As a student pastor I love talking about my job when given the chance because I have a unique job. Responses that I get when I explain that I get paid to hang out with middle school and high school students is varied and often comical. Most folks thank me for guiding the youth of today, while others sit in shock, mouth-agape, wondering how I could enjoy the company of teenagers, and will then begin to list all kinds of things they would rather do than work with teens!
A similar encounter like that happened a few weeks back when my chiropractor asked, “How was your week?” When I described that I had just spent 5 days at summer camp in Black Mountain with the students of my church along with 600+ other middle and high school students, he was pretty shocked and asked how I survived such torture. “Actually, I love summer camp!” I shot back affirmingly.
I really do love summer camp and maybe that does make me crazy. As a student pastor I long for revival in the students of our day. 51 weeks out of the year our ministry chips away at that goal via weekly discipleship programming on Sundays and Wednesdays that push and challenge our students to take their faith seriously. One week out of the year, we supplement that core with student camp. Here's a list of why I love camp:
Camp shakes them up a bit: Camp drops students into a completely different space where they hear different voices, meet new people, and engage in a completely different way of life for a few days. Camps like Fuge and others unapologetically center everything around the person and work of Jesus Christ. From daily devotion times, recreation, and fun activities, everything at camp is pointed back to Jesus. That intentionality shakes up our students since that kind of intentionality is not possible at home – not 24 hours a day anyway. Not often do we get “permission” to only focus on Jesus for 5 full days. I often hear students returning from camp saying things like, “I have never heard that said that way before, it really sank in this week,” while I taught a series on that same thing 2 months ago. Camp shakes them up and prepares them to soak in the Word.
Camp reveals character: I don’t just mean the character to climb up the rec hill one more time! Camp often reveals what’s really going on in a student’s heart. I believe that is due to spiritual warfare. Since summer camp is unapologetically centered around Jesus, sometimes that mask that students wear is yanked off and what is underneath isn’t always pretty! It’s easy during an hour-long Wednesday service to put a mask on and blend in with the crowd. It is a whole different thing when that student is thrown into a context that constantly pushes them to respond to biblical truth. The Spirit is at work at student camp, and that drives students to confess sin, seek discipleship, or turn to Jesus for the first time.
Camp is just plain fun: I’ll state the obvious – if camp wasn’t fun our students would get significantly less out of it. Fun is an avenue for discipleship, as it breaks down walls and allows for genuine relationships and conversations to be had.
Camp has few(er) Distractions than home: With the change in location, speakers, and schedule, every student is faced with fewer distractions that may be present at home – lending to greater opportunity for discipleship. There is no Netflix at camp, no PS5, no school work, no troublesome friends, family issues, or other distractions to pull focus away from the things that matter most. When we take initiative to get away from the junk of life to focus on the Author of life, crazy things can happen.
Camp trains us to spend time daily with God: Every camp I have been to employs a personal quiet time or devotion every morning. I have many conversations with students who marvel at how they feel so spiritually charged after the week. I explain to them that is because they have been trained to get into God’s Word multiple times a day for 5 days in a row. That pattern does wonders for their walk with Jesus because they are connected to the life-source. It is imperative that our students have a tool that helps them continue that discipline at home, such as the quiet time that our church uses.
Camp is empowerment for the journey: Maybe you’ve heard the term “camp high” before. It means that a feeling or change that manifested at camp faded shortly afterwards and there was no lasting result. While that can certainly happen, I push our students to view camp as empowerment for their journey. Camp only lasts 5 days, but when we encounter Jesus life change happens – and life transformation isn’t temporary.
I love camp because I have seen many lives go from death to life at camp. I have seen students called to vocational ministry. I have seen students rejoice over a friend who came to Jesus that night. I have seen students confess sin and desire change. It is a joy for me to walk alongside our students as God works in them at camp and beyond!
By Student Pastor Brandon Walls
