As I write this, I am lying on my bunk at church camp. My little church somehow managed to round up 10 girls and 5 boys to bring to one of the pre-teen weeks at Green County Camp (aka Green Country Baptist Assembly aka Camp Disney) in Disney, Okla.

I have been coming to this camp for 20+ years, first to day-camps when I was too young for pre-teen camp, all the way to youth camp in high school. Now that I am an adult, and a pastor, this camp is still a big part of my life because I am a member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee for the camp. And we do our best to bring kids from my church to camp every year.

There’s no way I could even begin to estimate the numbers of students who have come through this camp in the many years it has been here. So far this year, the camp registrations haven’t been huge, but the first week of camp, 48 of just over 100 total campers came to Christ. That’s phenomenal. And this week, registration is up and we have 326 campers and sponsors (which is close to capacity), and we’re expecting great things. The forecast is also for heat indices of 105 degrees all week, so it will be long, hot, and tiring.

Our campground exists because the churches of two Baptist associations (Craig-Mayes Baptist Association and Rogers Baptist Association) came together many years ago to make a place that kids could visit and see Christ. We never have enough money to do everything we’d like to see happen here. We can’t afford to pave the roads or build the new dining hall we need, but we still manage to teach Christ crucified, and it is absolutely worth every effort and dollar we spend. We also have a pool, and that sure helps on weeks when it’s almost as hot as what we’re trying to save the kids from.

And so, as I lay here tonight in my bunk, listening to the crinkling of the plastic my mattress is wrapped in every time time I move, wishing more than anything that there were a couple more air conditioners in this cabin, I am extremely thankful for a place that helped me develop the faith that gets me through this world here below. And I am praying for these kids who never shower enough and don’t go to sleep when they are supposed to and who hate to get up in the mornings. Amidst the fun and music and swimming and sweat-soaked clothes the next four days will bring, God’s Spirit will show up and move into some of their lives forever. Will you pray for us, too?