Over the next two weeks I get to visit several camps. I’ve already started, heading first to Camp Challenge. Camp Challenge is a camp of about sixty students (junior-high students the week I was there) run by Wayne and Kathy Lidbeck. It’s in the central part of California on a beautiful canyon. Camp Challenge is unique – strong on the Bible, strong on good staff, and strong on fun – and it was great to see kids have the best week of their lives to make the best decision of their lives.
I was involved with Forest Home, a large camp, for a decade, so going to camp is like going home. I believe a good camp has three components. Component number one is adventure. Kids get to try things, do things, and experience things that they can’t experience anywhere else. They find themselves placed in situations where they are stretched beyond their comfort zones. Whether climbing a high ropes course, canoeing on whitewater, or whatever, they’re stretched.
The second component of a good camp is acceptance. I remember one year my son came home from camp and said, “Everyone liked me there.” What a marvelous place camp is for kids to feel accepted! A good camp has counselors who care, support staffers who care, and kitchen staffers who care. The kids are accepted for who they are, on the level of spirituality and maturity they are, when they come to the camp. Camp is a place where kids can be kids, and not be forced to be miniature adults as they oftentimes are in our culture.
The third and probably most important component of a good camp is challenge. Kids are challenged in their faith, challenged in their value system, and challenged in their worldview. They’re challenged because they learn the Scripture, and they’re taught creatively in different ways. On a ropes course, playing games, and in the dining room and chapel, kids learn the principles of Scripture and are challenged to live those out in their lives.
This year, almost 20,000 students will go to a camp run by American Missionary Fellowship. It is my prayer that they will have a great adventure and will be accepted and challenged in a powerful way.
