Nathan E. Lewis

In the circles of the church I serve some parents are suspicious of youth ministries, reluctant to send their children to summer camp, mainly because of their childhood escapades and the trite nature of some youth programs. This suspicion is shared by some of my ministerial colleagues, who assign all youth ministry to the sphere of the family. For the past eight years, I have participated in hosting in the Pacific Northwest the youth camps of Reformed Youth Ministries. Each year we have offered a ratio of 1:4 to 1:6 (camper:staff) highlighting solid biblical and theological training mixed with fun recreation and enriching interaction, not to mention daily worship and prayer.
One of our counselors (a pastor) at our 2010 summer camp shared with me one good reason to send our youth to camp. He wrote:
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Rachel Werner, the Children Ministeries Coordinator at Evergreen Church in Beaverton, who works under my direction, discovered that our county manages several safe houses for women. She also discovered that many of the interiors of these houses looked and felt more like prisons than homes and so she has organized our teens to paint and to furnish bedrooms with new linens and other warming features. During Sunday morning announcements, as Rachel described the opportunity, I was emotionally stirred, a rarity for me during the delivery of announcements! My daughter joined the painting crew, and I can not begin to express the gratitude that I feel for her opportunity to serve in the name of Jesus, who spent much of his time with the hurting and marginalized members of his community. Continue reading »