Youth Camps Around the World

• Campers in the Philippines "Remember True North"
• 12 Children Enjoy Summer Camp in Germany
• Highlights of Nigeria Camp Made by Meeting Challenges
• After Wet Summer, Dry Week for British Summer Camp
• Ghana Camp Highlight of My Life
• Camp Woodmen Begins With a Bang!
• Northwest Camp Lets Its Light Shine
• Diving Into Camp Heritage, 2007
• Campers Practice God’s Way at Carter

Campers in the Philippines "Remember True North"

Daniel Roy Macaraeg

"Remember True North" was chosen as the theme for this year's United Youth Camp in the Philippines. Since we now live in a world that increasingly believes that there is no such thing as absolute truth, we wanted to stress that some things remain constant and never do change—God, His Word, His principles and His promises.

There were a total of 84 participants in the Philippine United Youth Camp this year. While last year we had 32 campers, this year two additional dorms of eight boy campers plus eight girl campers were added, bringing the total to 48 campers and 36 staff members (including 12 counselors).

For the sixth consecutive year, the camp was held at Eden Nature Park in Davao City, from May 13 to 20. However, members of the staff came a week earlier for camp setup and precamp training.

Upon arrival and registration, each boy camper was given two royal blue camp shirts and each girl camper was given two royal purple shirts. Each camper was also given a camp ID and assigned to one of six dorms—three boys' dorms (1B, 2B and 3B) and three girls' dorms (1G, 2G and 3G). Each dorm of eight campers (plus the counselor and the assistant counselor) stayed in tents and cooked their own food on two-burner gas stoves.

Each day began at 5 a.m. with quiet time (an hour of prayer and Bible study). Then at 6 a.m., the dorm would shower, get ready and cook their breakfast. During other meals, however, dorms would invite one another, help prepare the food and join hands in cleaning up afterward. Like a family, the campers and counselors in each dorm slept, ate, played, learned and worked together.

After breakfast, the first activity of the day was Compass Check conducted by the camp director, Edmond Macaraeg. At the first Compass Check, Mr. Macaraeg asked each camper to put on a blindfold, stand up, turn and point to the north. Then he asked everyone to remove his or her blindfold and look around to see where everyone else was pointing. It was in every direction! He said this fact illustrates the confusion that exists in this present world because Satan has blinded the minds of people to the truth. He then gave each camper a special souvenir—a carabiner key chain compass. On the back it read, "Remember True North—United Youth Camp 2007."

But there were other lessons that morning. With compass in hand, he demonstrated that even the compass needle can point to the wrong direction because of the influence of nearby materials made of iron or steel that are among the most common metals on earth. This can represent the abundance of people in this world who, if we're not careful or knowledgeable enough, can influence us in a wrong way.

Apart from that, he also demonstrated that even from some distance another strong magnet can change or even reverse the direction of a compass needle. He said this can represent the invisible but powerful influence of Satan and his demons upon humanity, to turn us away from God.

For five mornings, Mr. Macaraeg expanded on the theme and related it to the other major compass directions that many could follow and alter and affect one's true direction or purpose in life. These are: Careerism, Outside relationships, Media (music and movies, etc.), People (peers, popular ideas), Addictions, Sabbath compromise and Sexual immorality. Note that the beginning letters of each topic spell the word COMPASS, and all of them represent seven possible deviations—out of the eight major compass points. But there is only one true north.

After Compass Check, several activities were also lined up for the day: confidence course, dance, first aid, inline skating, orienteering, riflery, softball, soccer, swimming and wilderness skills. In the wilderness skills activity, each dorm hiked to the "wilderness" away from the camp and prepared their food without the regular conveniences and utensils. They cooked their rice using bamboo tubes and baked their bread without ovens. They had to build and maintain a fire to cook the barbecued chicken.

