I just returned from what feel like my 267th time at camp. It’s not far off. I’ve done camp ministry all my life and I believe in it’s power, in conjunction with the power of the Holy Spirit, to transform the spiritual condition of students.
The most students I’ve ever taken is probably somewhere around 25-30. This past week was pretty easy in comparison, I took 6 students to camp. I am, currently, the part time youth pastor in a very rural church with maybe 40 on a Sunday, so having 6 kids go to camp is above average in my book.
I did something different this week than others weeks, I filmed 4 small talks and posted them on my Youtube channel. I give you a brief update of my camp day and some lesson I learned. You can watch these videos in my Youth Camp playlist.
To save you time I’ve condensed these 4 videos into these 4 takeaways
Camp is for Youth Pastors too
I have beat the drum in every church I’ve been in that camp is everything. To me, it’s the number one transformative experience next to a mission trip, but camp is not just for a students growth it’s for the youth pastors growth as well.
Yes, you may be saved but that does not mean you don’t need to hear the messages and receive encouragement. Just like students need to be taken out of their element, you need to be taken out of your regular routine and out of your comfort zone.
God wants you to trust Him with a week of YOUR life. He wants to teach you something about loving teenagers in not so normal circumstances.
Camp is a sacrificial place
Camp can be a scary place some times. Not every youth pastor is built for the rugged schedule of camp. One youth worker commented,
“omg I am not looking forward to camp. It’s my first year as youth pastor and pretty much everyone told me how little sleep and how busy you are…. I’m not as young as I once was and I’ll also be gone for my family for the FIRST TIME EVER… for an entire week. My daughter cries every time thinking about it and my wife is super stressed AND I’m using an entire week of vacation from my other job (which is also full time)– which I won’t be working overtime that week which we DESPERATELY need. Being bivocational is so stressful and ugh.. we’re dreading camp next week… I’m just Not looking forward to it at all…
For a new youth pastor, I understand this, completely, but this camp is our sacrifice.
We talk about a sacrifice of praise and laying our lives down on the altar to students but when do they see us practice this? I would say it is most on display when we are at camp because everything is out in open, everything is exposed.
Camp brings out our best and our worst. Camp reveals our flaws, which everyone sees and allows us to experience victories only we will see.
You don’t have to love everything about camp, but you should recognize that there will be conversations you will have with students that you would never have anywhere else. Embrace camp’s uniqueness.
Whatever you are “giving up’ the Lord will not just make it up to you, he will bless you abundantly.
Camp is about noticing the little things
Camp does a lot of heavy lifting for the youth ministry. It exposes our students to great speakers and builds community, quickly, in a short amount of time. Camp is Nitros-Oxide of spiritual growth but not all growth is equal.
If you bring a kid who does not know Jesus to camp and they receive Christ, that’s a big, noticeable leap of growth, but what about students who already know Christ, what are we looking for in them?
Incremental growth is about noticing and affirming small steps students take in their walk with Christ.
I had one freshman young man who got water on his ear and it was painful. During the worship he asked me, “Would you pray for me?” I did and then I told him, “It takes a lot of courage to ask for prayer. We can’t handle everything on our own.” This is one of those unique moments that would not have happened anywhere else but camp.
There was a young lady who wrote on her response cards that she sang worship songs out loud, for the first time, on the last day of camp. That’s a big deal. Small, but significant.
Noticing and affirming small steps of spiritual growth is not just a principle we should use at camp but all year long.
Camp hacks for a trouble free week
Every year, at the end of camp, we do a debrief of the week. This is not an intense, “tell me everything God did in your life” kind of meeting. I am debriefing to hear testimonies but I am also looking for how well everyone got along with each.
In addition to the debrief, I try to have a “word” something that ties the whole week together and, this year, I did not have some deep, spiritual revelation. Instead, I asked students, “If you were the youth pastor, standing where I am standing, what would you want to say to everyone about this week?”
Several students stepped up and shared their heart but one young lady went around and spoke to each students, “I think they would want to know…” and spoke into their lives. Powerful.
In addition to an end of camp debrief I recommend,
Check in with each camper each day
If you have a small group this is easy. For larger groups, arrange to share a meal with them and talk about camp, life, etc. Try to do activity with some of them like canoeing, etc.
Check in with each leader each day
I hired a college student to be a counselor this year. It was a necessary move but I wish I had checked in with her more and maybe been more specific about what I was wanting from her with our students.
Checking in with leaders is not just way to find out if kids are behaving but if the leaders themselves are doing ok and if they are doing the job you have asked them to do.
Daily debriefs
These should be short, group check ins, maybe after dinner, before service and give students a chance to affirm each other. Ask, “Who gets MVP today?” and let kids brag on a leader or fellow student. This goes a long way to keeping group unity.
Midweek Boost
Midweek is when the wheels can fall off. Students will be tired and irritable, there might be some tensions, but you still have 1 or 2 days to go but you want students to stay engaged. This day is why I have the first two tips. If you haven’t been checking in with leaders and students, this day could take you by surprise and I don’t think you’d like surprises at camp.
Some ideas for a midweek boost: Order pizza instead of eating camp food. Have a special guest from your church come visit, like your pastor or beloved leader, and let them bring some new energy. Go have a mud fight in the tug of war pit. All this is too refocus attention on what the Lord is trying to do in their lives.
Leave it at the camp
Lastly, give students a chance to resolve any camp issues. Maybe something was said or done at camp that is still hanging around it’s time to clear the air. Ask your students if they think they have said or done anything this week that they think was not their best self and they’d like to apologize.
Creating this space allows kids to ask for forgiveness and others to give it. Just like we ask kids to leave their junk at the cross, we are asking them to leave their hurt feelings and mistakes at camp giving them a chance to start anew as well as restore any unity that has been shaken.
That is my week in a nutshell and whether you have just come back from camp or are heading to camp, I hope these tips and thoughts encouraged you.
If you’d like more tips and advice, grab my Youth Pastor’s Guide to A Successful Youth Camp for free by signing up for my newsletter or you can purchase it here.