Nothing quite screams “camp” like a simple cabin put out in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. Add in a group of high schoolers, a bunch of unhealthy food, Bible studies, rocks to climb, baboon warnings, and some firewood and you’re good to go.
A couple of weeks ago I had the chance to help run my church’s high school Confirmation Camp out in the mountains for the weekend. Shane, a pastor-in-training from a nearby town, and I coordinated the whole endeavor and it went of surprisingly well. We even got to see wildlife! I saw plenty of it in the form of sleepy high schoolers at wake up time, but we also caught a glimpse of a huge baboon family while driving on the way out. I’m pretty sure this is the one and only time in my life I’ve had to seriously factor baboons into an event I’m planning. They can be quite the troublemakers and we weren’t sure if they’d be feisty enough to ruin our bonfire plans.
It was humbling though to be part of such an incredible experience for the kids. As city slickers few had spent time (or wanted to) so far away in nature. There were a couple of teens committed to turning their lives around after being in gangs too and to watch them experience swimming in a river for the first time was great. One made it from shore to water in ten seconds flat and began yelling “I’m a fish! I’m a fish!” as soon as he started sinking to the bottom, gleefully smiling all the while.
Beyond all that though, the time away from everyday life was a reminder of how much God speaks through the wilderness. It’s an opportunity to be quiet and simply listen that doesn’t get to happen often in our busy lives. On the final day Shane and I sent them out to the wilderness to pray after the final Bible study.
It’s funny, I spent the whole weekend surrounded by towering mountains, a gorgeous river, and the quiet of star-filled skies. But the most beautiful thing I saw all weekend was watching one of the reforming gang members sitting with his Bible on a nearby rock query and looking up to heaven.
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