For me, it was quite a ride. It was my last Camp Ney-A-Ti as Youth Minister at Monrovia, so I was experiencing several emotions throughout the week. It was an exciting time watching two of our campers accept Jesus as be their Lord and Savior through baptism. It was humbling to speak about our family of believers. It was sad to think about this time as my final camp. It was fun to think back on all the wonderful memories.
The week started last Friday with about 125 campers. We divided up into teams and prepared for the week to come. One of the neat things about camp is to watch relationships form and see some of our older campers get involved in the lives of some of our younger campers. Camp is for kids going into 3rd grade up to our recent graduates. We had four teams with an equal number from each age group on each team. By the end of the week, 3rd graders were hanging out with teenagers. I think that is really cool.
On Saturday, I had a conflict with my schedule. My uncle Jimmy passed away back in May and had a memorial service on Saturday, June 6th (the second day of camp). At first, I did not think I was going to make it due to my previous commitment with camp. After all, Monrovia invests a lot of time, money and effort to make camp happen. I felt it I needed to be there the whole time. Then, as I began to prepare our lessons for camp, I had a change of heart. Our theme this week was Family Reunion. Here I was talking about what we learn about love and commitment from our families, and I was declining an invitation from my grandmother to speak at my uncle's memorial service. So, I changed my plans. I went over to the Pleasantfield Community Center to talk about my uncle and what we could learn from his life. We learned the importance of family. This turned out to be a talking point throughout the week for me.
Sunday was an incredible day to watch some of my teens step up and share with us. You can watch their devotional in the video below.
Parker, Carson, Chandler, Dylan, Dawson, Jake, Robbie, and Jonathan made me super proud and impressed me with their abilities to lead our group.
Each night at camp we broke up into groups when the younger campers went to bed. Our middle and high school groups each had their own devotionals. We were blessed with great speakers each night. Zac Smith, Kevin Smith, Spencer Palmer, Jackson Richard, and Jason Britton each prepared devotionals for this time. Personally, I was encouraged and challenged by each of them. Our teens also contributed to our devotional time. Dylan Mussleman lead the middle school group on Saturday night and Jackson Taylor and Jonathan Parrish spoke to our middle schoolers on Tuesday night. Once again, I am so impressed with these young men and their heart for the Lord.
One of the most rewarding and beneficial times at camp is our bible class time each morning around 11:00. For the guys, Kevin Smith lead the high school group while we went around the room and let each young man share his struggles.
My dad spoke to us Monday night about a father's love. And we discussed our upcoming family reunion when the Lord calls us home on Tuesday night.
Below is our slideshow from the week. Camp was awesome the two years I got to be a part of it. It is definitely an important part of the ministry here at Monrovia that I will miss and will always treasure.
Oh, and check out how many towels were left behind. I am set for this summer by the pool.
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