Mt. Gilead

Last week I visited Mt. Gilead, a camp in northern California that has room for about 300 kids. While seeing how the staff ministers to men, women, boys, and girls in the area, I learned seven things that we can apply to all of our ministries:

1. The staff at Mt. Gilead has a passion for the people they serve. They do everything possible to give campers the best week of their lives so they can make the best decision of their lives. Whether using skateboard parks, climbing walls, pools, or whatever it takes, the goal is reaching kids for Christ. That goal, that passion, is contagious.

2. The staff is a team working together. As the food service staff, the housekeeping staff, the registration people, the secretaries, the maintenance guys all came and told their stories, we could clearly see how much they loved one another. They keep short accounts with each other so that nothing hinders their ability to work together as they reach others for Jesus Christ.

3. They use volunteer power creatively. Through a program called MAPP, a group of retired people is building bridges and decks and making all kinds of improvements at the camp. Mt. Gilead has learned that people need to be involved and want to be connected through the use of their hands and their skill sets.

4. They use money wisely. I had Paul Neal, one of the trustees of AMF, with me. As we drove out of camp, he said, “They get a lot of bang for their buck out of their budget.” He and I were impressed with the cost-effectiveness and the use of God’s money at Mt. Gilead.

5. They have a clear vision for the future. They want to expand not only the physical part of the camp but the impact of the camp by reaching different ethnic groups and reaching different types of people with creative and new methods. Vision is part of Mt. Gilead.

6. The camp has a history. It is Mt. Gilead, a place to which people return to remember the decisions that they made. It’s a place where they go when they understand and rekindle their relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

7. The camp is part of AMF. The staff understands connection. David Gould, the camp’s director, understands that the local camp and the national organization are working as a team, and they are working with the area missionaries who bring kids to camp to have a life-changing experience.

I am so proud to be a part of what God is doing at Mt. Gilead.

http://www.americanmissionary.org/

Look at This Picture!

Joy Bible Camp just held its first winter camp. It was an incredible weekend, during which a group of teenagers who don’t normally fit together began to form a unit. They came to camp from different races and ethnic backgrounds, from good homes and troubled homes, and from different high school crowds, but they left camp with new friendships and a new understanding of Christ. This picture was taken in one of the dorms during the retreat; I can’t look at it without thinking of the students’ very different stories and the way camp brought them together.

“Life is better at camp,” wrote one teen on a survey taken during the weekend. Another talked about what the group had learned in chapel: “"We should choose great friends; we need them." Something about camp breaks down walls, removes the distractions of everyday life, and allows kids to focus on what’s really important: who Jesus is and how He impacts our lives. There is undoubtedly a power in camp, a power in residential ministry that only kids can really experience.

Take a look at that counselor in the middle of this photo. He is so proud of what has happened during the weekend. He probably is glad that it’s all over and he can get some sleep, but he’s poured his life into these guys. He’s spent the weekend listening to them, playing volleyball and air hockey with them, and sharing meals with them – not so that he can get his picture made, but so that these guys can see a real-life example of Jesus.

Camp is obviously fun. It’s powerful. Look at the kid on the bottom bunk behind the counselor. He’s got a bandanna wrapped around his head. Only at camp would the peer pressure of looking great be removed so a kid can walk around with a bandanna on his head! At camp there’s unity, there’s joy, there’s peace, and for some of these kids, it’s the only time in their lives they can feel loved. It’s the only time in their lives when they will feel that someone cares about them…at camp.

I’m so proud that AMF is involved in over fifty camps around the United States and is bringing these kinds of experiences to young people so that they can know the reality of who Jesus is.


http://www.americanmissionary.org/