Getting ready to open Kamp for the 101st time never gets old and never loses its excitement and anticipation. Helping provide a clear-cut path to The Cross has always been and will always be “as good as it gets” for me. Though this is summer 101 in the Ozark hills, it is still “the greatest summer ever” and “the greatest show on Earth”! How could it be any better?
Kids learning to ski, wakeboard, sail, canoe, blob, kayak, explore a cave, and go rappelling, tree topping, and so much more for the first time in their lives; wow, what a blessing!
For so many of our Kampers, wintertime is a drought of loneliness and grueling peer pressure. They are lost in a post-Christian era of immorality and live in fear of “not fitting in.” So many of our Kamp kids try to represent Jesus and grow weary and long for Kamp where they can be themselves and not have to be anxious about not being accepted. Providing a refuge and a retreat for them! Could this ever get old?
For them, Kamp is being immersed in hundreds of kids worshipping Jesus with guitars blazing, voices raised, hands held high, not worried what anyone thinks about them or being fearful of being labeled “Jesus freak.” Could summer ever stop being the “best summer ever”?
Imagine standing at the foot of The Cross with 400 high school kids gathered around it, bell ringing in the background, tears of joy running down their faces, arm in arm worshipping the Savior who died for them there…could anything be more meaningful, satisfying, and fulfilling?
It may be summer 101 for Kamp, but it will still feel like the first and most exciting of all when those Kamp buses pull into the gates, and our over-gregarious staff greets every Kamper like they are the most important person on earth. Kids can’t wait. The world needs Kamp! How ‘bout you?
Joe White
CEO, Kanakuk Ministries
