Fall Youth Retreat

Well, we’ve had a busy weekend here at Bethel Camp. Friday evening 62 campers, 23 staff members, and 7 “camp kids” converged on the campground. Lloyd and Pat Burns (Lloyd is the father of Bill Burns our camp cook) get the award for traveling the farthest. They came from southern Michigan. Duane & Desiree Ramey get the award for traveling the shortest distance to camp (They can see camp from their house and have only about a half mile trip in the car to get here.) There were campers here from Ohio and North Carolina, and campers from Lexington, Buckhorn area, and of course Breathitt County and Perry County.

With all that combined energy we were in for an exciting weekend. Darren & Kendra (Miller) Fisher led us in some great worship. We sang some good ol’ camp songs as well as some really meaningful songs of praise. Victor Shiro did some neat “magic” tricks (or illusions) that first evening and his wife Linda used chalk to draw an incredible picture illustration of Christ’s payment of sin’s penalty (see Romans 6:23). She even sang some songs while she was drawing the picture! If you want to see her artwork you’ll have to come to camp and see it in the chapel some day. We (along with the angels) rejoiced when one of the young people asked Jesus to be their Savior that first night.

However the night was not done when chapel was over. After a time of reflection on the evening message, everyone put on dark clothes to play capture the flag. There were a lot of flags (glow sticks) taken from behind enemy lines and safely brought back across the line without being caught or captured in the process. When the game was over the west team had 4 more glow sticks than the east team did. And there were a lot of stories told about some amazing captures and stealthy sneaking through the woods to get into position to get a glow stick without being discovered.

The weather was perfect for a fall retreat. Cool mornings and warm afternoons allowed us to really experience the out of doors at its finest. I (Roger) took a group of 9 hikers on an optional sunrise hike at 7:00 Saturday morning. We left the campground just as the sky was getting light and reached the top of the hill about 10 minutes before the sun peaked over the eastern ridge of the mist covered mountains. There are some talented artists in this world but no one can paint with light like God can as he creates a unique new sunrise every morning.

Victor and his son Evan did a bunch of juggling with everything from balls and bean bags to flaming torches at the campfire. They had some little things like a giant open yo-yo that was controlled and caught on a string, I think they are called a diabolo. The one they used at the campfire was burning while they spun it around. At that campfire, Evan had all of our attention as he spewed flames out of his mouth. At the evening chapel on Saturday Victor escaped from a straight jacket to illustrate the need for us as Christians to not remain in bondage to the will of the Devil but rather experience freedom in Christ. At each session Linda drew a different picture to illustrate the lesson from the Bible. She even had her son Nathan help her on the picture about a prophet who talked to a donkey. If you’ve never had the privilege of seeing them minister the gospel, you’re missing out on a treat. You can visit their website at www.otbusa.org or call them and find out about their schedule (606) 464-3481.

But with all the fun and activity of the weekend, I bet if you ask some of the youth who were here for the weekend what their favorite part was, I’ll bet that their answer goes something like this: “I really enjoyed hanging out with some friends.” As a camp director, I really enjoyed seeing a bunch of young people interacting. Friendships are powerful. The relationships we make with those around us have a lot to do with the quality of life that we experience. One of our prayers is that time spent at Bethel Camp will make each of us better able to communicate with those around us. We pray that it will make us more mindful of the needs, feelings, and emotions of those people we meet every day. By our attitude each of us has the potential to encourage someone to do more than just endure life. We have the opportunity to challenge each other to rather make every day an investment in eternity.

Remember to live life to the max. It is possible if you understand what grace is all about.