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Spark the Wildfire of God’s Love

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Wow! DUCC is just a few months away! I can’t believe we are so close! We hope that the transition to our new registration system has been good for you and the families of your churches. I appreciate the patience and grace that has been given to the regional office as we live into this new model of camp and way of registering. DUCC (Disciples of Christ and United Church of Christ Church Camp) is quickly filling up, in fact, we are ahead of where we were this time last year, so please make sure you are registering your kids! Don’t wait!

Our theme for DUCC this year is “Be the Spark.” We are going to be talking about what it means to be the spark that sets ablaze the wildfire of God’s love in the world. A few weeks ago I saw this sign on Catalina Highway in Tucson:

One Less Spark - One Less WildfireWhile this photo is warning us how we should be careful with fire in the wild, I was hit with this sign for another reason. It was another kind of warning to me: if we keep the spark that we know to be God’s love to ourselves, and never share it, we are unable to spark the wildfire of God’s love.

This is especially true with our kids. So many parents today want kids to find their own way, and never encourage them to participate in a community of faith, leaving them to be brought up not by a community of love, but by the voices of the outside world that tells them that they aren’t good enough, that they aren’t attractive, and that they aren’t worthy of being loved. At camp, our kids are not allowed to have their phones. This keeps them from distracted by the endless texts, or scrolling through Instagram, and keeps them focused on the community they are a part of. Where they are taught about God’s love and the love of a community of faith. We can let the wildfire of negativity take over our children, or we can let the wildfire of God’s love reign in our kid’s hearts. So help spark the fire of God’s love in a kid’s life and encourage them to come to camp!

 

Rev. Jay Deskins

Regional Youth and Children’s Minister

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Previous Articles

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5 Things You and Your Church Can Do To Support Camp Ministry!

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So we all know that Summer Break means many things, but what is most important? Not going to school, duh! But outside of that is CAMP! At the most recent Mission Focus and Administrative Board meeting, the overwhelming answer to the question, “What is the most impactful ministry that a region (Arizona or other) has provided you?” was “CAMP!” This is not so uncommon, in fact, this is quite common in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). And yet, camp numbers are dropping, both financial numbers and enrollment. I want to reverse that trend, especially here in Arizona. So, what can you and/or your church do to help out with camp? I am glad you asked! 

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1.) Have a Camp Takeover in Worship!
– Invite your kids/youth/young adults/adults who are recent participants in camp to share a brief story about how camp has impacted them. If you don’t have any recent camp participants, then you can:
– Invite the Regional Youth and Children’s Minister and some Youth Leadership Team members to come and talk to your church about camp!
– Replace all your hymns with camp songs (they are all worship songs anyways!)
2.) Sponsor a Camper (or 100)!
– Many youth and children come to camp on some sort of scholarship, either from their church or from the region. These funds rely on the donations of awesome people and awesome churches!
– You can sponsor a child on your own, or you can go in as a group with a Sunday School class, small group, or a whole church!
– Loose change offering, after church meals or fellowship times,
3.) Send a Child or Youth
– It is hard to believe that many of our youth and children have still never been to camp. Camp has many benefits to our young people: self-confidence boost, a sense of independence, strengthened faith, new friends, and a community that is full of love and support.
4.) Donate to Camp!
– Outside of scholarships, camp needs funds for crafts, activities, snacks, first-aid supplies, just to name a few things! It doesn’t sound as cool as “Sponsor a Camper,” but it is very important to the ministry of camp! If you would like to donate money to help out behind the scenes please consider a donation to camp. Visit our Youth and Children’s Ministry page to make a donation.
5.) Pray for Camp 
– Our camp needs prayer! Especially in this year of transition, camp needs prayer!
– The youth and children need prayers for safety and fun!
– The adults need prayers for SANITY! And also for safety and fun!
 
If you would like help with any of these things, please reach out to me, the Regional Youth and Children’s Minister, Rev. Jay Deskins (jdeskins@azdisciples.org). I am so excited about the future of our camp ministry, but camp needs YOU!

Peace,

Rev. Jay Deskins, Regional Youth and Children’s Minister

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Youth & Children

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