Hi everyone, it’s March already! Tomorrow much of the Christian world will begin the journey towards Easter. Marking its beginning with Ash Wednesday, the Lenten season is a 40-day period of reflection, fasting, and remembrance of Jesus’ journey to the cross. I am so reminded at this time that we are not alone in our struggles. Jesus has borne them (along with our sinful nature and bent ways we respond to our struggles) in his very body and taken it all to the cross.
At King’s Camp we have opened registration and have begun the journey of preparation for camp. We have our directors and are in the process of interviewing counselors. In the coming weeks we’ll be highlighting our leadership team and our counselors on our social media platforms for you to get to know them.
About three years ago we tried something new in our leadership. Instead of having one program director for camp we decided that the best model for leadership was for the weight and responsibility of overseeing the four weeks of camp to be shared between two program directors along with supporting directors, including two WorkStudy directors and an activities director. You will be meeting the outstanding young people that will fill these roles for the summer.
Lately I’ve been struck more than ever that we need companions in our journey of faith. The culture of individualism that so permeates our minds and imaginations and filtrates into our churches and our spirituality is just not consistent with the teachings of the Bible or the way that Jesus modeled life on this earth. In fact, it is contrary to the very nature of God. A few thoughts have really brought this home to me.
1. God is a Holy Trinity: the very nature of God is a Holy Community of Love—Father, Son, Holy Spirit. So, within the very nature of God is the relationship of the Three who share the same will and attributes while maintaining their specific individuality, all the while eternally and reciprocally loving one another.[1] The amazing fact is that God has invited us to share in this relationship of love.
2. Jesus models a life and ministry that is intimately connected to the Father and is manifested in love and obedience to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus prays for his disciples and for us in John 17, he prays that we would share in the love relationship that he and the Father share— “that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”[2] And when Jesus sends out his disciples, he sends them in pairs not alone.[3] Also, Jesus the Son of God has his companions in his journey on earth. Jesus has his twelve disciples and his more intimate three (Peter, James, and John) that he invites to more intimate encounters with himself—Jesus brings these three to witness the raising of Jairus’ daughter, the transfiguration, and to be close to him in the garden of Gethsemane. If Jesus had companions in the journey how much more do we need companions?
3. And finally, this realization hits even closer to home in my personal life and in my role as an executive director at King’s Camp. I recently submitted my doctoral thesis for a DMin degree to be evaluated by my doctoral committee. As soon as I pressed submit, I was humbly aware that the journey to completing and submitting the 244-page document for evaluation was not taken alone. I’ve had companions along the way. In fact, I feel I will need to divide my diploma among the many people who have poured into me and supported me—people who have read my many documents, participated in workshops and taken phone calls answering questions; people who have prayed for me and have called me to check on me; people who have encouraged me with kindness and love. In fact, as my due date was quickly approaching, two people in my cohort even helped me with my Word doc formatting. I am quite sure the due date would have come and gone without their help. I tell you it’s a humbling experience to realize that you have done nothing on your own...but also a very formative experience. This is true in my role at King’s Camp as well. I am keenly aware that I do nothing on my own and in my own strength that is of value to the kingdom.
This is why I am wholeheartedly convinced of the value of Christian summer camp. It’s important that we experience Jesus in loving community. It’s important that we know that our faith is to be worked out in a community of people, in the body of Christ. It’s important that we know we are not alone in our struggles or our joys. We are to carry one another. We need companions in this journey of faith.
If you are interested in finding out more about King’s Camp please go to our website http://www.kingscamp.net/
[1] Todd Hall, Relational Spirituality, 58.
[2] John 17:26 (Read all the beautiful prayer in chapter 17. Also check out John 5:19 where Jesus responds to the pharisees after healing on the Sabbath, claiming he can do nothing on his own, but only does what he sees the Father doing.)
[3] Mark 6:7
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