Camp Ministry – Jesus Changing the Lives of Kiddos!

A lake-side service at Camp Fair Haven to address the Staff and help get our focus on Christ before the Campers come.

Here's the AMAZING kiddos from Camp Living Waters.

Singing and dancing at Camp Spofford.

Preaching at Camp Fair Haven.

Pippin was a BIG HIT with the Campers. They'd argue about which cabin Pippin would sit with at Chapel Service. As for Pippin, he was always thrilled to be around the kiddos!!!

These young men were soooo happy that Pippin got to sit with them at this particular service.

Sometimes the Staff love Pippin more than the Campers do!

The good news: the kiddos were paying great attention to Mark's message. The bad news: HIS OWN DOG fell asleep on his preaching!

When a Camper comes up to you and says, "I got baptized because of your preaching last summer," and then gives you this Thank You card... Yeah, that's pretty awesome.

There was an indoor "Ga Ga Pit" this year. Oh yeah, what could possibly go wrong? How many Ga Ga injuries must there be before this heinous sport is internationally outlawed???

This is 6-year-old "G." He approached Mark after Chapel with this amazing artwork he drew for him. Made our day!!!

There's no better way to end a week of Camp than with a Campfire Service by the lake where the kids give testimony to how Jesus changed their lives.

This is "W" and he's 9. His sister made this amazing Darth Vader sketch as a gift for him, but he told Mark that since he loves Star Wars, he really really wanted him to have it. Mark tried to convince him to keep it for himself, but "W" insisted that Mark have it. So sweet!

The OUTSTANDING kiddos from Camp Fair Haven.

Shelby and her precious new riders. This is from the week where medical issues forced Shelby to be the only Riding Teacher to these beginners.

11-year-old "A" made me this beautiful bird and gave it to me right after Chapel. So sweet!

Teaching a vital message at Camp Fair Haven. The good news of the Gospel doesn't make sense if we don't know the bad news first.

We pin the finished posters up on the wall so the kids can study them during their free time. This is what it looks like at the end of the week when the series is completed.

This needs a bit of explaining. Mark does this goofy thing every day where he gives and "I AM COOL" award to one Counsellor. All the kids want their Counsellor to win every day. A Counsellor can win by doing something kind, or fun, or clever, or even wearing a nerdy t-shirt that Mark thinks is cool. The award is literally a 2x3 inch sticker that Mark writes "I AM COOL!" with his block-lettering style that he uses on his paint messages. This week, the Counsellors who won got together and made a GIGANTIC "MARK IS COOL!" poster. Awww, so sweet.

The Camp received a GENEROUS donation of a paddle boat, and Shelby got to use her truck to haul it to the Camp's lake. Yay!

The WONDERFUL kiddos from Camp Spofford.

This was left on Mark's preaching board anonymously. If you're a supporter of this ministry, then this note is for you too!

The first in a 5-Day Kid's Bible Series on "The Gospel Through the Patriarchs." These 5 lessons cover Noah through Abraham. We learned that people did very sinful things during Noah's day, and that's still true today. People all over the world were guilty of sin, and God saw it. God hates sin so much that He decided to flood the world. Because God is so good and patient and kind, He waited and gave people 120 years to repent. There was only one way to be saved... to go through the door of the Ark. The Ark that Noah built as an act of faith. God is kind, but He's also just, and because of his justice, he must punish sin. God saved Noah and his family and they offered a sacrifice as a picture of the final sacrifice to come, Jesus Christ. The rainbow is a reminder of God's promise that He will never again flood the world. In Noah's day, God warned the people that He would flood the world, gave them time to repent, and offered one way of salvation. It's the exact same today. Now God warns us that, because of our sins, He will burn the world with fire. He gives us time now to repent and offers one way of salvation: the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We don't want to be like the people in Noah's day who didn't believe God and paid for it eternally. More on that in tomorrow's lesson...

Part 2 of 5 on "The Gospel Through the Patriarchs." In the account of the Tower of Babel, we learn that God is sovereign and powerful and WILL get His way, and we can obey and have "the easy way" or disobey and have "the hard way." After God preserved the human race through Noah, He commanded everyone to spread out through the world. People refused to obey God. They were so brazen in their sin and built a great tower, because, in their own words, "This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world" (Genesis 11:4). God said, "scatter all over the world," and the people said, "No! Let's build a tower for our honor instead." Interestingly, God referred to Himself in the plural (God said, "Let US," a reference to the Trinity.) To make the people do what they were told, (spread out throughout the earth,) God confused their language and made many many languages. The people who spoke the same language grouped together and spread out throughout the earth, the very thing God commanded them to do from the start, but that they refused to do. In the end, God got His way (of course!) but people received the consequences for disobedience.

