For the past two decades it’s been the highlight of my year to spend a week at church camp.

I first went as a non-Christian high schooler, about to enter my junior year. I knew only a couple of kids there and they were girls so my interaction-time with them was limited. Being someone who did (does) not fit in easily with new people, it was a struggle that first year. Nevertheless, by the end of the week I was a baptized believer and on my way to the life I am now living as a faithful Christian, as a husband and father of Christians, and as a preacher of the Gospel.

Camp did that for me.

In the twenty years since, I have only missed two sessions: One that fell during my Honeymoon (and I would’ve gone had we not been out of state!) and the other was last year, when all camps shut down due to COVID-19. I’ve gone from being a camper, to being a counsellor, to being someone invited to preach there, to being co-director of the High School week. It’s no longer just the highlight of my year; it’s now a critical part of my ministry, working with young people and helping them in the early days of their Christian walk.

It’s a blessing for us in Arkansas to live in a state of such natural beauty. We have more parks than we could ever grow tired of in our state, and a tremendous number of areas of serene spectacle that have been turned into campsites for use by various church groups. When I was younger the Christians around me went to Camp Caudle, in Hector, but about six years ago several Christian individuals and churches of Christ opened a camp exclusively run by the Lord’s church. Camp Areopagus, in Conway, is a place where Christian young people can escape the world, where they can sing, pray, study, and grow not only closer to the Lord but closer to each other, strengthening the bonds that unite us in Jesus.

There are youth groups that plan their whole year around “camp week,” knowing that it’s the one time where they can be guaranteed to get their kids involved in church-related activities with the largest-possible group of other Christian young people. I’ve also watched it happen first hand where the friendships and connections made for that one week of camp spill over into trips to each other’s VBS events, Gospel Meetings, Area Wide Youth Rallies, etc. In many ways that one week is the heart that feeds lifeblood to the whole summer’s worth of events.

And this year it needs your help.

As our country slowly steps into the post-pandemic world, there are many aspects of “normal life” that have either disappeared entirely or are hanging on by a thread. Camp is one of them. As I said, last year we had to shut down all activities. This year, we’re free to open but registration numbers are down across the board. It could be because of hesitancy or complacency or some combination of the two, I don’t know, but I know church camps everywhere are feeling the effects. I want to encourage you parents: Sign your kids up for church camp. They may not even realize how much they need it. You may not even realize how much they need it.

Trust me: They need it.

They need the bonds that will tighten with each other when they go somewhere together. They need the bonds that will form when they spend a week with Christians from other youth groups (where friendships will be made that will last well beyond their years as a “young person”). They need the time away from “normal” and from “routine” and from the busy chaos of the world around them. They need an opportunity to marinate in Christianity.

As the summer approaches, I hope you will set aside a time for your kids to attend church camp.

Camp Areopagus’ registration is open now, with weeks set aside for all age groups from Kindergarten through High School…

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER: https://www.campareopagus.org/camp/

I personally know every individual directing those weeks and know how much care and love they have, and how much effort they put into every one of those sessions. If you have any questions, let me know.

~ Matthew