Personal From Ministerial and Member Services
Tennessee Church Visit and Launch of 2021 Camp Program!
Last Sabbath, I had opportunity to meet with our brethren from the Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tennessee, congregations. I greatly enjoyed meeting most of our members from both congregations. I also enjoyed the fine hospitality of Gary and Kim Petty who serve both congregations very well.
Gary and Kim were at Ambassador College around the same time that Barbara and I attended there. We have been friends a long time. It is such a great blessing to have so many longtime friends in God’s Church!
Sunday morning, Gary Petty and I drove down to Pleasantville, Tennessee, to see and experience our very first summer camp of the year! This was my very first time to visit Camp Nacome. We have had a preteen camp there for many years under the overall direction of coordinators Matt and Melissa Puckett. The camp site is nestled in the Tennessee forests and hills with a meandering stream peacefully flowing through the heart of the campus.
Matt and Melissa, along with many dedicated adult and teen staff members, provide priceless love and service to many of our members’ young children and grandchildren.
It was truly rewarding to see great joy on the faces of these young children as they participated in “human foosball,” a truly ingenious game I had personally never seen played before. It is patterned after the foosball games that many of us may have seen in basements and game rooms, but the children are “pieces” in the game, competing and scoring goals!
Children tested their marksmanship at the BB air riflery range on bullseye-type targets and popped many air balloons proving their skills!
They made an interlocking paper chain out of favorite scriptures in Christian living class and considered how it is God’s Word that anchors us to Christ and our heavenly Father.
In arts and crafts class, they decorated jars and made lanterns from them.
In the high ropes/challenge course class, the older preteens experienced the challenge and thrill of climbing a 30–40 foot climbing wall and helped each other rappel safely to the ground.
And this was just part of their activities and excitement at the first full day of camp!
The only disappointing part of my trip to Camp Nacome was having to leave there and not experience the remainder of camp!
After three days working at the home office, I am very much looking forward to another trip to visit brethren in Orlando and Jacksonville on this coming Sabbath. On Sunday, I will visit our brand-new preteen camp at Lake Placid in southern Florida and experience the excitement of many children and staff as they immerse themselves in four days of fun, fellowship and service to God and one another!
We greatly appreciate your prayers for the success of all our summer preteen and teen camps as we continue full speed ahead into our very busy camp season!
Wishing you all a very meaningful and inspiring Sabbath!
