Kids Camp 2023
What do you get when you surround 50 kids with 25 caring adults, the beauty of Maine, fun activities like kayaking, swimming, archery, dodgeball, China Lake musical chairs, art, music, great food, dad jokes, space to linger, and a whole lot of Jesus? You get a life-changing week of kids camp!
Our theme for the week was “LIGHT THE WAY,” and we chose Matthew 5:14-16 as our memory verse; “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
Our BIG BRIGHT IDEA for the week was the phrase, The Light, Jesus has come to us: to show us the love of God the Father, to overcome darkness, and to show us how to live. The bright idea was reinforced all week through incredible expressive art, daily devotions, evening prayer, and thoughtful conversations.
On Monday, we learned that the whole purpose of Jesus’ life and ministry is to show us God’s glory. Jesus came to earth to rescue us from the darkness of sin and to reveal the full color and beauty of God’s glory.
We spent Tuesday discovering God’s name and His character. We learned that because God is faithful, his character is always consistent and true, which means that when God describes himself as merciful, gracious, kind, patient, trustworthy, forgiving, and full of love. He is always loving, kind, forgiving, and trustworthy. That is the hope we can lean on when we struggle with the darkness of our own sin or the darkness of the sin in the world around us.
On Wednesday, we discussed how God created us to be his most awesome and wonderful masterpieces. We learned that we are not simply born like a blank canvas so that the world around us can tell us who we are. Rather, as God’s masterpiece we are uniquely designed with gifts, talents, personality, and character, and we have always been the fullest reflection of God’s glory, even when darkness is hiding our true selves. That is why God loves us and Jesus is working to remove all the darkness from our lives.
On Thursday, we learned that because we are God’s masterpiece, Jesus is 100% committed to working in us and with us to overcome the darkness of sin in our own lives. Both the sinful choices we make and the sinful choices made against us. We learned that Jesus invites us to participate with him in our transformation. When we are ready, we bring our sins to Jesus; those burdens in our lives that are just too much for us to carry, for him to deal with as he chooses.
We wondered together about spiritual disciplines that we can practice together to give Jesus space and time to teach us how to overcome the darkness, and we talked about how to take these new truths and practices home with us.
On Friday, we wondered about how Jesus’ light gives our lives purpose, meaning, and direction. We reflected on the truth that because we are children of the light, Jesus is inviting us to shine his light all around us so that others may also see God’s glory in our lives.
The week was nothing short of glorious. The Holy Spirit was present, especially when singing Gratitude by Brandon Lake, sins were confessed, freedom was encountered, and so much darkness was dispelled by the goodness of God. Kids went home tired, but encouraged, and ready to Light the Way.
