by Rev. Kay Ash

I missed seeing all of you in worship last week as I spent the weekend at our North Texas UMC campsite in Bridgeport, Texas. I am so thankful to be part of a congregation that participates in our beautiful United Methodist Church in a variety of different ways and at different levels. Last weekends’ Camp Bible invited all children in grades 3rd, 4th and 5th from North Texas United Methodist Churches to come to Bridgeport for a camp specially designed for children who have never been to camp before. Most of the kids and most of the adults who attended Camp Bible had no idea what to expect, where to go, what to do or how the camp would function. We walked all over the campsite to show folks the layout such as where to find their cabin, where to find meals and most importantly, where to play! Bridgeport never fails: everybody was in awe of how big (200 acres) and how beautiful (breathtaking) the campsite is.

Many of the children were in 3rd grade and were proudly carrying their brand new 3rd grade Bibles! Every lesson gave the children chances to learn how to find a scripture and read, as well as discuss, what they discovered. You may not know this, but Bridgeport Camp is much more integrated than it has ever been before. For example, the curriculum for summer camps 2022 revolved around the theme: “Created to be . . .” All the camps (Children, Jr. High and Sr. High) use the same curriculum, which is designed for multiple ages. Kids learned that everyone is created to be 1) a child of God, 2) curious, 3) part of a community, 4) a caretaker and 5) different than others. Then, when the curriculum writing team got together to write lessons for Camp Bible 2022, we dovetailed off of the summer curriculum and created the similar theme of “Wonderful Me.” Last weekend we talked about bravery, our unique gifts, where to focus and that God does not underestimate us. Our hope is that families who have children and youth that attend different summer camps and even Camp Bible can still share a conversation around common themes.

More than anything, Camp Bible is amazingly fun! Kids get to run free in wide open spaces and we even had a few crazy dance parties! Nothing could be better than waves of laughter from a large group of relaxed children; Camp Bible is magical that way. Most importantly, Camp Bible often proves to be a very powerful experience as well. More than a few new parents told me how amazing it is to be in an environment where our entire focus is centered on how to love each other best with no competition, no snarky language, no pressure. We just look for ways to intentionally love each other for the entire camp. Maybe all that love is why Camp Bible so often changes people.

As an example, I shared this story in our closing worship and want to share it with you. A number of years ago I was a cabin mom at Camp Bible. We had kids in our cabin from several different churches. There was one young lady in our cabin who was the only child from her church, she knew nobody. She was a delightful girl, short hair, very tiny, truthfully almost looked younger than a 3rd grader. The other girls in the cabin seemed to know each other and had a hard time inviting our solitary camper into their conversations. As a result, our solitary camper spent a lot of time with us counsellors instead of the other kids. I remember she had a hard time getting to sleep at night and would spend hours chatting away with us grown-ups while her hands always busy doing something. In fact, I did not even pay attention to what kind of craft she was putting together since I was so exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open!

When it was time for Camp Bible to be over the next day, we gathered our cabin of girls together for prayers and blessings. It was at this point that our solitary camper gave gifts of prayer beads to each and every one of the other girls in our cabin. So, that is what she was doing all those hours when she could not sleep! As she passed out the gifts, the other girls started to cry. Our solitary camper and every other girl hugged. They exchanged phone numbers and promised to come back the next year for summer camp so they could be together again. Somehow, a tiny, brand new 3rd grader overcame her awkwardness by making gifts for the other kids. She changed everything with her radical act of goodness. It was a wonder to witness. After all the kids went home, I slowly made my way back to the cabin to pack up my bags and there on the foot of my bed I found a thank you note from our solitary camper! She told me that Camp Bible was the best camp ever and that she could not wait to come back, wow! It was such a powerful experience, I still remember it all these years later and I’m telling you the story now.

We had no shortage of radical acts of love at Camp Bible 2022: youth leading worship, parents with never ending patience for wiggly children, teachers pouring their hearts into every lesson, children hugging and talking and praying together. Again and again people are changed for the better by camping ministries.

Please know that the schedule for all ages of camps has changed slightly for the summer of 2023. Registration will fill up quickly beginning January 4th at 10:00 a.m. Here is the link to get camps on your schedule: https://www.bridgeportcamp.org/camp-schedule/.

I will miss you again this coming weekend as we kickoff Confirmation at Camp Bridgeport. Several boys from our church and from Wednesday Night Live will be there. I wonder what God has in store for us? I know it will be good.

Blessings to you all.

Pastor Kay

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