers can do various things.  there are basketball courts, a climbing wall, mountain biking trails, a blob, tubing, beach volleyball courts, pool tables, foosball tables, ping pong tables, shuffleboard tables, arts and crafts, ziplines, rope swings, and the list goes on.  there’s so much stuff to do that campers rarely get bored.  free time is a great time for us leaders to hang out with kids and build some relationships.  i definitely spent lots of time playing pool, basketball, beach volleyball, and ping pong.

cabin time might be my favorite time of the day.  during this time, our cabin gets together and reflects on kuiper’s talk.  a lot of us open up and talk about where we’re at in our lives.  cabin time is a great time for asking difficult questions, finding encouragement, and sharing our burdens.  every year i’ve been at camp, my cabin has opened up and has been real with one another.  there’s an environment of trust that encourages people to speak up without fear of judgment.

as a leader, i had no intentions on pushing my faith on my high schoolers.  instead, i was right there with them, asking difficult questions and struggling to find answers.  but there’s something beautiful about struggling together.  one thing i’ve been learning to appreciate is community.  sharing our lives with other people makes life so much more enjoyable.  we were created to live in community, and camp is a glimpse of what community could look like.  the difficult part is sustaining community after camp is over.  i’ve got momentum now, but sometimes it’s so hard to build on it.

Posted by Nehe555 on 06/30 at 02:40 PM
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