Randy Rainwater was looking for an easy A in college. What he got was a life-shaping experience that has served as a lynchpin of his youth ministry. The class was Christian Camp Counseling at Asbury College (now University), and it required students to spend a week serving as a camp counselor. “It profoundly impacted me because I had never been to camp as a student,” Randy says. “I fell in love with the concept.”
Fast forward 25 years and Randy’s still in love with camp. It’s been an ongoing committed relationship for the veteran youth worker at Grace Fellowship Church in Snellville, Ga.; and each year Randy takes hundreds of middle and high school students to camp for several weekend retreats and a week in summer. He’s experienced the power of camp in his personal life, as well. He and his son bonded deeply during a father-son camp at California’s JH Ranch, and he felt the brunt of his teen daughter’s fury when he once suggested not taking their youth group to camp. Each year, Randy loves watching God work in kids’ lives and connect the dots in their hearts. “The testimonies I hear from kids flow this way: ‘I got involved in campus ministry. I started coming to church. I went to camp. I understood everything they were talking about all year long,'” he says.
Randy goes so far as to call camp the “real predictor and precipitator” of the ministry impact his group will experience each year. “We can tell you what kind of year it will be in terms of evangelism based on the depth of what God does in our kids at camp,” he says.
That’s no surprise to Gregg Hunter, president of the Christian Camp and Conference Association (CCCA). That kind of impact is exactly the point for him and the 850 camps affiliated with CCCA. “Christian camps provide unique settings to encounter God’s love in powerful ways, and kids’ lives are changed forever,” Gregg says.
Much of the power of camp comes from its concentration of time, community and undistracted natural setting. Getting kids out of the pace and pressures of their normally frenetic lives sets the stage for God’s work in their hearts. Randy likes to do the math, figuring that an average day at camp lasts 13 hours, minus teeth-brushing and a little sleep. “In four days, that equals a year of our Sunday morning meetings in terms of hours,” he says, “and the kids aren’t being distracted. They’re getting teaching; they’re worshiping; they’re talking about God; and they’re in the middle of this amazing creation.”
Randy may have discovered that camp is a life-changing experience decades ago, but he’s reminded again every year. He also has learned a few things in that span of time. He adds his insights with input from CCCA to help youth workers prepare practically for camp. Keep reading for tips about what you can do to maximize your ministry through camp.
Each year, about 6 million people attend one of the 850 camps affiliated with the Christian Camp and Conference Association, and millions of kids, teens and adults go home transformed. “Camps of all shapes and sizes across the country experience the same kinds of results,” says CCCA’s Gregg Hunter. “There’s no denying God uses the unique environment of camps to powerfully change lives.”
Veteran youth worker Randy Rainwater of Grace Fellowship Church in Snellville, Ga., has been taking youth groups to camp for 25 years. Check out his tips for maximizing your youth ministry through camp in this series of related articles.
Want Help?
Learn more and find a camp at CCCA.org, site of the Christian Camp and Conference Association.