I love that kids can truly understand and internalize solid Theology! This was Part 3 of 5 on "The Gospel Through the Patriarchs." People all over the world were refusing to follow the True God, making up their own religions. In His kindness, God saw Abram and promised to make a great nation from him. But for that to happen, he needed a son. There was a problem, he was 75, and his wife, 65. But Abram believed God! In fact, from his descendants would come the final and ultimate Deliverer who was first promised in Genesis 3, Jesus Christ! God also told Abram to leave everything he knew, and Abram proved his faith was genuine because he did as God said. God blessed him so much, and his flocks increased so much, that there was strife between his people and his nephew, Lot's people. So Abram gave Lot the choice which way to go, and Lot went toward Sodom and Gomorrah. That location lead to death, while going away from there was life. God told Abram that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Abram believed God, and God counted it to Abram as if he were righteousness. Belief, or faith, is what makes us right with God. That was true back then, and that's still true today!!! More on this critical concept tomorrow!

Part 4 of 5 in "The Gospel Through the Patriarchs." What would you think of a Judge who let criminals go free? That would be a terrible Judge! God is not a terrible Judge. He will punish sin. But He gives people a chance to repent. God told Abraham that He would make an example of Sodom and destroy it. If there were only 10 people in the whole city who followed God, then God would spare the city. Instead of finding 10 people following God, the opposite was true. When some newcomers came to town to stay with Lot, the men of the town demanded that Lot let them have the men to do things to them too horrible to mention. Because the men were really angels in disguise, they were able to escape, and warned Lot to leave and not look back. Lot and his family escaped, except Lot's wife, who looked back longingly and paid for it with her life. Sin has deadly consequences. Our sin has deadly consequences too, but we'll find out the cure... tomorrow!

Part 5 of 5 in "The Gospel Through the Patriarchs." God promised a nation through Abraham when he was 75 years old. 25 years later, at age 100, he miraculously had a son, Isaac. No Isaac - no nation. So imagine Abraham's emotions when God called him to sacrifice his only son! But Abraham believed God and passed the test of faith. God provided a lamb to save the life of Isaac, and this lamb is a picture, or a preview, of what God's final Lamb, Jesus, would do. Jesus died and rose from the dead to take the place of those who repent of their sins and trust in His work on the cross! In Noah's time, God saw sin and warned that he would flood the earth, and there was one way to escape. Most people mocked, but a few took the escape. With Sodom and Gomorrah, God saw sin, and there was one way to escape. Most mocked, but a few took the escape. The exact same thing is happening today. God sees our sin, promises punishment, and most people mock. Still, some people take the only way to escape. The only way to escape is through Jesus Christ! Repent and Believe (Turn and Trust).

This is the first in a 5-Part Series in "The Gospel Through the Life of Moses." Part 1: The Hebrews in Egypt grew in number, so out of fear, Pharaoh subjected them to harsh slavery. He even ordered that the male Hebrew newborns be slaughtered. God saw this and had a plan. A Hebrew woman had a baby boy, and in faith, to protect his life, put him in a basket in the Nile River. God protect the baby from the treacheries of the Nile and guided the child to the daughter of Pharaoh. God made sure that Pharaoh's daughter loved the baby, rather than turning the Hebrew child over to be slaughtered. She named him Moses. Moses grew up with all the luxuries of living in Pharaoh's palace. When he grew up, Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, so Moses killed the Egyptian. Now he was guilty of murder, sentenced to death by Pharaoh, and had to flee, hiding in obscurity as a shepherd. Many years later, as a much older man, God Himself called Moses to rescue God's people. God appeared in a burning bush whose leaves and branches miraculously were not consumed. Instead of the brash young man who killed the Egyptian all those years ago, Moses was humble, even scared. He came up with excuses why he wasn't the right person. But when God calls you, he provides for you and is patient with you. God revealed to Moses that His name is "I Am That I Am," meaning that He is "The Eternal One." God is holy, perfect, righteous. But He's kind too, even working it out that Aaron would come and help Moses and speak for him, since Moses' speech was not very good. Together Moses and Aaron were heading back to Egypt to command Pharaoh, the most powerful man on earth, to let God's people go. We'll find out how that goes in the next lesson...

