YFC Summer Camp: It's All Worth It!

Dazed and semi-confused, I turn off my alarm at 5:30 on a Saturday morning. This is the day we’ve been anticipating, but it’s still hard to drag myself out of bed. As the students begin to arrive, I remember why this is all worth it. Our team has worked all year to develop deep relationships with each of these students, and now we are about to pile into these two buses to make the six-hour trip to camp. We arrive… we play, we sweat, we laugh, we cry. We take cold showers and sleep in sweaty bunks for far too few hours. Is it worth it?

Then it happens… a student shares about their complicated home life for the first time. Another student opens up about their suicide attempts. Yet another student confides that after all the things that they’ve been through this year, they just can’t believe that God could be good. Is it worth it? Is it worth a few less hours of sleep and a paucity of warm showers to be invited into the most intimate thoughts and feelings of the loneliest generation? As godly adults gather around these students to pray for them and to speak life and truth into their situations, it’s clear that whatever “inconveniences” we may be experiencing are most assuredly worth it. 

Maybe you’re still not convinced. You may have even given toward camp scholarships and wonder whether it was really worth it. In an open field, on the final night, I watched as dozens of students, whom I love, and for whom I have prayed, and over whom I have lost sleep, lifted their voices (in front of their leaders and peers) to declare that they believe. Students who couldn’t believe that God was good just hours before, were throwing their pain and trauma at the nail-scarred feet of Jesus. Students who have spent their whole life working to gain God’s favor, removed their faith from themselves and placed it into the healing death of Jesus. Students who have spent their entire lives living to please themselves are now happily serving a new Master.

So if you wonder if it was worth it… the answer is undoubtedly YES!  

By: Joey Clapp, Campus Life Ministry Director

YFC Camp: Kara

Kara is a young person searching for answers. She has tons of questions FOR God and ABOUT God. She never fails to ask the really tough questions of her leaders in her search of truth. 

When she first got connected to YFC, she was coming out of a tough situation at her school. She could no longer attend her school after a decision she made and was now bearing the weight of the consequences. So, she would sit with YFC staff members and work on school work, share a meal together, and talk about life. During those meals are where her questions really started to pour out. 

When Kara went to YFC Camp those questions didn’t end. One night after worship, when the girls gathered in their small groups, Kara had a breakthrough moment. She started opening up and talking about her relationship with God. She shared that she tries to go to God with her questions, but she feels like He’s not answering her. One of the camp leaders got to sit with her in that and in turn ask Kara some tough questions. She asked her to really reflect on where else God might be revealing Himself to her. She shared that sometimes God might not answer you in how you think or want to be answered. By the end of the night, they prayed and Kara gave her life to Christ. 

YFC Camp wasn’t what started Kara’s search for God, but it was a pivotal moment for her in her relationship with the Lord. For Kara, YFC Camp really was where everything changed. 

Give the Gift of Camp today.

YFC Camp: Ben

Ben grew up knowing about God, but his faith was challenged and stretched when he faced an unforeseen circumstance in his life. He was dealing with anger, pain, and questioning why God would allow something so tragic to happen to his family. He started to make decisions that were leading him more and more down a path away from God. 

BUT GOD…

During the week of YFC Camp, Ben’s faith was renewed. YFC Camp served as a “halting point” for him to refocus on Jesus and to see he has been with him all along. He bonded with some of the other guys on the trip and got to see first-hand that he was not alone. It also helped him realize that others look to him as a leader, and that he needs to focus on how Jesus lead others. One YFC staff member said this about Ben, “He’s a born leader who has lots of zeal and love for others.” 

Ben’s leadership really shined at the end of YFC Camp. Students had the opportunity to get up on stage in front of their peers and share anything that God was pressing on their hearts; Ben was one of the first ones up there. He opened up about where he was at and encouraged others in the room. His vulnerability made space for others to feel open enough to share too.

YFC Camp helped Ben take a hard stop and put his eyes back on Jesus. At the end of the week Ben said, “...this camp was exactly what I needed.”