The Week Before

The week before camp is always a little hectic.

The week before it is good to:

>Have all medical releases and waivers turned in so you don't have to deal with that at the same time as checking in kids, their meds, and loading luggage.

>Call and check on your van reservations. This give peace of mind and also makes sure there are no glitches. You can't upgrade from a 12 passenger van, only downgrade in size which would be a major hiccup.

>Download and print off directions for all your drivers. It's smart to have directions and phone numbers for your drivers in case you get separated. Also print off any directions you may need to activity destinations, etc. Load addresses in the GPS if you are using one.

>Call and confirm your reservations and final details at your camp. For us that is calling the rental company handling our giant log cabin.

>Communicate at least twice with parents via e-mail, FB, etc. final details, departure times, etc. Remind that you leave on time with our without. Include contact numbers.

>Call and confirm all special outings, events/activities. Make sure to have any special details campers may need in advance for the outing. Example: It is illegal for a rafting company in Tn. to take people rafting if the customers are not wearing either strap on sandals or closed toed shows. Flip flops and Crocs aren't allowed.

>Make sure to have a church credit card for fuel charges or any surprises that may arise on the trip.

>Sleep. Make sure you get extra sleep the week before and so does your camp team. I average about half the normal sleep I get when I'm at camp. The older I get the more sleep I need before and after camp.

>Pack some small tubs for each van containing trash bags (comes in handy for motion sickness), first aid kit, flashlight, drammamine, etc.

>Pray. Recruit the partners in your church who you know are prayer giants to please pray starting "today" for camp and the campers, safety and the staff.

Camp Contagious

Created a new blog for our family and friends to track us while we are on our camp journey.

Check it out here

I Think It Is 17

This will be my 17th summer of attending camp with students. Back in the old days I was pumped and excited about going to a week of camp. The lack of sleep didn't bother me back then. The waking up at 6am and going till 1 or 2 didn't phase me. Now I'm old! I don't look forward to camp like I used to. What?! Did a youth pastor just say that?

I don't like:
>the 4 or 5 hours a night of sleep
> the van ride home while everyone sleeps in the van and I must stay awake.
> camp food. Institutional food lacks at most universities.
>walking in the heat and humidity
>sleeping on a plastic coated mattress.
>telling a teenage boy or girl, who should know by this point, that they need to take a shower (there is enough oil in your hair to lube my truck)
>explaining over and over again how their cell phone will distract them during the week of camp with the endless texts they will receive, read, and respond to.
>when students who knew for months that they could go to camp but procrastinated till the last minute and as a result missed the deadline.
>most of all being away from my family for the week. As my children are growing this weighs even more on me and probably soon they too will be traveling to camp and staying at a hotel nearby or something. Last year my 6 month old daughter was taken by ambulance to the ER while I was at camp, that was very hard on us. (I would much rather share a room with my wife than with the assistant to the youth pastor, Rich Coleman)

I do like:
>watching students bond with each other and build friendships
>hanging with students
>the awesome worship times
>watching them compete in the recreation
>taking them to the Texas Inn to eat
>observing them connecting with God
>when that one life is radically changed and the "camp commitment" is for real.
>thinking that next year we are going to change it up big time for camp.

You can follow our camp adventure at our camp blog site. There you can connect with your teen through e-mail and listen in on our evening worship sessions.

Don't Be "that" Youth Pastor

So I'm at camp this week and I love going to camp and removing students from their daily routine where they are in an atmosphere that is just saturated by the word of God. Some thoughts from my perspective at camp for youth pastors:

1. Attend the Youth Minister's meeting so you know what is going on. Lights out has been stressed at the meeting but apparently the youth pastor on the floor above me doesn't see this on the schedule and doesn't attend the youth ministers meeting each day.  The meeting is also a great place to build relationships with other youth leaders.

2.  Give your students some freedom without going overboard.  Camp is a great time to help students learn personal responsibility.  I don't gather my students around me like a mother hen.  I do let them know what is expected, when to be where, and then if they choose to ignore the expectations and make the choice to do "their own thing" I also teach them about consequences.  They may get this at home so it's good for them to see that it's not just their parents.  They may not get this at home and a week at camp is a great place to expose them to personal responsibility.