Part 2 of 5 in "The Gospel Through the Life of Moses." Egypt was not an Atheist Country. They believed in many many gods (lower-case 'g' because they were false gods.) When Moses and Aaron commanded Pharaoh to let God's people go, the Pharaoh said he didn't know this "God of the Hebrews" and wasn't going to let his workforce go free. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God represented by Moses is the TRUE AND LIVING GOD. Saying no to God has serious consequences. Each time Pharaoh said "no" to God, he not only hardened his heart, but brought about a disastrous plague. The plagues were more than a punishment or show of power. They were a slap in the face of the many Egyptian false gods. The Egyptians worshipped the Nile as a river god, and God turned the river into blood. They worshipped Heqet, a god depicted as a frog, so God littered the land with frogs. They worshipped gods of agriculture, so God sent locusts and hail and flies to destroy the crops. They worshipped gods of cattle, so God destroyed the cattle. They worshipped the sun, so God sent darkness. Finally, the biggest false god was Pharaoh himself. They worshipped Pharaoh as a god, and God slaughtered the firstborn, including Pharaoh's son. As a false god, Pharaoh was impotent to raise his son from the dead. In great contrast, the True and Living Good of Israel raised His Son from the dead! In order to avoid the plague of death, the Israelites were instructed to kill a lamb without blemish. If they put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their home, then death would "Pass Over" them. Those who had true faith in God demonstrated their faith by obeying, sacrificing the lamb, and spilling the blood. The innocent lamb is a picture of the final lamb who one day would come to spill His blood for His people who respond in faith. This first Passover is a shadow and fortelling of the True Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Part 3 of 5 in "The Gospel Through the Life of Moses." Despite Pharaoh's hard heart, he eventually let the Hebrew slaves free. We call this "The Exodus," and the second book of the Bible gets its name from this amazing event. Over 2 million Hebrews exited Egypt, and the Egyptians even gave them valuables just to be rid of them. This Exodus was a supernatural work of God, aka miracle. How would the people know where to go? God specially lead them with a cloud during the day and fire during the night. Another miracle. When your heart is repeatedly hardened, it's easy for it to keep getting hardened, and that's what happened to Pharaoh. He changed his mind and ordered his army to wipe them out. The Hebrews were an easy target for the Egyptian army because they were trapped against the Red Sea with nowhere to escape. The people were terrified! Despite their lack of faith, God moved the pillar of fire and placed it between the Hebrews and the Egyptians. Another miracle. Not by the power of Moses, but by the power of God, the sea literally split and there was dry ground. Another miracle. When the Hebrews were safely on the other side, the pillar of fire disappeared and the Egyptian army foolishly went after them. While they were in the sea, God put back the water and drowned the Egyptians. Another miracle. God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, not even His enemies, so neither should we. This is a terrible event. You and I are sinners just like the Egyptians. They got from God what we all deserve. We NEVER EVER EVER want what we deserve. We want Grace (what we don't deserve.) Despite seeing so many miracles, the Hebrews immediately began complaining and showing a lack of faith. Moses even feared that the people would stone him to death. But God is good. Despite the lack of faith of the people, God rained bread from Heaven, sent quail for meat, and even produced water from a rock. So many miracles! God is Almighty!!!

Part 4 of 5 in "The Gospel Through the Life of Moses." God lead the Hebrews to Mount Sinai, but only Moses and Aaron could go up. There is an aspect to God's character that we don't often think about, and that is His holiness. That God is holy means that He is perfect, clean, righteous, set apart, different from us and His Creation. In our natural state we can't even be in God's holy presence without being destroyed. God had a barrier setup around the mountain and any human or animal that crossed it would die. God's holy presence was seen dramatically with a thick cloud around the mountain and fire coming from the top of the mountain. Because God is holy and we are all sinners, we are separated from God. No amount of "good deeds" can cross the great gulf between God and man. Because of our many sins, every person deserves eternity in the Lake of Fire. Is it hopeless for us? Did God provide a solution so that sinful man could be with a Holy God? Yes! Because of God's great love and mercy and kindness, He has generously provide a way for sinful man to not only be in the Holy God's presence, but to be adopted into the family of God and have God be our Father. We can be seen by God as if we're righteous! We'll find out God's way for that to happen... in the next lesson.

