UNITED YOUTH CAMPS

• Teton Challenger Camp Reaches 10th Year
• Carter Campers Brave the Heat, Focus on Leadership
• Protection, Inspection and Direction at Heritage '06
• Camp Davidson: Challenged, Connected, Confident
• United Youth Camps Score Well as ACA Visits Three Camps

Teton Challenger Camp Reaches 10th Year

The 10th year for the Teton Challenger Camp was in many respects the best so far. The weather was ideal; the lake level the fullest in years (due to a heavy mountain snow pack); and the staff was highly competent and worked together superbly.

Having a more mature group of older teens and young adults this year (ranging from sophomore to age 21), the emphasis of the program could be summarized by this year's theme: "Prepare for the Future." All instruction through camp emphasized preparing personally for what's ahead.

This year campers arrived a day earlier to help set up the base camp, along with staff members, in the woods of Colter Bay Village. Campers were divided into two men's and two women's teams—blue and green. After a staff training day and orientation meetings, the camp program began with a training day in wilderness emergency skills. Then one team received training in reading topographic maps with a compass, preparing essential gear for day hikes and basic rock climbing knots. At the same time the other team trained and prepared for the three-day backpacking trip.

The three-day backpacking trip followed the Death Canyon trail up to Fox Creek Pass (about 10,000-foot elevation), with spectacular vistas at the top, wildflowers in bloom and snow in the high country. On the middle day campers explored farther and went snow-sledding, looked for wildlife and took lots of pictures.

Sightings of wildlife during camp included elk, moose, deer, bison, eagle and osprey, black bear and grizzly bear. (Campers are trained in reacting correctly in the unlikely event of an encounter with a bear.)

During the same three-day period the other team spent two days rock climbing at two scenic locations, and the third day embarked on the Wilderness Challenge Course. Teams of four or five are taken to a hiking area in the mountains, given a map with a destination to find and are presented with challenges to solve along the route. Points are gained or lost according to how challenges are dealt with. The course is about six miles and takes most of the day, with a debriefing period afterward.

Base camp life included bathing in the snowmelt waters of Jackson Lake, fantastic meals (including elk and antelope stews), Compass Checks each morning and Christian Living discussions every evening around the fire. Compass Check subjects this year included: treating the opposite sex with respect, serving with sincerity and humility, elevating our speech and eliminating euphemisms, respecting laws and rules, proper respect for authority, showing faith in God despite peer pressure or political correctness and preparing for coming adversity.

Sabbath services are held in the woods, with this year's sermons and Bible study messages on trusting the Bible, being teachable and the history of our Church. The next day was another day of recuperation and training, plus half a day in the town of Jackson, a town full of Western flavor, unique shops and fantastic art galleries.

The second week the teams reversed venues, then Thursday everyone helped take down the camp and load it into the trailer to be stored another year in a Dubois, Wyoming, storage unit.

Paul Luecke, director

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Carter Campers Brave the Heat, Focus on Leadership

The end of July in Fort Worth, Texas, is always hot, and this year was no exception. Thankfully, God blessed us with temperatures in the 90s instead of the 100s like the week before. That coupled with some nice breezes helped 108 campers and 45 staff members enjoy "the Zone" at Camp Carter from July 23 to 30 this year.

As always, sports and educational activities filled the better part of each day and evening, keeping campers and staff busy the whole week. There was also much discussion each day of God and His principles to keep us "on track" as to why we do these camps.

A Compass Check was held each morning and at the end of each day a question-and-answer discussion session was held. Several times during the questions and discussion with the older dorms, the interest level was so high we went past the scheduled one-hour slot.

The theme for this year was "Leadership" with a specific focus on ethical principles that are vital for all leaders. Ken Treybig, director of Camp Carter, pointed out in the opening night orientation that not only are campers and the young adult staff the future leaders of the Church, they also have an opportunity to lead right now by being good examples of God's way of life in their schools and communities. The oldest boys' and girls' dorms set wonderful examples of leadership at camp this year in many ways, even winning the clean dorm award numerous times.

After an overview of the principles and why they are important for every leader—especially for leaders aspiring to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ—the other ethical principles covered in Compass Checks through the week were honesty, respect, responsibility and fairness. On the Sabbath, the split sermons continued the theme, covering the topics of courage and compassion.

Outdoor activities (archery, basketball, flag football, horseback riding, ropes, softball, skeet, strength training and volleyball) dominated the morning schedule each day. In the afternoons, cooler or indoor activities were the mainstays—Christian Living, crafts, dance, lakefront, music, newsletter and swimming. The oldest boys' dorm and oldest girls' dorm were also given an extra afternoon at the lake, a two-hour session of golf and rappelling on the 65-foot tower.

On Tuesday evening we had an all-camp dance and on the other evenings campers were able to choose which activity they wanted to do—or they could choose to play table games or just sit and visit inside.

The Sabbath began on Friday night with another all-camp activity where various Christian living scenarios were posed and campers divided into groups to discuss how they would advise someone to handle that situation. Then a spokesman reported to the whole group and fielded questions from campers and staff members.

This year we were blessed to have a visit from Clyde Kilough, president of the United Church of God. On Wednesday evening, in an all-camp assembly, he spoke about the most important prophetic event in the New Testament—the coming Kingdom of God. He pointed out that many of the instructions of Jesus Christ tell us to focus on that future event as an anchoring point of our attention. If we are truly excited about and praying for God's Kingdom to be established as Christ commanded in Matthew 6, we will find it has a huge effect on how we live our lives.

On Saturday night the final dance was another opportunity to practice the skills learned in dance class before tearful good-byes on Sunday morning.

