Here’s a little glimpse of our incredible weekend in Pennsylvania for Youth Winter Fest 2017! I want to say a very special Thank you to our amazing team who worked so hard and tirelessly to put this event together and made it possible for students to come and have an encounter with Jesus. Also, a big shout our to Josh Griffin for coming as our speaker, Dan Bremnes for leading us in worship, and John Branyan and the Nubian Gents for blessing us with their gifts and talents. Let’s continue working with Jesus as He is building His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. #YWF17
Youth Winter Fest 2017 Promo Video!
Would love for you to join us! Contact me to bring your youth group!
Camp Shiloh 2016: Day 6
Today was our last full day at Camp Shiloh. It has been a fantastic week! I will post the video from today when it is posted on Camp Shiloh’s YouTube channel, but … Our main event today was Canoe Tug-O-War. It was really awesome! Then, this evening, we had our banquet. We are proud of all of our students, and I am pleased to announce that two of our SRC campers won Honored Camper Awards from their counselors. The award is given to a camper in the cabin who the counselor saw something unique in this week. Congrats to Justin Kim and Caitlin Doody on receiving the award this year.
Camp Shiloh 2016 – Day 4
Wednesday at Camp Shiloh is Watermelon Football Day. It’s always epic!
One of the things I love about Camp Shiloh is the passion for Jesus in this place. The chapels specifically are always powerful encounters as we experience the presence of God in worship and are challenged by the messages. It’s a privilege to be here walking with students as they are processing what God is doing. We have two days remaining, and I would invite you to join us in praying that they will fully engage God and embrace the deep, good work God desires to do in their hearts.
Camp Shiloh 2016 – Day 2
Monday was a great day at camp. Our daily routine after wakeup is: Muster during which time cabin groups perform skits for points. Breakfast. Skills classes which involve various sports and activities, including a new one called Archery Tag, which is like paintball but with archery. Really cool! We then have morning chapel followed by cabin devotions. After lunch we have competition sports between cabins then free time. We muster again before dinner. After dinner is competition between the two teams, Judah and Gideon. Canteen is snack time, then we have our evening chapel. The chapel times are incredible, and it is always amazing to see students engaging with God passionately in worship, being challenged from God’s Word by our speaker, and responding during prayer time. All of our SRC campers are doing great, and I can see them being moved by God in their hearts.
Camp Shiloh 2016 – Day 1
Yesterday we traveled to Rome, NY for Camp Shiloh. I’ll be posting updates and pictures as I am able to, but the internet is rather weak here, so if you don’t see anything, it’s probably because of that. After checkin and dinner we had our first competition. We played a game we called “The Chicken Dance.” Kids had an egg wrapped on their back with seran wrap which also locked down their arms from shoulders to elbows, and the object of the game was to smash everyone else’s eggs without getting theirs broken. Super fun! We have several students here for the first time, but they all did well on the trip up and acclimated very quickly once we got to camp. Excited for great things this week!
Speaking at Group Mission Trips Workcamp
Last week I had the great joy and privilege of speaking at a Group Mission Trips Workcamp in Pocahontas, Virginia. It was a blast being able to share and see students out serving. There were 216 campers from 14 churches and 8 different states. They served on 37 different work crews at 25 different homes and completed all of their projects. They served a total of 6,480 hours and also donated 2,050 cans of food to bless the community. So proud of them!
Camp Stuff Week Day 5: Themes
How do you come up with a theme for camp? Through my own experience and observing and interacting with my fellow youth workers, here are the elements that go into deciding on a theme:
Team. Having a leadership team is a great starting point to coming up with a theme for your camp. The next steps of prayer and Scripture can be done in a meeting, during a leadership team retreat, or you can ask each person to spend time in prayer and in the Bible individually and set a date to come together and share what you are sensing.
Prayer. Begin to pray to God for the students He knows will be coming to camp. Ask Him to give you a sense of vision and direction for the camp and what He wants to impart to those who attend.
Scripture. Pay attention to what you are reading in your Bible. Oftentimes God will draw your attention to something. Ask God if He is showing it to you as something He wants to reveal to students at camp. Or, perhaps, as you are praying, the Lord will start dropping a word, phrase, or idea in your mind. Go to the Bible and see what God has to say about that particular topic.
Brainstorming. Come together and share the ideas or Scripture passages God has been speaking to your hearts. Once you are sensing a big idea or a common theme, have your team start throwing out words or phrases that capture what you feel the Lord is speaking.
Decide. Narrow down your list and make a decision about what your theme will be. This may be through a vote, or someone might need to make an executive decision. One thing I heard my friend Doug Fields say years ago has been helpful to me through the years. He said, “If you have a choice between cute and effective, go with effective.”
Support. Once the decision is made, everyone needs to be unified in their support. Even if your idea wasn’t the one that was chosen, get 100% behind the theme and work hard to be a promoter. 
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