Down by the river: Come to Jesus, at camp
PHOTO BY REBECCA SCHAD
Leading souls to Christ - Brandon Armstrong hugs his cousin Rachel Weldy after baptizing her at Michigan Christian Youth Camp in Attica. Rising costs and increased competition challenge Bible camps nationwide, but camp leaders say the focus remains the same: leading souls to Christ.
Leading souls to Christ - Brandon Armstrong hugs his cousin Rachel Weldy after baptizing her at Michigan Christian Youth Camp in Attica. Rising costs and increased competition challenge Bible camps nationwide, but camp leaders say the focus remains the same: leading souls to Christ.
YAMHILL, ORE. - God designed the baptistery at Camp Yamhill.
It’s where the Yamhill River meets Haskins Creek, where salmon and steelhead trout swim — and where so many souls find salvation.
“Where the river and creek kind of intersect is where people have been getting baptized here for the last 50 or 60 years,” camp manager Nick Mears said, standing on a wooden bridge overlooking the chilly waters of Inspiration Point.
“It’s kind of amazing,” Mears said of the hundreds of young people immersed into Christ at this 240-acre camp, about an hour southwest of Portland.
Across the nation, thousands of church members — young and old — trace the washing away of their sins to a river, creek, lake, pond or swimming hole at a summer Bible camp.
Roger Woods, minister of the Walled Lake, Mich., church, was 11 years old when he and best friend Steve Vogel made the decision to be baptized at Aloha Christian Camp in Hawaii.
The year: 1970.
“We called home to get permission and then were immersed in the camp pool surrounded by the whole camp as witnesses,” Woods said. “To this day, I remember how strongly I felt the Lord’s presence as the group of us who were baptized huddled together and sang ‘I know the Lord will find a way for me.’”
As a teenager, Laura Hogan swam in Lake Darling at Midwest Bible Camp in Washington, Iowa — and she was baptized in it.
“I knew full well, as much as a 13-year-old can, what I was doing,” said Hogan, now 41 and a member of the Frederick, Md., church. “I loved Jesus, and I wanted to be obedient to him.”
Hogan’s three children have attended Camp Manatawny, a Christian camp in eastern Pennsylvania.
“These one-week intense times of spiritual training and fellowship are very beneficial to the development of young Christian hearts,” the mother said.
Yet amid the recession, many — but not all — Christian camps nationwide struggle with rising operational costs and dwindling numbers of campers, leaders told The Christian Chronicle.
At the same time, traditional summer Bible camps face increased competition from secular sports, band and art camps, church mission trips and even some children’s preference for computer games over the great outdoors, leaders said.
Despite the challenges, camp advocates say a week spent enjoying God’s creation — and studying his Word — remains a powerful force in leading souls to Christ.
“It’s almost indescribable the impact camp has,” minister Jeff Werkheiser told a Chronicle reporter visiting Camp Manatawny. “If you talk to some of our kids, they’d tell you this is their little piece of heaven.”
Werkheiser, who preaches for the Conestoga Valley church in Lancaster, Pa., baptized his son, Nathan, now 13, in the Manatawny swimming pool two years ago.
Werkheiser’s grandparents, Earl and Gerry Steever, first brought him to the camp as a young boy. Thirty-five years later, he still returns to Manatawny each summer, directing a weeklong camp session and encouraging every child at the Conestoga Valley church to attend.
Werkheiser’s 180-member congregation sent about 35 children to camp this summer — some of them friends of members’ kids. The church paid for camp for about 15 children who could not afford it, he said.
“To me, it’s a no-brainer,” he said of investing in camp. “Anything we can do to increase the chances that our kids will be faithful, we ought to do. This camp changes lives.”
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It’s where the Yamhill River meets Haskins Creek, where salmon and steelhead trout swim — and where so many souls find salvation.
“Where the river and creek kind of intersect is where people have been getting baptized here for the last 50 or 60 years,” camp manager Nick Mears said, standing on a wooden bridge overlooking the chilly waters of Inspiration Point.
“It’s kind of amazing,” Mears said of the hundreds of young people immersed into Christ at this 240-acre camp, about an hour southwest of Portland.
Across the nation, thousands of church members — young and old — trace the washing away of their sins to a river, creek, lake, pond or swimming hole at a summer Bible camp.
Roger Woods, minister of the Walled Lake, Mich., church, was 11 years old when he and best friend Steve Vogel made the decision to be baptized at Aloha Christian Camp in Hawaii.
The year: 1970.
“We called home to get permission and then were immersed in the camp pool surrounded by the whole camp as witnesses,” Woods said. “To this day, I remember how strongly I felt the Lord’s presence as the group of us who were baptized huddled together and sang ‘I know the Lord will find a way for me.’”
As a teenager, Laura Hogan swam in Lake Darling at Midwest Bible Camp in Washington, Iowa — and she was baptized in it.
“I knew full well, as much as a 13-year-old can, what I was doing,” said Hogan, now 41 and a member of the Frederick, Md., church. “I loved Jesus, and I wanted to be obedient to him.”
Hogan’s three children have attended Camp Manatawny, a Christian camp in eastern Pennsylvania.
“These one-week intense times of spiritual training and fellowship are very beneficial to the development of young Christian hearts,” the mother said.
Yet amid the recession, many — but not all — Christian camps nationwide struggle with rising operational costs and dwindling numbers of campers, leaders told The Christian Chronicle.
At the same time, traditional summer Bible camps face increased competition from secular sports, band and art camps, church mission trips and even some children’s preference for computer games over the great outdoors, leaders said.
Despite the challenges, camp advocates say a week spent enjoying God’s creation — and studying his Word — remains a powerful force in leading souls to Christ.
“It’s almost indescribable the impact camp has,” minister Jeff Werkheiser told a Chronicle reporter visiting Camp Manatawny. “If you talk to some of our kids, they’d tell you this is their little piece of heaven.”
Werkheiser, who preaches for the Conestoga Valley church in Lancaster, Pa., baptized his son, Nathan, now 13, in the Manatawny swimming pool two years ago.
Werkheiser’s grandparents, Earl and Gerry Steever, first brought him to the camp as a young boy. Thirty-five years later, he still returns to Manatawny each summer, directing a weeklong camp session and encouraging every child at the Conestoga Valley church to attend.
Werkheiser’s 180-member congregation sent about 35 children to camp this summer — some of them friends of members’ kids. The church paid for camp for about 15 children who could not afford it, he said.
“To me, it’s a no-brainer,” he said of investing in camp. “Anything we can do to increase the chances that our kids will be faithful, we ought to do. This camp changes lives.”
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