After the wilderness skills activity, each camper got to conquer his or her fears by overcoming several obstacles in the confidence course. First was the wall climb. Each camper had to climb a 40-foot-high vertical wall. After that, campers had to descend by rappelling. Then they went through the monkey bridge, the 50-meter pulley slide and then finally the much-awaited mud tunnel. The last one seemed to be, by far, the most popular. It seemed that the quality of the mud tunnel experience depended on how muddy, slimy and dirty each camper got!

On the sixth day of camp, 14 workshops were offered to pass on a marketable or useful skill. Each camper could choose to attend up to two workshops: art illustration, basic carpentry, basic home painting, basic home plumbing, beading accessories, conversational English training, cooking and baking, envelope making, etiquette and grooming, journalism, LPG/home fire safety, PA system, public speaking and silk-screen printing.

For the other evenings we had orientation night, acquaintance night, fellowship time and a Bible study open forum.

On the fourth day of camp, we had a clear, moonless night, perfect for stargazing. All the campers and staff went to the top of the hill to look up at the sky. Aided by an astronomy program running on a laptop computer and projected onto a screen through a multimedia projector, and with a 2-million-candlepower spotlight, the campers and staff were shown the different visible stars, planets and constellations, including the location of the Big Dipper and the North Star.

The evening of the fifth day of camp was the perfect follow-up to the night before. A video by the Moody Institute of Science titled The Milky Way and Beyond was shown . In just 40 minutes, the video took the viewer through a spectacular trip exploring galaxies and observing pulsars, quasars and mysterious black holes. It featured photography from the Hubble space telescope. It was very inspiring to see how majestic and limitless the universe really is. Both campers and staff had a greater appreciation for the incredible beauty and immensity of God's creation, and the fact that in spite of our present nothingness, we have the promise of ruling over God's creation and inheriting all things!

On the Sabbath, we had a challenging Bible bowl in the morning and Sabbath services in the afternoon. Florante Siopan, pastor of the Visayas congregations, gave a sermonette on "How to Handle Conflicts When They Arise," while Mr. Macaraeg gave a sermon on "Seven Keys to Making Wise Decisions."

For the final evening at camp, everyone was treated to a buffet dinner at the Lower Veranda of the Eden Nature Park. We had a formal dance and each dorm gave their best performances with cheers, yells and dorm songs. Some of the "braver" staff members even did a special dance number! This was capped by the awarding ceremonies. The camp was officially ended at midnight.

The next morning, everyone started packing. It was quite noticeable that many, if not most, of the campers had their key chain compasses hanging from their belt loops… This time, the theme wasn't just an empty phrase or slogan written on the back of their compasses, but a living phrase written in their minds and hearts as well. We hope and pray that when life gets confusing and they don't know which way to turn, they will recall United Youth Camp 2007 and "Remember True North."

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12 Children Enjoy Summer Camp in Germany

by Paul Kieffer

This year 12 children and five adults from four congregations in Germany attended summer camp from Aug. 1 to 5 just east of Bielefeld, Germany, at the hostel Naturfreundehaus in Oerlinghausen.

Following a brief orientation meeting Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 1, campers enjoyed various games as part of a fun Olympics on the grass playground. Before dinner several campers built a dam at a nearby play area called the Amazonas where a small creek has carved a deep gorge into the hillside.

In the evening campers began learning the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers" by heart as their special music for Sabbath services. The hymn was requested by one of the campers. Prior to "lights out" for the night, staff members quizzed campers on the Gospel of Matthew, which was designated as the subject material for the Sabbath Bible quiz.

On Thursday, Aug. 2, campers visited a nearby museum featuring the life of brickmakers at the end of the 19th century. Because there were not enough job opportunities locally, one third of the men in the region around Oerlinghausen worked as traveling brickmakers, journeying as far as the Netherlands to work in brickmaking kilns for seven or eight months of the year. After hearing an explanation of how brickmakers lived and worked, campers were divided into groups and given tasks to imitate the life of a brickmaker.

Friday's main activity was a visit to the nearby Hollywood amusement park with its wild animal zoo. Traveling in four cars, the campers and staff drove through the zoo area only a few feet from lions, tigers, elephants and other exotic animals before arriving at the amusement park. Once inside the park, campers enjoyed a day of roller coaster rides and other attractions.

