Summer Camp Has Ended… But Ministry Is Still Happening

Another summer has past here at SON-Life Camp. This year we had a ton of fun with our staff. Our theme this summer was “ON THE RUN.” Campers were challenged to run from evil and run toward Christ.
We had a total of 231 campers this summer. Over 85% of our campers left saying that they had grown closer to Christ. Seven campers met Christ for the first time, and many, many more left challenged. One camper was baptized during our Teen Extreme week and another said that they had made their faith their own during their week at camp.
God did amazing and wonderful things at SON-Life Camp this summer. However the ministry at SON-Life Camp did not end there.
Three more guest groups came to our facilities in the month of August.
First Voice of Hope Church and Wayland UMC held their campout in SON-Life Camp’s Daisy Park Campground. During their Sunday morning worship service 13 people were baptized. Praise God!
Belding High School football team came for their football camp early in August and enjoyed a great camp with cooler weather.
Heritage Baptist church held their annual Wilderness Weekend to kick off their year of youth ministry. 60 people attended. They played some awesome games and had great worship times too!
Finally the Korean United Methodist Church of Ann Arbor held a retreat this past weekend. While they had a small group they still enjoyed a great weekend at SON-Life Camp.
Be sure to keep up with our blog over the next few weeks as we WILL be updating with information regarding events happening this fall at SON-Life Camp like our first ever FALL FAMILY FEST being held on October 17th at camp.

Shhhh....quiet.

It is hard to believe that summer camp is over. It is so quiet now it is hard to believe that only a week and a half ago there were kids here running around with the summer staff. After they left the football team came in - Go Belding!! What a great group of high schoolers they are, so respectful of each other, their coaches, our staff and facilities. I love working with them every year. From there we add in full weekends in the camp ground along with a few mid-week guests back there this place really hasn't stopped - until now. Yesterday and today are so quiet, a time for us to "be still" and reflect on what God has done through this ministry this summer. Many kids grew closer to Christ as we were "on the run" together; one camper was even baptized in the lake. What an amazing experience that was, her parents were able to come out and be a part of it and the excitement she had was tremendous! She came out of the water with tears in her eyes and said "I'm not crying because I'm sad - I'M PUMPED!" Truly an amazing summer when I look back and see what God did through our incredible summer team.

The quiet will not last long though. We are ready to have people arriving to the camp ground tomorrow and more families coming into the campground Friday. Also, a church group coming into the retreat area for the weekend will be welcome noise to this place. I can't wait to see how God continues to work through SON-Life Camp this fall!

Hope

Last week of camp

Well, this is it. I am sitting here at my desk wondering where on earth the summer has gone. We are in our last week of camp and things are going good. After a chilly start yesterday morning we are in the midst of a beautiful day today to be at the beach. This week is day camp with campers who are entering 1st - 4th grade. Their energy is amazing - I love to hear them sing and dance around during Fusion. Their excitement for life is incredible, I just wish that I could be that passionate all the time for the things that I love doing too. This is just one of those times that I sit back and realize that I think I learn more from these campers than they learn from us. Isn't it great how God uses all of his children to make each other better?

Please pray for continued safety for camp this week.

Hope