5 Reasons to Send Your Student to Camp
I love summer camp. I believe in summer camp.
I’ve been going to camps for 30 years. I’ve been a camper, a counselor, an activities director, and a camp director. I’ve been to winter camps and summer camps, great facilities and not so great facilities. I’ve been to large camps and small ones, and my belief in the power of camps has only grown.
I want to share with you five reasons you should consider sending your student to camp.
1. Your student will have a great time!Camp is a lot of fun! From good food, fun activities, memorable moments, late nights, and time friends, camp packs a lot into just a few days. Memories made will last a lifetime. It’s not just the organized, scheduled activities, but the time spent just hanging out together talking, laughing, and enjoying life, that make the difference. It’s shared experiences, awkward moments, and inside jokes.
For more information about this year’s camp and activities download this packet.
2. It’s an investment in your student’s future.So, the elephant in the room when it comes to camp is cost. Camp is a significant expense, especially when you have more than one student. There’s no getting around it.
But what if we looked at camp as an investment in a student’s future? Day camps for sports can run $200 for 4-5 days without meals or lodging. Overnight camps for basketball can run $500 or more. Specialty camps like horseback riding can be over $1000. Yet, many parents see these as investments in their student’s self-confidence and social or athletic development.
What if a week at church camp was an investment in the spiritual life of your student? What if your student’s life could be impacted forever because of five days spent at camp? That is what I have witnessed and experienced for 30 years of camps and it’s why I believe camp is not only the best 5 days of summer, but perhaps the most important.
1 Timothy 4:8 says, “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” The value of summer camp goes far beyond sports training or self-confidence, it’s an investment in eternity.
3. Your student will build strong relationships.Camp is designed to connect students to God and to each other. Everything from meal times, to the services, team competitions to cabin time, bus rides to free time is set up to facilitate these two purposes.
Friendships at camp can start on the bus, are strengthened through activities, go deeper through shared experience of the presence of God in the services, and are cemented in discussions in cabin time.
I have made life-long friends at camp, and I know your student will make great friends this year at camp.
4. God does amazing things at camp.Something amazing happens when we get away with the purpose of hearing from God. It’s why Jesus got away to the Garden of Gethsemane to connect with His Father. Moses ascended Mt. Sinai to get away from the day to day life in the camp and meet with God. Examples can be found throughout the Bible.
When students leave their day to day schedules, routines, social media, and cell phones, and get away to a new location, distractions are set aside, even if only for a week. And with distractions limited hearing God clearly becomes so much easier.
I first felt impressed to pursue vocational ministry at a summer camp. I’ve seen scores of young people commit their lives to following Jesus, even more rededicate themselves to His purposes. I’ve seen students discover their own call to ministry in a local church or in missions around the world. I’ve seen students forgive others, and the foundations for parental relationships to be restored. Amazing, life-changing things happen at summer camp.
5. The results last far beyond a week in the summer.Every camp I’ve ever been to has left a lasting impact on my life. I’ve had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs at camps. More than that, each camp experience has been a catalyst in my life. And I’ve seen it countless times in the lives of others. God uses these “mountaintop experiences” to stretch us surge us forward into the next season of life.
If your student comes to camp, there is a great likelihood that their life will be impacted well beyond the summer. This school year could be their best yet. The course of their lives could be impacted forever. Truth be told, generations can be impacted because of what could happen at an altar at camp.
So, will you send your student? Maybe you don’t have a student of your own to send but you can send a grandchild, niece, nephew, neighbor, or scholarship a student in the church who can’t afford to go.
It could forever change the life of a young person.
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