For the daily interactive Bible study, campers were divided into three groups based on age. The theme for this year's camp was "God's Way Works." Instructors Jesmina Allaoua, Reinhard Habicht and Paul Kieffer discussed subjects with a practical application in Christian living.

On the Sabbath campers were divided into three teams for a Bible quiz competition conducted by Paul Kieffer. Questions for the quiz were taken from Matthew and were divided into four categories by degree of difficulty. The boys won with a total of 185 points, and the two girls' teams tied for second place with 80 points each.

In the afternoon, visitors from the local Bielefeld congregation joined the group for Sabbath services. Campers performed special music after Rolf Marx's split sermon titled "You Can Do It!" highlighting the story of Canadian Terry Fox, who raised money for cancer research by running across Canada despite being an amputee. In his split sermon, Paul Kieffer emphasized the examples in the Bible showing how young people took a stand for God's way of life.

After the church service, each camper received a certificate of participation that emphasized his or her contribution to the camp. David Leier was given special mention for having scored 80 points in the Bible quiz, including being able to name all 12 apostles. In the evening, campers, staff and visitors enjoyed a barbecue dinner.

After a Sunday morning breakfast, campers started their journey home. For some, summer vacation ended the next day.

The Naturfreundehaus Bielefeld, the venue for the camp, uses volunteer supervisors during the year. Its members are expected to volunteer a couple of weeks a year to provide oversight when groups use the venue. This year's volunteer supervisor was the same one as for the previous camps. He again called us a "low maintenance" group and expressed a desire to serve again if the house is used as a venue for camp.

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Highlights of Nigeria Camp Made by Meeting Challenges

Mark Mickelson

Rock climbing and rappelling, soccer, Compass Checks and Bible studies, team building activities, ballroom dancing, crafts, Bible bowl, computer training, etiquette, volleyball and rope-bridge building, along with much singing and friendship. That was youth camp, Nigeria-style, and the 27 campers, two mini-campers and 22 staff members would do it all over again.

Oludare Akinbo directed the camp, and Mark Mickelson attended with his family and Youth Corps participants Cody and Bobbi Kitts and Emily Sandilands.

The highlights of camp turned out to be times when everyone was definitely challenged. One day the road to Abeokuta was closed by flooding, and rock climbing had to be canceled. It was a great disappointment for the Red Team, but their positive spirit prevailed. They went on to win the rope-bridge building competition in difficult conditions later that same day.

As the activity started, it began to rain again and threatened to dampen everyone's enthusiasm. The team counselors and staff stepped forward, though, and began to sing and call out to the campers, who responded immediately. They kept up the exchange throughout the entire activity and finished in a very positive way. The Red Team was able to go to rock climbing on another day.

Another example of commitment and enthusiasm was 12-year-old Sarah Vidal from Abuja. The minimum age for camp was 13, so Sarah was not chosen. Still, when the teens were ready to go, Sarah went to the bus and waited with them. She had packed her bags even though she was not accepted. When the time of departure came, two campers were late. One arrived in time but then the bus had to be on its way. Sarah was offered the last seat. At the end of camp she received the Best Camper Award for her team.

Camp finished with camaraderie and excitement but with some sadness as well. We were leaving with wonderful memories, but we were still going our separate ways.

We headed back to Lagos with Mr. Akinbo at the wheel. The roads were full. As we approached some buses (vans) and were slowing to get around, Mr. Akinbo said, "Oh, no!" The brakes had failed. We were not going very fast, but it was enough to hit one bus and push it into another. The impact knocked the side door off and dented the bumper and back. The damage to our own vehicle was surprisingly small. Most importantly, no one was injured. It could have been much worse. We thanked God for His merciful protection and care. The crowd that gathered was stilled by a local shopkeeper who made sure nothing got out of hand. We paid for the damage to the vehicles and then repaired our own. The shopkeeper stayed until we were on our way.

We returned home very thankful and with great memories.

