Youth Camp Update

Weekly Update – June 27th, 2024

Last Saturday morning, 13 youth and 4 adult volunteers loaded up two 15 passenger vans to head off to Ascend Camp.  After months of planning and fundraising, we were finally ready to travel over to Lake Williamson in Carlinville, IL. Ascend Camp has been hosted by Mission Road Bible Church since 2012 and now has over 1000 students who attend every year.  I had the opportunity to have a front row seat at this year’s camp.  Let me share with you some of the highlights from it. 

First, the teaching.  One of Ascend Camp’s distinctives is that it is defined by expositional preaching.  Our youth sat through 3 sessions a day all centered on the theme of “So Great a Cloud of Witnesses” from Hebrews 12:1-2.  Each session was devoted to the life of a person in scripture and how they can spur us on in our faith.  This camp didn’t pull any punches either.  What I mean by that is that the teaching wasn’t soft, by any means.  It was impactful with each lesson being anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour.  And our students listened!  We had solid, engaging small group time with them after each session as well. 

Second, the singing.  There was a lot of fun music.  There always is at any camp.  As the students entered into the auditorium before each session and rally time, the music was always blaring to the point that you could feel yourself shaking as you stood still.  But when each session started, the tone completely changed to a worshipful atmosphere filled with Christ-exalting songs.  Our students responded to this change in tone as well. Each student stood, singing songs that were filled with the good news of Jesus Christ and the hope of eternal life that he brings. 

Third, the games.  Camp should be a serious time for our students to reflect upon their lives and consider their souls before the Lord.  But camp wouldn’t be camp unless you have a few games to play.  Each day there were two different times for team events.  There were three teams for all of the students this year.  Team Loch Ness Monster, Team Kraken and Team Leviathan.  Let me remind you that there were 1000 students at camp, meaning that there were over 325 students per team.  These games were physical too!  With running, diving, and chasing, no one was leaving a game clean and unscathed.  The game pictured here is called, “Steal the Bacon.”  It was a nighttime water game that included some fierce competition. 

In addition to these highlights, our students got to swim, play ping pong, eat lots of ice cream and make new friends. I imagine that they came home exhausted from a full week of non-stop activity.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  We hope to share more with you on Sunday.

Serving Him with You,
Pastor Michael Nelson