3.  Don't be "that" youth pastor.  You are their shepherd not their "bud".  This means we have to realize that while we want to be a friend to them we also have to be an authority in their lives.  

Example:

The guys on the floor above ours have been really noisy after lights out.  I expect this on the first night with everyone excited to be at camp.  By 1:30AM I had enough.  I went upstairs to ask them to quit walking around, jumping and moving furniture and who should turn the corner in their dorm room but their youth pastor.  He is young and I think attempting to be their "bud" so he did what a bud would do and covered for them blaming the floor above.  I knew it wasn't the floor above them but I paid them a visit also.  Love them, guide them, help them and then when they graduate high school you will have a close friend.

My prediction is that this youth pastor's immaturity is going to be what moves him on from his church in 18 to 24 months.  Yes our job is fun but at the same time we are shepherds and herding sheep isn't always fun.

4.  Take time each day and pray.  Each day pray for your students by name that God will move in their lives while at camp and that they will respond obediently to Him and that their commitments made at camp would be lasting ones.  If your group is big recruit some prayer warriors back home to pray for them or divide the students up among your adult leaders.

5.  Ask your students how their camp experience is going.  You can learn what God is doing in their lives and also learn if the camp is really the one you need to be bringing your students to.  Our students love Student Life.

Student Life Camp

Next week we leave for Student Life Camp.  Camp is a love/hate thing for me.  I love camp and getting the students out of their normal routine to an atmosphere that is totally centered around God.  I hate being away from home and family.  I sleep better in my own home and I don't really like camp food.  PLUS I'll miss my kids and lovely wife BIG TIME.

Student Life is so organized.  They really have this camp thing down to a science.  As a youth leader taking my students I really don't have any questions or "wonderings" because SL does such a fantastic job preparing us for camp.  Of course the youth leader who doesn't read everything and utilize the online resources may be a bit lost or confused.

Each step of the camp process is lined out by SL.  The camp prep is super easy.  Today I even got our rooming assignments as well as the student's team assignments.  If you are looking for a camp experience for your students next summer I highly recommend Student Life.  I believe this is our 8th summer camp with SL.

Camp Blog

Follow us while we are at Student Life the 13th - 17th.

Check out our camp blog HERE

Tracking Medications and Dosage

This year we try something new for camp.  I've created a spreadsheet to keep track of students who will need medications at camp.  Very basic.  Student's name, medication, instructions. Followed by each day of the week with a box to check off when the medication was administered. This will help:

• Make sure the students get their meds when they are supposed to
• To protect accidental overdose or neglecting to take their meds

I've been taking students to camp for 15 years and this form is the result of evaluating what we could do to handle medications better and responsibly.

Camp Thoughts

Just finished sending parents the important camp paperwork and information.  We are closing in on camp, just a few weeks away.   We do Student Life Camp.  For several years now we have been attending SL and have had nothing but great experiences.  The SL staff is always so helpful and supportive.  

My thoughts on summer camp:

1.  We don't plan our own camp for a several reasons:

a.  We don't have enough staff

b.  We don't have enough cash

c.  We couldn't pull off a camp that is higher quality than SL

d.  Someone else is much better at camp planning than I am.

e.  There is no way we could have a camp pastor like David Nasser at our little camp if we did our own.

f.  Planning our own camp would eat up a major chunk of time in my calendar and pull me    away from the things I'm better at.

g.  At SL our students get to build relationships with other students from other youth groups and be teamed up with total strangers to do recreation and small group       Bible study during the week.

2.  Choose a camp ministry that is solid doctrinally and has a fantastic track record.  SL staff       will literally pray for your students by name during the week of camp as you share prayer           request with them.

3.  Choose a camp location that is different than the location where your students live. 

a.  Line up transportation.  We take our church van and rent a second van.

b.  Line up drivers.

c.  Line up other adults you will need to go along with you to camp.  (I'm amazed when I hear a pastor share at camp that he alone brought a bunch of students with no other adults along to help) 

4.  Figure in the expense of camp as you plan out your yearly calendar of events to help ease the pocketbook pain of parents.  SL's prices depend on where you are going and if you are doing       the mission or recreation track.  We charge the students $280.00.  Much of this expense is         offset if the students help with fundraising.  We also have individuals who give to the                   scholarship fund.

