Experience God's Life in You at Camp

A few weeks ago I began a series of reflections on the mission statement of Oregon-Idaho Camp and Retreat Ministries, which reads:

We are people dedicated to creating quality environments of Christian hospitality and learning. We nurture persons so that they may . . .

Grow in wisdom and healthy self-esteem.

Develop lifestyles of loving interdependence with each other and all of creation,

Affirm and expand their faith in God and their service as Christian disciples within God's world.

We serve individuals, families, educational institutions, religiously affiliated groups, social service agencies, community service organizations, and other non-profit organizations that enrich life in the world.

What does it mean for people to “Grow in wisdom and healthy self-esteem?” For me these are elements of a faithful life. We come to places in our lives where we have gained wisdom (usually hard-earned) and a place of understanding that we are loved. This journey can be challenging. It is also extremely rewarding.

I believe we commit ourselves to this because we know first-hand the change that occurs when we participate in camp and retreat ministry events. We know that a big step is participating in the faith-forming activities at our sites. Along with the varied activities, there is participation in a community which is intentionally engaged in seeking God among us and as part of us.

At its heart, Camp and Retreat Ministries offers experiential learning. To know something deeply is to have experienced it first-hand. We know when we are loved by another, when we are treated well or not so well, and we know grace and can extend it to others because we have first experienced those things.

“We love because God first loved us.” 1 John 4:19

The way we do this differs from site to site and event to event. One of the ways I remember seeing a camper grow in wisdom and healthy self-esteem happened during a Sr. High adventure Camp rock climbing experience. One of the students was very concerned about being able to succeed at this activity. This camper had the perfect recipe for failure: less athletic appearing than the others, lacking self-esteem, and a healthy dose of fear added up to a great amount of doubt. The community surrounded Juanita with support and the leaders provided the training. With some fear and trepidation Juanita put on the climbing harness, hooked onto the climbing rope and with someone on the other end of the climbing rope and the community cheering her, she began to climb. By the end of the session on rock climbing Juanita had developed her skills so that she had surpassed most of the others. She learned to trust the community to support her and she learned to have trust in herself.

While results vary, an important step is to choose to enter into the process so that you might grow in these ways, and so that you might experience the change that you seek and that God has in store for you. Juanita’s story, my own experience, and the experience I have witnessed in others inspire me in doing this work and living out my call. I hope that you will also remember your own stories and that you will experience new ones in the coming year.

See you around the campfire soon,