Hi Camp Family,
How can we already be at the end January 2024? Camp will be here before we know it! We’re excited as we prepare and trust that you are praying with us as we ask yet again for God’s guidance and faithfulness in our preparations and the gathering of our staff! Reading in scripture this morning I was reminded of how we can sometimes grow weary in waiting for something good, a promise from God perhaps…we might even laugh at the thought of it ever coming to pass. This was the case for Sarah as she listened to the conversation outside the tent as the Lord visited Abraham and reminded him of the promise of a child, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” (Genesis 18: 10) We might judge Sarah a bit for laughing but honestly can we blame her? It had been countless years since that promise had been declared and now she and Abraham were pretty old, even by today’s standard. The Bible says, “Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of Women.” (Genesis 18:11) I am really grateful for this story and for Sarah’s response…she doesn’t respond with disappointing bitterness. She laughs. Sarah gives us permission to worship God with laughter even when our future is uncertain and when the fulfilling of God’s promise seems incredulous. Sarah offers comic relief. I love how scripture tells the story. Sarah denies that she laughed for she was afraid, but God’s simple response was. “Oh yes, you did laugh.” (Genesis 18: 15) I don’t hear judgement in that, just a simple fact, and maybe a bit of God’s own humor, and then also the question, "Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14) When Sarah does give birth to Isaac, Abraham is one hundred years old. Sarah’s response is, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” Sarah's response in this story is inviting us to laugh with her in her joy of God’s fulfilled promise. And in fact, the name of that fulfilled promise - the son of Abraham and Sarah - Isaac, means “Laughter.”
I recount this story in scripture because one of the values of camp is the joy of beloved Christian community that is visible in celebration and laughter. Celebration and laughter are a declaration that, “evil and death, suffering and loss, sorrow and tears do not have the final word.”* Celebration and laughter bear witness against the “deceptions of the prince of the darkness that would blind this world to hope.”* Celebration and laughter remind us of our resurrection victory secured by Christ. Take joy! All will be well!
Join us in the joy of our God.
Our registration for camp opens February 10.
You can register at our website: https://www.kingscamp.net/
Our weeks for King’s Camp 2024 are:
Grades 3-4 Session 1: June 3 - June 8
Grades 5-6 Session 2: June 9 - June 15
Grades 7-8 Session 3: June 16 - June 22
Grades 9-12 Session 4: June 23 - June 29
Remember that as you are registering the grade refers to the grade your camper will go into in for the Fall of 2024, the next school grade after your child’s current school grade.
We look forward to the joys of camp!
*"A Liturgy for Feasting with Friends" from Every Moment Holy Vol 1.