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After Wet Summer, Dry Week for British Summer Camp

by Barbara Fenney and Cindy Harper

After a very wet summer, God blessed us with a week of fine, dry weather for the British Isles Summer Camp 2007, which took place at Alleyn's School Field Centre on the outskirts of the spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire, England.

Eleven campers and six staff members arrived for seven days of friendship, learning and fun. Although mostly resident in the British Isles, campers represented five different countries— Scotland, Switzerland, Malawi, Italy and Thailand. English was the common, though not necessarily the first, language for all.

Campers, staff and occasional visitors toured local attractions such as Poole's Cavern, a cave complex known since Roman times, and Buxton museum and outdoor market. They also participated in walking, swimming and racing go-karts. Football, rounders and volleyball were played on the paddock next to the Field Centre; games, painting, crafts and initiative training took place indoors.

Yvonne Patterson, a member of the Sheffield congregation, visited to teach the group encaustic art (hot wax painting), with some very beautiful results. One evening camper Tinyade Chonde cooked a tasty pasta dinner for everyone.

Evenings ended with forums during which campers asked questions and talked about subjects that were on their minds. Elders David Fenney and David Payne led discussions on the positive and negative elements of music, what exactly is bad language and why is it wrong, why do we affirm and not swear "in God's name," how to love our enemies, the confusing difference between Scripture and what is taught in school and how to handle questions about military service, which is still required in some countries. Forum closed with a prayer and a favorite hymn chosen by campers or staff.

A highlight of the week was the day almost everyone attempted "Go Ape"—a treetop course of ladders, rope and cable bridges, other obstacles, zip lines and a Tarzan swing, where the participants could leap off a 40-foot-high ledge, before swinging into a cargo net.

Everyone was attached at all times to safety lines, and there were less challenging alternative routes through the course. The age-limit excluded the two youngest children from attempting the course; however staff member David Stebbins, at 70 years of age, is believed to be the oldest person to have finished "Go Ape" at Buxton.

Peter Hawkins led hymns at the Sabbath service, and two split sermons by David Fenney and David Payne covered thanksgiving in prayer and a photographic tour of the Holy Land linked to accounts in the Bible.

The campers, none of whom had attended UCG summer camp before, all bonded well despite the language differences and were able to learn a lot from each other. End-of-camp comments reflected their enjoyment of the food, making new friends and fun activities.

On the final evening, after the Sabbath service and a special dinner, everyone participated in the entertainment—songs, skits, mimes and a percussion group. The evening was rounded off with a campfire under the stars.

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Ghana Camp Highlight of My Life

by Rob Oswald

Endurance and enjoying every moment. That's how I would describe my trip to Ghana as a United Youth Corps volunteer this August. I experienced an eager anticipation for what awaited us after a full 24 hours of tight spaces and little movement on the three flights that took us to Accra.

The very first day we were in Ghana, we attended church in Accra, the capital. The meeting hall is only a few yards from the coast, so we walked down to the ocean before services. It was beautiful, but I saw a little boy using a plastic bag as a toilet, then he tossed it over a cliff into the ocean below, where there were many more filled plastic bags. This was the most memorable disturbing incident of the trip, and the smell will always stay with me!

Along with Melvin Rhodes, senior pastor for Ghana, and Tom Clark, associate senior pastor and camp director, four other Youth Corps volunteers from the United States and I were in Ghana for the annual Ghanaian summer camp. The other volunteers were Amber Epperson, Arielle Falardeau, Josh Lee and Corbin Rose.

Every year over 100 campers attend from all over Ghana. In previous years the camp has been held in Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region, five hours inland. This year the camp was held at Adisadel College in Cape Coast, so many of the campers saw the ocean for the first time.

We traveled west down the coast to Elmina to begin camp. I felt one big "Wow!" as I looked out at the sun setting over the ocean. We were standing on the balcony of the Elmina Beach Resort Hotel, in the small town of Elmina, where the slave trade used to go on. I could see Elmina Castle, where slaves were held before being shipped to the Americas. We toured it the next day. Earlier this year the castle was one of the places chosen for the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade throughout the British Empire.

