Indian Creek Youth Camp begins for us today. Although Sunday is the official start date for Clark Sim’s week, we will leave today to get setup. We are expecting upwards of 250 people this week which will likely make it the largest week we have had. I know it will be a great week.
Campers from all across Alabama and some from Florida will join us for a week of fun, foolishness and recreation as well as plenty of Bible study and faith building. Located in rural Walker County, Alabama about halfway between Northport and Jasper, the camp is among the nicer camps within the churches of Christ. The young people will come and build friendships that will last forever. It is a blessing to have a small part in that work. I salute Clark for his dedication and the hours of work he puts into the camp week. He is the magic!
Keeps us all in your prayers as we travel. We plan to be home Friday afternoon.
There is troubling news today about teen pregnancies and the rate of abortion. A new report suggests a rise in pregnancies and abortions although the long term trend remains downward. I’ll let you read it for yourself at TIME.COM. But we should be reminded that we all need to remain vigilant and maintain open lines of communication with our young boys and girls.
The answer to abortions is not legislation but solid moral training at home. Parents who wait for the schools or the churches to teach their children about sex make a profound error. It is the job of parents to teach children the all important facts of life. Parents must step up and teach their children.
When pregnancies do occur let us use compassion and love to help the young people make wise, Godly decisions. We must give them the tools and options which allow them to carry their children to term and we must encourage them to draw near to God who gives comfort as no other.
Indian Creek Youth Camp is underway! Campers from as far away as Virginia will converge on the wooded hills of Walker County, Alabama today as we begin our 6th summer youth camp under the direction of Clark Sims of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Clark always does a fine job of preparing and running the week for about 200 campers plus assorted counselors and staff. His preparation begins about 6 months before camp and by the time we reach camp he has everything down to a finely organized and smoothly running operation.
I cannot say enough about the campers. They are so easy to love and adore. These are young people who sometimes get little or no encouragement except during camp week. Truthfully, they do more for me that I could ever do for them.
In care you are wondering about the pink money picture – well, you just have to come to camp to understand but the answer is hilarious. Just ask Clark!
Our elders have announced that Jonathon Ling will be assume responsibilties for our youth program at Eastern Shore. Jonathon and Susan are fine Christian parents themselves and have been heavily involved in our education in the past. Previously, they served the Hoover church of Christ with duties in their education department.
Jonathon will continue his work as a teacher at Daphne High School and will serve us as an associate minister on a part time basis.
We are thrilled to have Jonathon on board and look forward to working with him and our young people.
We enjoyed another great evening of VBS with a fine lesson from Ray Reynolds
Ray Reynolds speaks to our adults.
of the Gulf Shores church of Christ. Ray spoke on Solomon’s advice regarding the poor. I think we all profited from his comments and will hopefully be more attentive to those whom Jesus regarded so highly. It may be that many of us, already so blessed by our Father, actually look at the poor ith some contempt. Ray reminded us that our task is to serve and assist when possible. People may find themselves impoverished for many reasons not all of which are their fault. Let us serve them as Jesus did.
Jerry Brown teaches the youngsters in VBS
While the adults were studying in the auditorium, our youngsters were learning in the fellowship hall. Jonathon Ling has done a fine job coordinating our summer-long VBS which comes to an end next Wednesday.
We especially thank all of our youth and adults who have given so much to make this a great summer. We sure hate to see it end!
Next week, our youngest will review the summer teachings from Jesus’ parables. Our youth will head to an event at the Regency church in Mobile.
For whatever reason, I failed to take my camera to camp this year. Fortunately, Kent Purser had his and has gratefully allowed us to publish some of his images from Indian Creek Youth Camp. A few other images I managed to gather are found [cref 23 in this earlier post].
Sunday Afternoon Registration
Registration went about as smoothly as I have ever seen. Most of us arrived Saturday and we were registered early. The remainder came Sunday afternoon. In all 252 campers were with us for Clark’s Week. Campers were with us from areas nearby the camp to as far away as West Virginia.
Adult staff and counselors are essential to the success of camp. We were blessed with an incomparable staff of experienced adults who worked hard to bring our young people to a deeper understanding of God’s word.
Several gospel preachers were with us this week with contributed to the growth of our campers. We believe that a Christian camp ought advance the spiritual knowledge of the campers. You can have fun at many camps, we wanted to send our campers home with a better understanding of the Bible.
Part of that effort is our end of week Bible Bowl. Campers prepare for the Bible Bowl throughout the
Campers Prepare for Bible Bowl
week and then take a challenging exam on Thursday morning. This year, we took our studies from the book of Colossians.
The tests are given by age. This year, as in the past, our youngest campers scored highest with several teams scoring 100% on the youngest exam.
Within the team competition, the Bible Bowl exam is worth far more than any other component. The winning team this year, Team Andy, won because of their score on the Bible Bowl exam.
One of the most interesting groups to watch at camp are the youngest campers. For the boys, Old Hickory cabin houses our youngest group.
Old Hickory in Early Morning
We thought you’d enjoy this picture of them in early morning while they were dressed neatly and cleanly. Images from later in the day are…well…less than clean.
We do not have a an image for the girls. But like the boys, they do look so good early in the morning. But, again like the boys, they tend to nasty up pretty quickly.
All of our campers were exceptional. They were attentive and they quickly obeyed directions from the counselors and team leaders.
Many of the campers made life long friendships. Many will talk with each other through the year and some will even visit. All look forward to seeing each other again July 12-17, 2009 at Indian Creek.
During the week, cabins prepare for skit night. One of the best received skits came from the Twin Oaks Boys Choir which put an odd spin on some classic music. Led by conductor Jeremy Pate, the boys performed a number of pieces of their own composition.
Twin Oaks Boys Choir Under the Direction of Jeremy Pate
Without a doubt, the music was uplifting to the point of extreme humor. It was inspirational to the point of side-splitting laughter. It would do well on YouTube if anyone had a video camera. Good job Twin Oaks!
Camp always is tough, especially on the adults. But we are all committed to the welfare and proper upbringing of the children. Planning is already underway for 2008. Camper should be prepared to commit to camp by March at the latest. Adult staff should be ready to commit by November.
Thanks to all you have a part in ICYC. We especially thank Clarks Sims for his dedication in making this a great week.
If you were a staff member or camper, leave us your thoughts below!
It was good to have three of our girls back home this week. Anna Lloyd and Anna Isenhower are home from college and Alex Hartman is visiting from her new home in Washington state.
They were all three at our youth cook-out Tuesday night and it was so good to see them together.
Meanwhile, Jonathon Ling is doing a fine job organizing our youth activities. It’s been a busy summer and with only about three weeks left until school resumes there is still much scheduled. Jonathon has worked so well with our teens and with our pre-teens. Thanks! We also deeply appreciate our parents who play such a big role with our youth. You certainly understand the importance of training your children well.
The next event on the youth calendar is tonight at 7 with our VBS. Sunday night we have an outing planned and in August we will be traveling to the Conquerors Youth Rally in Pensacola.
Indian Creek Youth Camp is underway! Campers from as far away as Virginia will converge on the wooded hills of Walker County, Alabama today as we begin our 6th summer youth camp under the direction of Clark Sims of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
