As we approach Red Rock Bible Camp’s fall fundraising banquet, it is a great time to be reminded why this ministry is so important.
On the surface, summer camp at Red Rock doesn’t feel like a very high stakes scenario. We’ve been blessed beyond measure with incredible facilities, clean drinking water, beautiful scenery, full registration almost every summer, and no real issues when it comes to recruiting staff. But every summer when the campers file in, and the staff sign their summers away, many of them are fighting for their lives.
I’ve been a staff member at Red Rock Bible Camp for five years, and a camper for another four, and each year I’m amazed at the clarity in which God reveals himself at camp. The Spirit of God is all around us, but there is something about this place that makes His presence seem to tangible and attainable. This is not an illusion. The Spirit of God is at work at Red Rock Bible Camp, and in His work you realize what the phrase “Our God saves,” really means.
When you read the blog in the summer time, it’s filled with pictures of smiling faces and wild activities, but it doesn’t completely capture what’s going on in the hearts of the kids each week. Those smiling faces are the very same young people battling depression, living in broken homes, facing abuse, feeling alone, and just feeling separated from God.
Life’s not easy, and growing up certainly isn’t easy either. We live in a broken world, and our reality is that the people we care about the most are facing the effects of that world just as we are. There is a void in our hearts left by sin, and it effects our lives every day. Some people go their whole lives trying to fill that void with things that lead to brokenness and despair, but others find God – and it changes everything.
At Red Rock Bible Camp, the encounters these campers have with God change everything. I’ve seen so many campers arrive here in a dark and lonely place, but leave more complete than they’ve ever been before because they know what the love of Jesus really feels like. Our situations in life often present us with so many challenges that try to pull us away from God, but when these campers arrive here they are able to let all of that go and truly experience the love of Jesus. They don’t just hear about Jesus, they experience it. They experience it while they’re worshiping God in Chapel. They experience it sitting beside the quiet waterfront as the sun is setting. They experience it through the love their counsellors show them. They experience it through cabin devotionals in the evening. They experience it as they praise God during a Worship Night. They honestly seem to experience it everywhere they go here at camp, and the way these experiences have shaped people’s entire lives is an absolute miracle.
I say all of this not as a means of persuasion, but because I want to be a witness to the truth that God has revealed through this ministry. This camp is a massive part of my life, because it was at this camp where I truly met God for the first time, and I bet you there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people who would tell you the very same story. I am also not alone when I say that God saved my life at Red Rock Bible Camp.
I am so honoured to be a part of a ministry whose sole purpose is to serve God. In Matthew 28 Jesus tells us to, “go and make disciples of all nations,” and every year more and more young people sign up for that great commission because of what God has taught them at Red Rock Bible Camp. I may never work another day of summer camp at Red Rock again, but I will support this ministry for the rest of my life, and this is my invitation for you to join me. You don’t need to donate to us financially (although we certainly wouldn’t mind if you did), but the biggest need we have here is for prayer support. We have seen time and time again that God answers prayers, and that is something we rely on quite heavily at all times of the year.
Please pray for our banquet tonight, and that God can bless all of the fundraising we receive, and that we can have the wisdom to use it to best further His kingdom. Thank you all so much, and God bless.
