Get Them To Camp

The ten top reasons the kids in your life and ministry need a Christian camp experience this summer.

Keeping focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic when springtime hit was a challenge for me as a child. As soon as the days were longer and warmer, my mind wandered to thoughts of summer vacation. On cool spring evenings my friends and I would sit on the front stoop and share our summer plans. We always had great expectations for summer.

Christian camping was a mountaintop experience for me and my friends, and I know it continues to be for children today. Here's my top 10 list of what camp has to offer today's kids:

1. One of the important things children learn from a camp experience is to be self-sufficient—Mom isn't there to comb their hair or tell them what shirt to wear.

2. Camping helps kids learn to be creative and resourceful—planning a skit with cabin-mates using a cardboard box, three paper bags, and duct tape demands a lot more creativity than watching TV.

3. Camping instills an appreciation for the out-of-doors—trees are for climbing, frogs are for catching, rocks are for skipping, flowers are for smelling. Day in and day out campers are surrounded by God's wonderful creation—camping has always been green!

4. Kids learn to appreciate living without modern conveniences like cell phones, MP3 players, and handheld video games.

5. Kids learn to anticipate problems and challenges and figure out how to solve them with cabin-mates and counselors. They learn quickly that teamwork and cooperation gets the job done with satisfaction.

6. Plans and goals are healthy and rewarding.

7. Kids will learn by using all five senses, not just sitting and listening. They will learn by doing! Camp is not a spectator sport.

8. Late Night activities is one of the most memorable parts of the Christian camping experience.

9. Christian camping is a mountaintop experience for children. Campers have an opportunity to respond to age-appropriate messages from God's Word.

10. The West Florida District does an awesome job putting together a great camp experience for every child.

I want to encourage you to help the children in your sphere of influence to have an opportunity to experience a Christian camping adventure this summer. The results could be eternal! They were for me.