Beach Camp . . .

Funny when you have a lot of quiet time (being without my radio this week) how much thinking you have a tendency to do. I was thinking about our upcoming Beach Camp and I thought maybe I had not shared my true feelings about this camp very well.
The initial reason that we are doing our own camp this year, instead of going in with the other churches from last year, is because of when the deposits were going to be due. I had just gotten final payments for Meltdown from everyone and did not feel like I could go right back to the parents and ask for more money. But then God began to have a major hand in what we were to do this summer. The concept for this summer’s beach camp was birthed in my living room by a group of students back in February. I asked what our students would want to do if they could put together their own camp. The following is what was said that night:
· they wanted to be taught from the Book of the Revelation
· they wanted to be able to have their own private quiet time as well as a time with a small group
· they wanted to be taught life application lessons such as: sharing their testimony, witnessing to your friends, prayer walks, sharing Jesus in unusual ways on the beach, standing strong in their faith
· they wanted great worship times with praise and worship that they could enjoy and praise God
· they wanted good sermons in the evenings
· they wanted fun games they could play wit their friends
· they wanted free time for the beach and other fun
· they wanted a great place to stay
· they wanted good food
I got to praying over these things and talking with our student leaders and we all came to basically the same conclusion - this would be a great camp. I got to looking at the bones of this camp and realized that it was part camp and part mission trip. I knew that I could put together the camp schedule but I would need just the right people in place to make it work. I was sitting in my office one Thursday night when I looked up and there stood Ms. Mary Roach. She said that David had come home talking about this camp that we were planning and she said that she would go along and cook our meals. The cook for the week was taken care of. I knew that I would need the right camp Pastor for the week. God put Pastor Mike Thompson in my path. Mike and I were at North Greenville together and he is one great man of God. And one of the great things about Mike is that he loves teenagers. OK, the camp pastor is taken care of, now I needed that right person for praise and worship. God puts Dan Carroll in my path. You may remember Dan; he did the praise and worship for our Turkey Bowl service last year.
OK, now the staff for camp is in place, what about a place to stay? A friend of mine (Toby Dix) had been using a group of houses at North Myrtle Beach for several years to do his beach camp. I called and got the number for the company that manages the house and they gave a few of us a free night to come down and see the houses. They are great: less that 100 yards to the beach, sand pit volleyball court, basketball court, pool. Everything is great. We booked the first week of July (leave on July the 1st and return on Friday the 6th) and got a great rate.
So we now have the concept for camp, the staff for camp, the place for camp and all that we are missing is the students. I understand that no-one signs up early for anything, but we are only a week away from the final deadline for camp and still no-one has signed up. Where are the students who sat in my living room and cast the vision for this camp. Also, where are all the friends that you said you were going to get to come with you. Let me urge you to get on board with this camp. I truly believe that God is going to use this camp to change people’s lives in a huge way. The cost for camp is $175.00 total, but all that we need for you now is a $75.00 deposit to get your name on the list and I need that before next Wednesday (the 28th). Please don’t call me on Thursday because it will be too late. On Thursday I will cancel all the houses that we do not need. Please do not let money be a problem. Scholarships are available, but they must be asked for and a partial payment to insure commitment from bailing out on camp and wasting the scholarship is needed.
I ask again that students get on board and hang on for a get time. Parents, please encourage your students to participate. I truly believe that this is God’s will for us to do our own camp. If I did not believe that we would be in with a camp that others were running. My life would be a lot less hectic.
Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and fight the good fight.