As a newcomer to Covenant Pines Bible Camp, I’ve heard a lot of talk about our MEA retreat. A lot of people—campers and former summer staff alike—look forward to it as a weekend to enjoy camp once more before winter hits. Many who love CPBC described MEA to me as one of the best retreats we do here at camp. So naturally, there was a lot of anticipation built up for this new program director in her first MEA retreat. And man, it didn’t disappoint.

As just over 100 junior high campers made their way off the busses here in McGregor, my heart was full of a lot of things.

Full of excitement as I so love fall retreats and youth retreats together. These retreats provide an awesome opportunity for youth groups to build community and deepen relationships as they begin their journey through a new year together.

Full of nerves as this was my first experience as the program director at a CPBC  youth retreat.

But mostly, full of anticipation for all that I knew God had in store for these two retreats over the extended MEA weekend. Both Junior and Senior High MEA were filled with much laughter, warm hot chocolate and coffee beverages, good conversations, and many games. A highlight of our programming revolved around pumpkins—we launched some full sized pumpkins with a giant trebuchet that some of the staff built and we also played a classic Covenant Pines favorite “whip n’ strip” with pumpkins. The unseasonably warm October weather lent itself to lots of hanging out in the sunshine and enjoying the beautiful creation that God provided. Our speaker for the long weekend was Rebekah Strobel, a youth pastor at Selah Covenant Church in Washington state. She told many stories and spoke about following God “Into the Wild” of our lives.  She called campers to live into their identity as images of God, and to have enough faith to “get out of the boat” as Peter did with Jesus.

The MEA retreat is really all things summer camp rolled into a couple of days for each age group. And as I was standing on the steps leading up to Oak Ridge while the Senior High campers played pumpkin whip n’ strip, my heart was so full. I was reminded in that moment that God shows up in every aspect of camp. He shows up in games, worship, conversations, everything. I was reminded of what a privilege it is to get to watch campers love camp and experience God in this place month after month and, hopefully, year after year.

I’m grateful for our youth pastors who chose to take their MEA weekend and partner with us as counselors with their students. I’m grateful for our former summer staffers who jumped in to help out camp and the new program director they hadn’t even met yet. I’m grateful for the people who pray for us often. We can feel those prayers. And I’m grateful for camp; a place where kids and adults alike can experience God in so many different ways. I look forward to many more MEA retreats to come—join us next year!

On October 28th, over 100 folks came to our annual fundraiser for Adventurous Christians. We got to hear personal testimonies from AC guests and ministry updates from Brad Shannon and Dave Cairns. It was a wonderful celebration of what God is doing at AC!

The guests in attendance raised $25,220 for the ministry of AC. We are incredibly thankful for the generous hearts of those who gave. These gifts make it possible for us to carry out our vision to change lives. Thank you for supporting camp – with your prayers, time & gifts.

We are also thankful to everyone who donated auction items and those who volunteered at the banquet. We couldn’t pull this off without you! Blessings from the Trail.

Day Camp this summer was full of tie-dye, friendship bracelets, games, and singing the theme Bible verse at the top of our lugs. More importantly, day camp was filled with a lot of conversations about hospitality. Campers learned what hospitality is, where and whom we should show hospitality towards, and most importantly, how God shows us the ultimate form of hospitality when He invites us to live with Him.

While every week at day camp was a successful week and we saw a lot of campers accept Christ throughout the summer, our week at Plymouth Covenant seemed to be especially fruitful. We had nine campers accept Jesus! While every single one of those decisions deserves celebration and praise, there were a couple in particular where we were able to hear more of their story. One camper had previously had some long conversations with her parents leading up to day camp about what it would mean to accept Jesus. At day camp is then where she officially took the step of accepting Him! Another camper started the week feeling very nervous to come to day camp because she did not know anyone else that would be there for the week. But throughout her four days at day camp she not only accepted Jesus, she also became so excited about day camp that by the last day she wanted to get there an hour early. After her week at day camp, her mom decided that she would begin sending her daughter to AWANA at Plymouth this fall.

I also wanted to write about Plymouth because of one of the volunteers. One of the unique things that Covenant Pines Ministries does well is getting students involved in helping us lead – at the Bible Camp we have an awesome junior staff program and at Day Camp we have teenage volunteers at most of the churches. When arriving at Plymouth, I was very excited to see one volunteer in particular because she had been in my cabin a couple summers ago when I was a counselor at CPBC. While she was in my cabin she decided to follow Jesus for the first time. I can still remember sitting in Chapel with her, both of us so excited that she had taken the next step of claiming Jesus as her savior. At day camp, she was able to take another next step in her faith by sharing her faith and making disciples. By the end of the week she, along with other volunteers, had even expressed interest in helping out in children’s ministry when the school year starts again. Experiencing all of this was a reminder of how God uses camp as a part of his long-term plan for our lives. The work He is doing at the Bible camp impacts the work He does at Day Camp, which also impacts what He is doing at schools and churches throughout the Twin Cities.

We had a wonderful time at every single church, but Plymouth stands out in my mind not only because of the campers that took the next step of accepting Jesus, but there were also multiple volunteers who took the next step of going and making disciples. Our week there was a reminder of the long-term mission God has for us. Important next steps in our faith not only happen when we take the leap of accepting Jesus, but when we take the steps of telling others about Him. Next steps can even take the form of deciding to send your child to AWANA. Our prayer for everyone who experienced Covenant Pines this summer – whether that be in McGregor, in the cities, or in the Boundary Waters – is that camp would help them discover what next step God is calling them to take.

The wisdom of proverbs tells us “above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” It has once again been a special summer at Adventurous Christians where lives have been changed through the good news of Jesus Christ. Our theme was “Next Step” where campers, as they went into the wilderness, were invited to reflect on what next step God might be calling them to in their journey of faith.

The beauty of God’s unspoiled creation, intimate community, God’s Word, solitude, and the absence of technology is the setting in which this invitation was made. As people returned from being on the trail, so many had experienced God in new and fresh ways. One of my favorite times this summer was when the groups returned to camp. After they had cleaned their gear at the drying field, taken a sauna and washed days of BWCA from their bodies they ended up in the lodge sitting around a fire with a hot drink in their hand. It’s here the stories began to pour out. One girl in particular stands out to me because her story was about rediscovering her faith after a season of doubt. That is just one of many Next Steps that were taken this summer. Each next step was as varied as doing devotions, repairing a relationship, leaving perfectionism behind, going to church, praying, limiting screen time etc. In each of the hundreds of next steps that were made, was a decision to guard a heart against things that don’t lead to life. For each decision that was made at camp this summer I am grateful to the God that we serve, and for your partnership in the work of camp.