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| Some of Our Brigade Camp Staff Week 3 |
“In the same way, let your light shine before
others, so that they
may see your good works and give glory to your
Father who is in
heaven.” Matthew 5:16 ESV
Our theme this year at Brigade Camp was
“Truth”. As written in our Bible
Explorer, Winston Churchill once said, “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice
may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”
We had a successful Christian Service Brigade
Summer Camp season. This is a difficult statement
to convey in words. There are many ways
I can try to help you understand how this summer was a success:
Our
camp was one of the fullest we have had in over a decade. We had 416 campers in all this summer,
ministered to by over 137 staff. Several
weeks we were using every available cabin and filled the dining hall wall to
wall.
Our
skill and craft programs were a huge success thanks to the hard work of our
senior counselors, junior counselors, and staff that kept everything going
smoothly. It is a major task to keep so
many balls in the air and keep every part of this giant camp machine
running.
How
can I give you an idea of what went on spiritually? Our counselors are encouraged to fill out
decision cards for any major spiritual decisions. It is exciting to report to you that we
received cards reporting 7 salvation decisions, 40 decisions to rededicated to
the Lord, and 27 requests for specific prayer on a spiritual issue. Though these numbers are exciting I don’t
believe they can adequately tell about the true gravity of what God had done in
the hearts of our campers.
One of
my favorite sights to see around the camp is cabins sitting together in the
afternoon doing their Bible Exploration, and campers spending time alone with
God during morning devotions. These
times are open the door for God to work in the lives of these kids.
Also
God showed up at our evening campfires.
Campfires begin with fun skits and songs led by our great team of Junior
Counselors. Each night a different
Senior Counselor brings a brief message.
The culmination of the week is always our Friday Night Campfire at our
“Down-Below” fire ring. During our
Battalion week 58 campers went forward and 55 went forward during stockade
week, for salvation, rededication, and prayer.
It was truly a moving sight to see these young men gather together
before the Lord, and boldly stand before their peers.
In any
ministry, there is also a great spiritual impact on those who choose to
serve. It was great to have Ken Horst,
who was one of our campers nearly a decade ago return as a senior counselor and
bring his son along as a camper. It is
always fun to hear both senior counselors and many dads, from our Father/Child
camps, reminiscing about their years as campers at Brigade Camp.
All in all we had a great summer at Brigade Camp
and can’t wait to see you next year!!
Dave Buncher
Ohio Valley CSB Ministries Camp Director
