Once again we had the summer camp for the youth in the southern part of South America in Paine, Chile. Paine is a small town located only 30 miles south of the city of Santiago, but the facilities we have for camp are so isolated from the city that nobody could imagine we were so close.

The facility for camp is just what we need. No doubt it is a blessing from God. It has cabins, pools, courts for the most popular sports and swimming pools for all ages.

This year we began camp Dec. 23 and finished the 29th. Every year we choose these dates for several reasons, including to isolate our youth from the feasts of this world celebrated during that time. We can also get very affordable prices due to the lack of demand during that season.

This year we had a total of 90 people attending, of which 82 were campers, mostly from Chile, but we also had campers from Bolivia, Argentina and the United States.

Due to the economic problems faced by most of our families, the Church makes the effort to pay for most of the expenses of camp. Campers pay for a small percentage of camp and their transportation. The cost of transportation makes it difficult for the youth from Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil to attend, even though they would very much like to be with the rest of the Church youth.

On the Sabbath we had services and a Bible study given by our ministers.

Camper Speeches

In the afternoon of that Sabbath five of the campers presented the first set of speeches. In fact, every day of camp there was a set of camper speeches. These speeches were one of the highlights of the camp. In those speeches the campers were asked to speak for about 10 minutes each on a subject of their choosing.

This year all of the speeches reflected one common subject: They all want to stay in the Church and become baptized someday in order to be protected from the behavior of this world and become children of God. All of the speeches were very inspiring.

These speeches are very good for several reasons:

1. They allow the campers to express themselves without being criticized or laughed at.

2. The campers themselves are able to teach each other in their own language, experience and age.

3. They allow the minister to get to know the campers better and, through that, the minister gets to know the subjects that are in the minds of the youth in order to help them more effectively.

4. When they speak to their peers about a given subject, they commit themselves to support their speech with their example.

Christian Living and Activities

Every day the campers had a Christian Living class given by one of the ministers. They also had an hour called "Remember your Creator." In that hour they prayed, studied their Bibles, talked about the Christian Living class or prepared their speech. After lunch there was swimming and sports such as soccer, basketball and volleyball.

After dinner they had an activity such dancing, a talent show, organized games, etc.

The camp went by very fast. Fortunately all of the campers went back to the city of Santiago to participate in a church family day Jan. 1. That rounded out the very wonderful time for the youth to be together.

At the end of camp, the campers all became more united than ever. They are very thankful to God for providing the means to have the summer camps and other activities for the youth in order to prepare them for the future of the Church and for the Kingdom of God.