Should I Send My Child To A Christian Camp?

We just finished a week at our summer camp in lush and surprisingly sunny Wales and I was reminded of all the great benefits of Christian camp for young people.

Good fun

Summer can be a challenging time for parents. We want to keep the children occupied with good, edifying activities and also give them rest and variety. Extended free time at home over summer usually leads to trouble. Too much screen time, sibling wrestling matches, and cries of “I’m bored!” are too familiar.

Comparatively, Christian camps give an abundance of activities. This past week, our sons and daughter climbed a mountain, swam in a mountain stream, went to a trampoline park inside a cave, hunted costumed staff in a beachside town, and caught crabs on a beach. Far from a mundane week! These adventures stretch, challenge, and grow young people.

The Lord can use these shared experiences with other campers and counselors to knit hearts together and break down social barriers that keep children from opening their hearts to someone when opening God’s Word.

Godly friends

In our increasingly secular and anti-Christian culture, young people feel alone. They might be the only one in their year at school who regularly attends church. They might be alone in saying that they believe God created the world or in refusing to go along with sinful activity among classmates. Or maybe they are homeschooled and have few peers at church.

Imagine the delight when they are introduced to a dozen other young people who are also striving to know and live for Jesus. There is an instant encouragement and character sharpening. Throughout the week they share and grow in comradery. They learn at a young age that Jesus is building his church and they dive into God’s Word together. By the time the week ends, they have made friendships that they won’t forget and may continue for decades to come!

A Feast of God’s Word

God often uses his Word powerfully at camp and there is usually an abundance of it! Most Christian camps have at least one message a day and a time of Bible study. From a scheduling point of view, that can be more than two hours a day in God’s Word.

Additionally, the preaching is clear and focused on the gospel, calling young people to repent and believe. Since the audience is similar in life experience, it can allow for specific and targeted application and explanation of God’s Word. In my experience, the Lord used the preaching at camp memorably in my own life. We saw this in our camp this week. The Lord used his Word strongly to convict of sin and the young people’s need of Jesus.

A Change of Scene

The uniqueness of a camp setting can sometimes open hearts to receive the Word of God. For our camp it is such a shift for the young people, most of whom live in urban or suburban London. Quite the shock to be transported over a few hours to the countryside and live for a week in a tent! This new arrangement helps them to hear everything as new, or at least renewed.

For some young people, they are normally closed off in Bible study or when listening to the preaching of the scriptures, but at camp they are willing to give it a go. They often open up and disclose struggles and difficulties that normally they would have suppressed. Furthermore, adults are dedicated to the children all week and have time to hear the issues a child may be facing. A new, trusted tent leader may just be the person a child needs to confide in.

Fewer Distractions

Young people today have it difficult. The atmosphere in schools can be toxic. For many, social media is ubiquitous and oppressive. Others come from difficult homes or homes that are built around school, sports or money. When you include the separation from their phones, we joyously eliminate many distractions that steal their hearts away. There is more time and attention given to God and his Word.

Godly examples

Our camp often features the testimony of young people who are in university or just beginning careers. These staff members sacrifice a week of their holiday time to come and serve at camp as volunteers. They come to serve and encourage the young people by their actions and even more powerfully, their example.

What an encouragement for the teenagers at camp to see young adults (and older adults) who are indeed living for Jesus! They have worked through the difficulties of adolescence and have gained that wisdom and are still living for Jesus. As I spoke to the campers this past week, it was the testimony of the staff that was often cited as the most encouraging aspect of camp.

God’s creation

Camps usually take place outside in God’s wonderful creation. This past week we were blessed with amazing weather in a vibrant, green, mountainous Wales. One of the highlights for me and the campers was a particularly clear night spent under the stars. It was the middle of the week and we offered the young people who were interested a night bivouacking atop a small mountain.

Many eagerly accepted and in the late evening we carried our gear to our camping spot, had songs and testimonies around a fire, and then crawled into our sleeping bags to enjoy God’s celestial handiwork. It was a clear night with little light pollution and we witnessed the constellations and shooting stars swirl around us until the wee hours of the morning. It reminded us of God’s wisdom and immensity which all humanity has been witnessing from Adam to David the shepherd to the apostle Paul to our modern day.

What a beautiful reminder of our God’s greatness and our own unworthiness. Camp often provides these close-up revelations of God through the wonder of his creation.

Dependence on the Lord

For many young people and parents, a Christian camp is the first extended time a child is away from home. This week my eldest son is going off to another camp alone. I already can feel the anxiety building as I consider whether or not he is going to be okay. It is a wake-up call to the stewardship of parenting.

Children belong to us as parents for such a short time and soon they will be away from us for longer and longer periods. They belong to the Lord and He can watch over them. So I have already begun to ask the Lord to guard and grow my son during his camp week, without His blessing all is in vain.

As we close out the summer, most Christian camps are in the last week if not already finished. Autumn is just around the corner and then Christmas and the blur of many activities. Yet, sometime in the next several months Christian camps will begin advertising for the next summer. It might be good to find one to send your child to, or to support, or to go as a volunteer.

The Lord can use these camps like a spiritual greenhouse. The combination of an abundance of God’s Word, godly friendships, godly examples, God’s creation and less distractions make for a great week in the life of a young believer. God will use it for His glory and his Word will not return void.