I had never seen anything so beautiful as that sunset. This was the vacation of a lifetime, the greatest and most meaningful trip of my life—and it had only just started!

In the same area of Ghana, which is a major tourist center, we were also able to visit Cape Coast Castle, Kakum Rain Forest and a restaurant/hotel complex built on stilts with crocodiles in the water. The canopy walk at Kakum will stay in my memory the longest. This is made up of seven rope bridges that are over 125 feet above the floor of the rain forest. As you walk on the bridges, you can look down at the rain forest, the most gorgeous, calming and peaceful scenery imaginable. Sometimes clouds below block your view, but the whole atmosphere up there is just amazing. I was reminded of the Kingdom of God and how nothing we see or imagine will come close to how wonderful God's Kingdom will be! Thanks to a fund-raiser in the Oakland, California, area churches, a few days later we were able to treat all the campers to Kakum, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most of them, who live too far away or are too poor to visit this area of Ghana.

The crocodile farm enabled me and fellow volunteer Josh Lee to pet and play with these dangerous creatures, with the help of an extremely attentive guide! Thankfully, we lived to tell the tale!

The six days of camp Aug. 14 to 20 offered daily Christian Living classes with the theme "Heroes of the Bible." Physical activities included volleyball, soccer, Frisbee, team challenge and, for the first time, softball. That was my contribution. We had to modify the games a little and have a lot of patience teaching campers who were totally unfamiliar with most of these sports. It also got a little crazy with the language difference—English is a second language to the campers, so I found myself keeping what I said short and to the point.

We also battled with constant power outages, little hot water and we were truly thankful whenever we had anything resembling a toilet.

The friendliness of the people was so truly memorable. I learned that, wherever you go, God's people are always welcoming. God's Spirit works with the Africans as it does with us in the United States. While they are way poorer when it comes to the physical things, spiritually we are all blessed to have God's presence in our lives. We are truly blessed with opportunities like the summer camp in Ghana. UN

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Camp Woodmen Begins With a Bang!

by Eric Breedlove and Rhonda Whitley

It's funny how you can go to the same place and do similar things year after year and still love every second of it! That is exactly the case for Camp Woodmen in Alabama. Every year campers and staff travel long distances to make their way to rural Snead, Alabama, to experience a week full of fun, friendship and godly character. Camp Woodmen may not be the biggest camp offered by UCG, but it is definitely among the biggest in heart; everybody is so closely knit together!

This year camp started off with a bang (thunderous bang to be exact)! As usual, it began to rain, but that did not get us down. We simply had a great time inside! Despite the rain, everything got off to a great start. Campers arrived safely and were moved into their dorms to get ready for the evening meal and orientation.

Camp was filled with nothing but beautiful days after that opening night. Christian Living classes enjoyed the great mild weather almost every morning. Every day was perfect weather for many of Camp Woodmen's activities like basketball, speedaway, volleyball, softball, swimming and our favorite unofficial Woodmen activity—cornhole! For those unfamiliar with this name, all you need to know is that it involves bags filled with dried corn that you try to throw into a hole on a wooden board. This game sounds ridiculous, but it could be quite arguably the most popular game at Woodmen!

Night activities were just as entertaining. The first night of activities started off with an icebreaker dance. Later in the week, campers and staff were given the opportunity to test their team skills and perhaps their leadership skills in our always entertaining and sometimes embarrassing novelty Olympics! Dorms split up into teams for relay races against the other dorms and the staff. The campers gave the staff a run for their money this year!

Thursday night brought the most anticipated and fun-filled evening of entertainment for the entire week. Camp Woodmen's Recycled Fashion Show made its comeback after a three-year hiatus. Every dorm and activity area was given a bag of material, such as trash bags, chip bags, tree bark, leaves, etc. Each group had the whole week to create outfits out of these materials and model them for the entire camp. We were not disappointed this year, and neither were the judges, who were the senior staff members and ministers.