5.  Announce the date as soon as you know the date.  We have known for a year when we would be at camp.  That date has been publicized many times during the last year.  I will be                   deciding the camp dates for next year today.

6.  Set the date for camp registration months before the actual camp date.  Designate a cut off     date and stick with it.  We have a non-refundable deposit to secure a student's spot for                 camp.

7.  Get your paperwork such as medical releases, wavers, etc. from parents in advance of             departure date.  This guarantees you will have those necessary forms in hand before leaving       on your trip.  We've had a few trips delayed because, "I forgot my release form" and I like          leaving on time. (and returning on time)

8.  Have a pre-camp meeting that is required for campers and one parent.  

a.  Parents turn in releases at this meeting.  

b.  Have a notary on hand if possible to notarize forms

c.  Go over rules and expectations.  Let parents know that if a camper is a disciplinary         problem that can't be handled at camp that they will have to come immediately to the                 camp and pick up their kid or pay the bus fare for a greyhound trip home.

d.  Make sure everyone has the "what to pack" list

e.  Answer questions

9.  Don't forget the first aid kit and have another adult responsible for taking care of any             prescription drugs a students might need. 

10.  Know the location of the local hospital and how to get there.

11.  Get your church to pray for your group as you are gone.  We have our church partners send   e-mails to the campers while they are at camp.  We also set up a blog so parents and the               church can follow us while we are at camp.

I love summer camp because it is an opportunity to pull students out of their everyday life and their usual routine and place them in an atmosphere that is geared to influence students to draw closer to Jesus Christ.

If your group is going to camp this summer I hope you have a fantastic experience and that your student's lives are changed.

Flip

I'm pretty stoked!  I just opened a box from Student Life and the box contained Flip "31 verses every teenager should know" books.  I'll be giving each student going to camp a copy a month before we depart for camp.  Flip is the camp theme at Student Life this summer and so the daily devos and verses tie support the theme and will lay a foundation for us before we get to camp. 

Camp is a great place to take students out of their normal everyday routine, away from TV, friends, media, texting and place them in an environment that is saturated with worship.  We are going to use Flip to help us prepare our hearts and lives for camp.   It's sort of like packing for camp for the soul.  Student Life is an excellent camp and they hold them from the east coast to the west coast every summer.  

If your teen doesn't attend summer camp with your church youth group I would highly encourage you to plug him or her in.  If your church has students but don't do summer camp I would suggest you check into Student Life, they are affordable and the highest quality.  I trust Student Life with our students.

5 Days Left to Register

Register Today!

Camp Registration - 8 Days Left

Flip Cartoon from Student Life on Vimeo.

Student Life Camp, July 13-17

Register Your Teen Today

NHC Youth will be going to Student Life at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. this summer.

Camp deposit is due by March 29.  For more information about Student Life visit their web site.

Summer Camp

Crazy but yes we must start thinking about summer camp in December. Camp is only 7 months away. I'm sure Student Life is feverishly working away putting together yet another fantastic camp experience for our students. Parents should probably start thinking about a camp savings plan, allowance, lay-a-way or something. This year our camp theme is FLIP.

Preventing the Fizzle

I have been taking student's to camp every summer for around 16 years now.  Every year I see student's make commitments or come to the realization that their walk with God has to change for the better.  Every year I see these same students fizzle out.  They are on fire at camp because of the removal and saturation and then when they get back to the real world these decisions quickly fade away. . .(Read More)

Day 2 of a Camp

Good morning!

I'm sleepy. . . .my eyes hurt. . .coffee not working . . . .
Check our camp blog.  Video of the van ride with the boys.

Removed and Saturated

One of the biggest influences in a student's life at camp is the fact that they are...(Read More)

Another Great Blog Site

Next week our students and leaders head to Student Life Camp at Wake Forest.  Student Life is the best Christian camp ministry on the face of the planet.  They are also quickly becoming an incredible youth ministry resource for youth ministries.

If you would like to watch what is happening with us at camp next week you can go to our new camp blog site and check in on us.  There will be daily pictures posted and students can blog their camp thoughts.  It should be quite cool.

See you on the blog!