Camp

      I started working at a summer camp in 1997.  I was a young 17 year old boy.  Back then I worked as a maintenance worker, a kitchen worker, and a counselor.  When I first started to work there I did not really think too much about the ministry I was doing, sure it was a baptist camp, but I was there because it was a fun summer Job.  I know in the last 17 years I have grown up quite a bit, but I am also aware that it has not just been me but camp has changed.  What once was just a fun summer job, became an amazing ministry in which God was being glorified.  We had a a vision of what we wanted to accomplish we were "introducing people to Jesus, and equipping them to grow spiritually and to minister to their world."
      In my 17 years off and on with this ministry I have seen thousands of children and shared with them stories of Jesus Christ.  I have been silly with them.  I have made them laugh.  I have been serious with them, and for a few I have even caused them to think.  We have the youth from 3pm on Sunday until about 6pm on Friday.  That is a 123 hours a week or about 73 hours of awake time.  Compare that to the 52 hours you spend in Sunday school each year.
      The ministry we do with campers is a kin to the parable of the sower in Matt 13.  The sower puts his hand in the bag, he grabs the seed and he scatters it.  We share the word of God with many children through out the summer.  Some of them we never get any response from.  Some of them we see them make a decision right away and we get really excited.  Then we see them next year and there is really no change.  Some however we don't see any noticeable change at camp, but in a year when they return they are completely different people they have been transformed and many will attribute it to something said at Bible study, chapel, or devotions the year before.  Some of the kids we see once and never hear from them again.  Some of these kids we have the privilege of seeing year after year and watch them grow up.  It is quite exciting to know that God uses us alongside this children's home churches as part of the process.  As Paul noted I planted Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.  With each child we do not know what kind of soil they are or where they are in the process we just do what God has called us to with them.
      Greater than the thousands of children that have crossed my path are the young adults the staff I have been privileged to work alongside.  Now looking at camp staff show up at 12am on Sunday and finish around 10pm on Friday.  That is 130 hours a week or about 80 hours of awake time.  Now remember the staff are there generally there for about 9 weeks.  That is a total of 1080 hours (720 waking hours) I get to spend ministering to the staff.  Then some of the staff return year to year.
      Camp puts staff members in a place where they are able to become disciples.  The hard part about fulfilling the great commission is that everybody is so busy nobody want to take the time to really be discipled.  Unlike church where most of the time is spent listening to a message or engaged in a bible study the staff see me in my daily living.  They see me when I am tired and getting ready for my day  They see me when I am at my most vulnerable(hungry or needing to find a toilet I am comfortable going poo in.)  Many have seen me at the end of the day when exhaustion has set in (after 4th meal.)  All of this time I pour myself into them.  All that God has given to me I give to them.  At the same time I am pouring myself into the staff they pour themselves into the campers in their care, ministering to them, discipling them.  
      I keep track of many of the staff members who have gone through the program,  a few have gone on into various avenues of ministry.  Many come back from time to time for prayer, advice, or with passages of scriptures they are having a hard time understanding or explaining.  It is fun to watch as they get engaged, married, and have children.  It's more fun to see how they are now ministering to the world around them, and sharing Christ with those they come into contact with.  That's why I do camp.  It's not just about Matt 13 and the spreading of the seed onto the various soils, but about Matt 28 where we intentionally cultivate the soil plant the seed nourish it and watch it grow.