After an incredible week of living God's way and enjoying activities with His people, it was time for some rest! The incredible gift of God's Sabbath could not have been more apparent after such an awesome and exhausting week. Friday night there was a Bible trivia game. Dorms split up into groups and attempted to answer a number of challenging biblical questions as a group. Not surprisingly, everyone did quite well with all the questions.

The week ended with very inspiring messages at church by Ken Martin and Todd Carey, and also with a lovely Sabbath dinner that was much appreciated. Once the sun had set and campers were well rested, our final dance social began. Campers and staff danced and fellowshipped until midnight.

The next morning was filled with teary-eyed good-byes and campers getting as many phone numbers and e-mail addresses as they possibly could. It was another successful year at Woodmen. UN

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Northwest Camp Lets Its Light Shine

by Steve Nutzman

One camper summed up the 13th annual Northwest Camp this way: "I understand how to become close to God." Another camper added, "It really makes you think how lucky you are to be called by God and have a chance to learn about Him."

Northwest Camp, which was conducted from July 29 to Aug. 5 at a camp facility about an hour east of Portland, Oregon, encouraged its 120 campers from 16 states and three Canadian provinces to learn more about God, to make friends and to enjoy a variety of activities.

"The campers had such positive attitudes and were a joy to be with, and I wish to thank the 60 staff members for their many hours of service and for their dedication. It was a trouble-free camp where all campers and staff were treated with respect and kindness," said the camp director, Steve Nutzman.

Camp was held at a different facility than in past years. Since there were no lakes close to the camp, campers were bused to off-site locations for waterskiing, kayaking and hiking. Three ski boats and 16 kayaks were used at these activities. Other activities included dance class, two camp dances, swimming, high challenge course and zip line, ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, basketball, crafts, archery and a new class this year, golf.

Among the more popular classes were the morning Christian class and the Excellence in Living classes. The theme of all Christian living classes was "Dive Into God's Word." One camper remarked, "I know more about the Bible, and I want to read it more."

The Excellence in Living class, taught by Denny and LeeAnn Luker, helped the campers learn about the four personality types, described as the lion, otter, golden retriever and beaver. Femininity and masculinity classes rounded out the Christian living classes. There was also a question-and-answer session, plus a Sabbath slideshow on Africa, followed by Sabbath services.

Two campers summed up their camp experiences this way: "It makes me want to go home and bring the Zone with me" and "Lessons I've been taught at camp will stick with me throughout my life."

Northwest Camp enjoys a very experienced and dedicated staff to serve the campers. One camper reflected this by adding: "The staff listens to any question or problem that you may be having. They also work very hard to give us a good learning experience, not to mention they take a week off work for us. Staff made us feel safe."

The campfires after dinner were another highlight of camp. Dorms greet the camp with their creative dorm cheers and original camp songs. The challenge portion is a big hit with campers and staff, in which a dorm or an individual can "challenge" others to a game of volleyball or other activity involving skill. Two open activity evenings added to the enjoyment of camp.

The campers and staff were truly blessed this year because they experienced an environment full of God's way of life in action, which included cooperation, respect, unity and spiritual growth.

This light was shining to those outside the Church. The host camp director told us that in her 22 years of directing and hosting camps she had never seen a better organized camp than ours. She added, "I wish we could have you train other camp groups how to run a camp."

Next year the camp location will move back to the popular Camp Davidson facility in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. The camp dates are July 6 to 13, 2008. We hope to see you there!

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Diving Into Camp Heritage, 2007

by Doug Johnson

The United Youth Camp program at Heritage Reservation completed its 12th program on Sunday, Aug. 19, as 143 campers and 65 staff members bid good-bye for another year to their "home away from home" near Farmington, Pennsylvania.

We had another fine year weather-wise at the 2,000-acre property owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America, Greater Pittsburgh Council, with a brief thunderstorm early Thursday morning and a few showers that dampened the checkout procedures on departure day.

Campers built a "Kindness Tree" with direction from the annual Life Skills class and were challenged to "dive into God's Word" in the Christian Living classes, which once again began each day at camp.

