United Church of God

Personal from Ministerial and Member Services: Jan. 2, 2019

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Personal from Ministerial and Member Services

Jan. 2, 2019

One of my responsibilities as Operation Manager for Ministerial and Member Services is to supervise and oversee our Youth Camps, both teen and preteen. To that end, my wife Barbara and I attended Winter Camp for the very first time. We were hoping for just the right amount of snow as Barbara and I still enjoy sledding, throwing snowballs, and would probably even take a crack at snowboarding if the opportunity arose! However, alas, no snow—until after we left camp. We were very glad to hear that they got about three inches of snow near the end of camp and were able to have some fun in the snow!

Nevertheless, we didn't miss out on the main attraction of camp—brethren, young and older, dwelling together in unity and having a great time together God's way! Barbara and I were both very pleased to see the dedication of our staff; many young adults who also went through our camp program are now giving back in service to our teens and preteens. Some of our staff and campers we met for the very first time and others we have known for years from the camp program. I believe it is important for us to make these connections and strive to get to know each other better.

We greatly appreciate the sacrifice and willingness of our young adults to be a part of our camp program which is so vitally important to our youth and their development and involvement in God's Church. Younger ministers like Aaron Creech and his wife Whitney lead the way and their staff responds beautifully in providing a very warm and encouraging environment for our teens.

We have some very bright and energetic teens who simply love to get together with other teens in God's Church. Camp allows them to spend valuable time together making and cementing friendships that, in some cases, will last a lifetime. The camp theme for this past year has been "Living God's Way Today" and our youth are doing just that in a very difficult world with many pressures that go against that theme. Let us all be grateful for our youth and what God is doing in their lives!