Part 5 of 5 in "The Gospel Through the Life of Moses." Last time we learned about God's holiness and how that's bad news for us because we're not holy. God gave us the Ten Commandments through Moses, not as a checklist to prove how holy we are, but as a mirror to expose how dirty we are. We've all broken God's Law. If we're trying to get to God by the Law, we'll fail every time. How does a sinful human reach a Holy God? We can't. But because of God's great love, the Holy God has reached out to us! Jesus is God. He took on flesh, lived a perfect holy life, and died as a substitute for unholy people. He commands everyone everywhere to repent (turn) and believe the gospel (trust), that He died for our sins and rose from the dead. He is alive today and is coming back soon. When we turn from our sins and trust in Jesus, we become Born Again. We literally are adopted into God's family, not because we followed God's Law, but because Jesus followed God's Law. That's called "grace," when you get what you don't deserve. We'll never make it to God by the Law. Only by the grace of God.

This is the first in a 5-Part series on "Who Is Jesus?" to more than 60 kids and their Teen Counselors at Camp. We learned what it means that Jesus is "THE SON OF GOD." Jesus prophesied His own death. He accurately predicted the manner of His death, the city, and the time. He could do this because He's "The Son of God." Then Jesus was transfigured. God the Father Himself declared Jesus to be "The Son of God." Jesus also performed miracles. Specifically, He exercised a demon. Jesus had control over all nature because He is "The Son of God."

Part 2 of 5 of "Who Is Jesus." From John, chapter 11 - the raising of Lazarus. Jesus showed that He is fully God by knowing that Lazarus had died, and having the power to raise him. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26). Jesus showed that He is fully man by weeping at the death of Lazarus. There's soooo much in this amazing passage! Lazarus was dead. Jesus made him alive. Then Lazarus became a testimony and many others turned to Jesus because of him. God does the same thing with us! We are all born with a soul that's dead in sin. Jesus makes us born-again. And then He uses us to reach others! But be careful, when God uses us, satanic forces will try to stop us and even try to kill us, just as the jealous religious leaders in Jesus' day wanted to kill Him and Lazarus too.

Part 3 of 5 of "Who Is Jesus." I taught from John, chapter 10. In Jesus' day, sheep were safe from thieves and predators only if they were in the pen, and there was only one way in, guarded by the Shepherd. Jesus said He was that one way to safety. He is THE GOOD SHEPHERD. This is just like in Noah's day where there was only one way to be saved from the flood. The Ark was a preview of salvation in Christ. Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus calls, leads, loves, cares for, protects, dies for, and knows His sheep. Nothing is more important than knowing for certain that you are one of Jesus' sheep, protected forever in the Father's hand. I told the Campers we'd be learning how to belong to Christ very soon.

Part 4 of 5 of "Who Is Jesus." I had the privilege to teach the kids the vital passage about the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, from Luke, chapter 18. The Pharisee thought God's Way to Heaven was by being good and doing religious deeds. Or even hoping for the best. Sadly, many of us still think this is the way to Heaven today. Both men were sinners, but The Only Way to be forgiven is through God's mercy, given through Jesus Christ. The Tax Collector was humble, pleading for God's mercy. God's mercy was paid for at the cross! Even a sinful Tax Collector, if he comes humbly to God through the cross, can be forgiven!

Part 5 of 5 of "Who Is Jesus." We learned what it means that Jesus is "THE TRUE SAVIOR." In a culture that wanted children to act more like adults, Jesus said he wanted adults to become like children in order to enter the Kingdom of God. A rich young man asked Jesus what he needed to do to enter Heaven. But there's nothing we can do. We've all sinned. But this man mistakenly thought he had successfully kept all of God's commandments. To show this man his pride, Jesus took him through the 10 Commandments, to show that we're all sinners. "All have sinned" (Romans 3:23), and "None are good" (Romans 3:10). Our only hope is to trust in the True Savior. Because He loves us, Jesus died for sinners. If we turn from our sins and trust in Jesus, that He died and rose again, and is THE TRUE SAVIOR, then we will be Born Again and be adopted into God's family. What GREAT news!!!