Another summer camp is in the books!
And, like every year, it was super chill… other than the broken arm, salvation, falling dead animals, the Great Volleyball Challenge, the horde of screaming students besieging the chapel while being shot at from the barricaded doors, and lives being recommitted to Christ.
Okay, so maybe camp was not exactly chill.
But we had an incredible time.
This year, Refuge Summer Camp looked a little different as we held two separate camps: one for junior high and one for high school. Both camps took place June 19–25 at Hartstone Bible Camp in Potter Valley, and God was so clearly at work through all of it.
Our camp speaker, Noah Tiemeyer, did an incredible job teaching through the reality of pain, sin, judgment, and hope in Christ. One of the powerful truths he shared was that pain in the life of an unbeliever acts as a warning signal of coming judgment, but for the believer, pain becomes more like a victory siren, reminding us of the coming victory of our Savior, who will one day end all pain, sin, and death forever.
That message hit home in a very real way.
During camp, we saw one student give their life to the Lord, and another recommit their life to follow Christ with everything. That alone would make the whole week worth it. More than the games, the food, the late nights, the memories, and all the craziness, our deepest prayer is that students would encounter Jesus and leave camp changed by Him.
Junior high camp also included worship led by our youth worship team, which was such a blessing to see. Watching students lead other students in worship is one of those moments that reminds you God is raising up the next generation right in front of us.
And then there was the earthquake.
The epicenter was only about seven miles from camp, and it shook the buildings hard enough that two of the ram heads mounted in the Hartstone chapel fell off the wall and shattered. It was wild to see just how much power had been building beneath the earth, only to be released all at once.
By God’s providence, nobody was hurt.
What made it even crazier was that the message that followed had already been planned, and it was about the built-up tension caused by sin, tension that will one day be released in final judgment. We did not plan that connection. We could not have planned that connection. It was one of those moments where you just step back and say, “Okay, Lord, we see what You did there.”
Camp was full of laughter, chaos, competition, worship, conversations, and unforgettable moments. But more than anything, it was full of reminders that God is at work in the lives of our students.
Thank you to everyone who prayed, gave, served, encouraged, and helped make camp possible. We are so grateful for the way our church continues to invest in students’ lives and point them to Jesus.
Another summer camp is in the books, and we are already thanking God for what He did. Oh, and our leaders? Yeah, they were a little bit tired…