A new element this year at Heritage was the media class, conducted by staffers Chris Moen (pastor in Canton and Mansfield, Ohio), Ashley Moen and Marianne Connell. The class recorded several 15-second spot ads (a few of which were included in the annual slide show at the Saturday night dance) and wrote articles that were used to produce The Heritage Herald, the first camp newspaper for the Camp Heritage program. Campers and staff were able to take copies home with them when they checked out Aug. 19.

Once again we were grateful for God's protection and guidance, especially for the Challenge campers and staff who took part in the whitewater rafting trip on Wednesday, Aug. 15. The trip takes place annually on the Lower Youghiogheny River, and always has its share of "thrills and spills" for participants. The trip this year was challenging and exciting, but smooth and uneventful, which is just the way we like it!

Next year's program will most likely reintroduce the spelunking expedition for Adventure campers (ages 12 to 15) at the Laurel Caverns, where campers take guided tours 300-feet deep into the caves under the hills of the Laurel Highlands. The whitewater trip is an annual "given" and the media class earned its spurs for a return engagement in 2008.

We're already planning our 13th season at Camp Heritage, scheduled for Aug. 10 to 17, 2008. See you then!

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Campers Practice God’s Way at Carter

by Ken Treybig

Camp Carter started this year with the baptism of a young adult staff member on Saturday evening at the start of staff training. After being a camper at Camp Carter for many years and a staff member last year, he came to the conclusion he needed to solidify his commitment to God's way of life—the way that offers promise both now and in the life to come. That got the staff training started on a high note!

This year over 120 campers and staff, including a camper from France, spent the week together enjoying cooler temperatures and successfully facing the unusual challenges of intermittent rain for the first half of the week in Fort Worth, Texas. They met those challenges with the godly characteristics of patience and cooperation—a good sign that living God's way is not just a lofty goal, but an attainable one with great benefits.

As one camper commented, "Camp shows us God's way can be fun and helps us grow and encourages us to come back next year for another dose of God's Word."

That comment displays an appreciation of the theme for Camp Carter this year. Campers were encouraged to build their relationship with God by focusing more on His Word. The Compass Checks were all taken from the points the apostle Paul mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:14-16 as benefits of looking to the Bible for guidance in our everyday life.

This year Jim Franks, Ministerial Services operation manager, participated in camp for the first few days before having to head back for the Council meetings. He presented a Compass Check about doctrine, drawing on his experience observing the Sabbath even when his high school baseball team had a Friday night game as they headed to the state championship. He encouraged campers to stick with their convictions from the Bible even when it's tough.

Every evening in the cool of the air-conditioning after a day of varied activities, campers had the chance to ask and discuss biblical topics that were on their minds. Many of the ministers expressed satisfaction at the fact that the questions this year reflected a deeper level of thought about God's way—even among the younger dorms.

Activities ranged from sports activities—basketball, flag football, golf (for the oldest dorms), softball, strength training and volleyball—to indoor classes like Christian Living, crafts, dance, newsletter and a new class this year on nutrition. Many campers, including boys' dorms, commented on enjoying a class they didn't think they would find of interest. Of course, offering fresh fruit smoothies at the end of class might have helped with that perception!

There were also specialty activities like horseback riding, archery or skeet shooting, both low and high ropes elements, rappelling from the 65-foot tower (for the oldest dorms) and the fun water events of an afternoon with a brother or sister dorm at the lake and time in the swimming pool at camp.

This year a new option was added at the lakefront activity with tandem kayaks, so campers could choose to relax on the beach, swim, kayak, tube, ski or just ride in the boats as others skied or tubed. Completing the menu of fun were the impromptu skits brought on by the rain.

In addition, the whole camp enjoyed the fellowship times at meals, open activities in the evening and the snack time following open activities when they could mingle with campers and staff as they enjoyed a snack from the camp store.

To sum it up in the words of a camper from the oldest girls dorm, "This was a great year for camp!"

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