Ken Treybig

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Protection, Inspection and Direction at Heritage '06

"Camp Heritage–11th Edition" wrapped up Sunday, Aug. 21, as 141 campers and 68 staff members said good-bye for another year to their "home away from home" near Farmington, Pennsylvania.

This year's weather was by all accounts the most exceptional of all the years we've had a camp program at the Heritage Reservation, a 2,000-acre property owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America, Greater Pittsburgh Council. We had brief showers early Tuesday morning and late Saturday night, but nothing to compare with last year's ferocious thunder and lightning storm.

Campers were guided in "respecting the Zone" in several of the Christian Living classes and the Life Skills class; and challenged to prove the uniqueness of the knowledge God has given His Church in other Christian Living classes, which once again began each day at camp.

Heritage received its American Camp Association visit from two officials of the Keystone Section of the ACA on Tuesday, Aug. 15. The five-and-a-half-hour visit was thorough and professional, but friendly and warm. Our guests joined us for lunch, then concluded the scoring of the camp by mid-afternoon, recording that Heritage didn't miss any of the ACA standards applicable to this regional camp.

By far the most inspiring aspect of an outstanding camp year was the clear evidence of God's protection and guidance, especially for the Challenge campers and staff who took part in the whitewater rafting trip on Wednesday, Aug. 16. The trip takes place annually on the Lower Youghiogheny River, and always has its share of "thrills and spills" for participants. This year, as in all years, rafts occasionally capsized, with guides acting immediately to recover swimmers (all equipped with helmets and "PFDs"—personal flotation devices or life jackets) from the water. But in an extremely rare occurrence, two campers from an eight-person capsized raft became entangled in the lines thrown into the water to pull them to shore, and had to receive hospital attention, including care for abrasions from the ropes. God's protection was clearly in evidence, and both were back at camp by Thursday evening, fully participating in the remainder of camp activities.

We look forward to our 12th season at Camp Heritage, scheduled for Aug. 12-19, 2007. See you then!

Doug Johnson

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Camp Davidson : Challenged, Connected, Confident

We really had a fantastic year at Camp Davidson in Oregon, with a super staff and amazing mix of campers and dorms! We started camp by setting the focus on three areas: accepting challenges, making connections and learning godly confidence.

Accepting challenges is a foundational concept at camp, based on Ecclesiastes 9:10: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might." We encourage everyone to mentally prepare, learn the skill of an activity and take the challenge of learning something new.

This is accomplished with a variety of activities that challenge in different ways, including archery, arts and crafts, basketball/volleyball, dance instruction, Excellence in Living, flag football, hiking, kayaking, low and high challenge courses, rock wall, swimming and waterskiing. New challenges for 2006 were the addition of water polo, water aerobics, capture the flag and an overnight camping trip for G4 and B4 (the oldest girls' and boys' dorms).

Making connections that last a lifetime is vital and is based on the principle in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up." We learned to tie a threefold cord (which is not quickly broken, verse 12) by making connections with God, our friends and our Church family throughout the week.

In addition to mealtime and free time, this year we specifically designed a number of new activities to encourage strong connections. These included:

• Memorization of a scripture a day.

• "Wisdom: Skill for Life" Bible classes each morning on a range of topics including gossip, the fear of God and proper language.

• A session on masculinity for the guys and femininity for the girls.

• Five classes for combined brother/sister dorms, including hiking, Excellence in Living, waterskiing, capture the flag and dance.

• "Take 5" with another dorm anytime.

• Two all-camp dances.

• Dorms G4/B4 overnight hike.

• Novelty Olympics.

Lastly, we focused on building the right type of confidence based on God and His involvement in our lives. This is founded on Philippians 1:6: "...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." The sum total of the camp experience helps us to understand that God's way works, He has a uniquely crafted plan for each of us and He helps us through the difficult times. Therefore we can be confident because God guides all our steps.

By far one of the favorite parts of camp was the nightly campfire! Campfire consists of many fun activities that really bring the entire camp and staff together, including the world-famous dorm greetings contest, Camp Davidson salutes, relay games, riddles and contests, dorm inspection results and songs. It is wrapped up with an inspiring campfire story.

The sermon given on the Sabbath by David Holladay was titled "The Battle for Your Heart" and wove together the five memorization scriptures into a formula for protecting your heart from Satan's attempt to capture it. The Sabbath concluded with a nicely orchestrated sit-down banquet and the second all-camp dance after sunset.

The staff had a fantastic time getting to know everyone, and we have all seen amazing growth in all the fine young men and women over the years!

David Holladay

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United Youth Camps Score Well as ACA Visits Three Camps

Beginning in 2000 the United Youth Camps (UYC) have been visited by volunteers from the American Camp Association (ACA) sections every three years and scored using the approved standards in 10 major areas—from site and food service to operational management, aquatics, adventure/challenge, etc. During that time, 11 regional camps have been inspected in three years (2000, 2003 and 2006).

Each camp is scored on 120 to 160 individual standards. The interesting challenge for the UYC program is that we are considered one program in multiple sites, and we score on one scorecard. That means we have to get each standard correct four times but would miss the entire standard if even one site was not in compliance. To receive accreditation we need at least 80 percent correct in each area with all "mandatory" standards passed.

In these 11 scoring visits, more than 1,500 standards were considered and scored and only three standards were missed. According to the national ACA office, this is a very major accomplish. Achieving such excellence is a tribute to the outstanding efforts of camp directors and volunteer staff.

This year marks the third round of visits. Camp Hye Sierra, Camp Carter and Camp Heritage were visited and scored, missing only one standard. (Camp Davidson was scheduled for a visit this summer, but the local visiting team was unable to complete the visit.)

Larry W. Greider

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