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A lot of memories came flooding back to me as
Kendra, Zoe and I arrived at Whitney Lake on June 28th. My Dad
has been a camp director for the Canadian Sunday School
Mission for thirty years, so I grew up spending summers with
my family at camp. I simply didn't know any other life until I
was 18. However, since that time, although I spent many years
working at a camp in California, our family has never been all
together at camp. As I walked onto the grounds this summer,
those great old times were very much at the forefront of my
thoughts. Would it be the same?
Well, the answer is yes. Oh, a few of the songs
were different and the kids dressed a little different than
they did in '87, but the spirit of the camp was very much the
same. It was a full out endeavor by a tremendous staff to win
kids for Christ. I loved being a part of it.
My role was twofold: to preach and to answer
questions.
Every morning after breakfast we started the day
with a chapel session in which I answered kids questions. They
submitted them either directly to me or into a question box.
There were some very intelligent questions, ranging in topics
from biblical difficulties ("if sinners cannot be in the
presence of a holy god, how can Satan stand there in the book
of Job?") to cultural issues like evolution, the occult,
and how different religions relate to each other. I wasn't
sure if I would get to interact in a forum setting as much as
I did, and to be able to do it every day was incredible. It
was educational for me and I think for the teens as well.
In the evening I preached at the main evening
worship session. Basically, I just walked through the story of
the Bible. As I've said before, most people spend their lives
drifting from one meaningless experience to another because
they lack a grand narrative to be a part of. They don't
understand the big picture: how this is a universe at war, how
God's kingdom and Satan's kingdom are dueling for the souls of
men, and how each person is either a slave to sin and
Satan or part of the small band of rebels that is
working to reclaim this planet for its rightful King. I
explained all that over the ten days of camp.
Although I told it in story form and couched the
message in terms teens could relate to (I explained how the
best action adventure movies of all time - like Star Wars,
Lord of the Rings and the Matrix all stole their major themes
from the Bible), essentially, I just preached through the
major doctrines of the Christian faith: Creation, the fall,
atonement, the nature of salvation, and the return of Christ.
(That sounds far too dry, so don't tell anyone at camp that
that is what I did.) The effects were marvelous. God used his
word to speak and out of the seventy five campers that
attended, ten made first time decisions. Many more gained new
understanding, I believe, of God's plan for them and the
universe.
My time at camp verified for me the power of
preaching and God's willingness to use me. I look forward to
doing more of this type of ministry.
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