What is it like to be a teen at Living Youth Camp? If you talk to campers, you’ll get a variety of answers. Many will talk about the friends they made. Others will tell you about their counselors, or perhaps how hot it was in the east Texas sun. But the one thing that gets every camper’s attention is the activities! The activities form the framework of each day at camp, keeping campers busy and engaged.
But what activities do we provide? And why are those activities chosen out of all the possible things to do?
First Things First
While our teens come to camp expecting to enjoy plenty of fun and games, they also know that each day will begin with the Bible. On each of the ten days of camp, they hear from a different minister, encouraging them to keep up the good work of doing what their parents are teaching them at home.
Each year, we set a different theme to focus the presentations. This year, the theme was “Be Ready with an Answer,” from 1 Peter 3:15 (King James Version). Mr. Weston began these Christian Living classes on the first day of camp, as he spoke about doing things decently and in order, without hurting others, and by putting “first things first.” He was followed by a different minister each following day. For example, Mr. Josh Lyons gave a presentation titled, “Why Do We Keep the Sabbath?” Mr. Brent Mitchell titled his presentation “Wise as Serpents and Harmless as Doves.” Campers were also introduced to Mr. Lawdi Ferreira, from South Africa. His topic was “Faith in Action—Why We Follow God’s Commandments.”
By focusing on God and His word first, we establish the right priority—not only for camp, but for our lives.
A Variety of Sports
After Christian Living, all the dorms navigate to different points in and around the Lone Star Camp to begin their scheduled activities. What activities do they enjoy?
This year, Mr. Lyons headed the gym sports. These included volleyball and basketball, and each dorm had three sessions of each over the course of camp. Campers could also select volleyball or basketball as one of their “evening activities,” which gave each camper time to learn more about these two popular games and improve their skills. Those with little or no experience had a chance to learn the basics, while those with more skill could improve. The goal was to provide a positive experience for each camper, helping them gain competence and confidence.
The aquatics department was led by Mr. Michael Elliot. He and his staff worked with the campers to learn water safety, as well as different swimming strokes. The great thing about going to an aquatics activity is that it is in the pool—in the Texas heat, that water feels great!
One of the positive attributes of the camp experience is that there are a variety of activities for campers. Archery is very different from basketball, for example, and archery this year was once again headed up by Mr. Garrett Steagall. Sometimes, campers who are not as expert at a gym sport may show a great deal of skill at a sport like archery—and archery can be enjoyed by people of all sizes and ages!
Canoeing is another activity that stretches many campers’ comfort zone. Under the leadership of Mr. Mitchell, the canoeing staff taught teens how to paddle a canoe safely. They also learned what to do if their canoe “swamps” or tips over—and the canoe staff made sure it did! Campers practice the skill of calmly and safely righting their canoe, then climbing back into it.
Mr. Ben Graham led the softball activity, teaching the skill of throwing, catching, and hitting a softball. This year, setting up for softball was a challenge after the camp experienced torrential rain early.
But our activities don’t just focus on sports.
Beyond Athletics
One of the most popular activities at camp is the dance class. Campers enjoy three periods of dance instruction. Each period pairs different boys and girls dorms, so campers learn to be gracious and friendly to different dance partners. Mr. Michael Thomas, with his wife, Michelle, assisting him, trained the campers to practice different dance steps, with the boys escorting the girls on and off the dance floor in a gentlemanly way.
This skill was practiced further during the “Tabletopics and Dance” activity during the second week of camp. At this event, a boys and girls dorm together enjoy a tabletopics session, complete with dessert and a short dance. The girls dorm works to prepare the decorations, learning what it takes to create a beautiful atmosphere for the occasion.
Another activity that doesn’t require athletic skill is our life roles program. This year, Mr. Julian Braddock taught the young men basic plumbing skills, with an intriguing challenge to design and construct a sprinkler with different types of pipes. Led by Mrs. Carol Weston, our young ladies had the opportunity to create custom jewelry, showing amazing creativity and style.
As you can see, our campers experience a wide variety of activities, designed to challenge them to reinforce what they know and stretch themselves to try to succeed at skills that are new to them.
The final two classes that comprise our program are communications and the SEP or “Scriptural Education Program.” The communications class, taught by Mr. Lenny Bower, was focused on improving the campers’ ability to express themselves in a group setting. Mr. James Populo taught the SEP, reviewing the “fruits of the spirit” and digging into the biblical passages that bring this concept to life.
Behind the Scenes
To the casual observer, camp is all about the activities. And activities that are organized, well-run, fun, and even challenging for campers are extremely important.
But none of the fun would happen if it weren’t for our service departments. The kitchen, led by Mr. Chet Carpenter, assisted by his wife, Amber, served hundreds of meals over the course of camp. The kitchen and dishwashing staff worked tirelessly to ensure that all staff and campers had good meals in a clean environment.
Our laundry staff was led by Mrs. Heather Gunn, providing one of the most basic necessities of camp—clean clothes! And our logistics staff, overseen by department head Mr. Brandon Fall, fulfilled a seemingly innumerable multitude of tasks to ensure that the program ran smoothly. His team supplied water to the different activities, performed custodial duties, organized our storage facility, and provided set-up help—along with accomplishing a long list of other jobs. Dr. Therese Malcolm served as our advising physician, while Cheryl McIver ran First Aid, ensuring that medical needs were promptly met. Christy McNair (my wife) managed the office, keeping the business and communication functions running smoothly. Our mini-camp program was led by Mrs. Autumn Steagall, allowing some of our staff the opportunity to serve while their children were cared for.
Counselors
One last vital group of behind-the-scenes servants consists of the counselors. Our counselors—in both leading and assisting roles—provide the daily guidance and encouragement to our campers that is so crucial for a good camp experience. They work hand-in-glove with the different activity leaders, as well as the service departments and administrative staff. We could easily say, “Without the counselors, camp would not happen.”
But reality is that camp wouldn’t happen without all the different capacities in which people serve. A successful camp is a team effort made possible by every person who volunteers to serve for those two weeks. And camp succeeds because these people know why they are there! They understand that their priority is to help create an environment that teaches, reinforces, and promotes a godly way of life. The activities, the fellowship time, the time together as dorms, the time eating in the dining hall—all are framed by people intent on helping to strengthen our younger brothers and sisters in Christ, so they can become pillars of God’s Church in the years to come.