5 Tips to Having the Best Christian Summer Camp Experience

Every winter our camp directors put in hours making sure we are offering the best Christian camp experience we possibly can. Parents will often call and ask what their kids can expect. I will tell parents about all the ways we are creating an opportunity for their camper to grow in their faith while they are at camp. Towards the end of that conversation I will remind parents that while we are creating the opportunity, so much of what a kid gets out of camp rests on the shoulders of the camper. 

Here are five tips to having the best Christian summer camp experience at Moose River Outpost:

1. Come eager to learn and grow. At the opening campfire I will invite the whole camp to take the next step in their faith journey towards becoming more like Jesus Christ. We believe that everyone is on a spiritual journey and that there is always a next step to be taken. For some of our campers, that looks like learning about Jesus or the importance of the Bible as a source of truth to base our lives on. Campers who come ready and eager to grow in their faith often get the most out of their Christian camp experience.
2. Find friends to grow with. All kinds of kids come to a Christian camp. It’s important to remember that your Christian camp will have real people just like your school, church or community. Though, not everyone will be at the same point on their spiritual journey. Some of our campers will not want to have anything to do with our Christian message. So find campers that are looking to grow like you are and take advantage of your time at camp together. Have conversations about your faith while you paddle a canoe or chill at the slack line. Interact with the concepts you are learning at camp to relate them back to your home life. Find your people at camp and grow together.
3. Ask a lot of questions. Camp is full of people that want to help you get the most out of your summer camp. We hire counselors who are interested in being good mentors. We have a camp pastor every summer who has time every day to talk about life, the Bible or whatever our campers want to chat about. We also have great directors on staff. While they are busy people, they make it a priority to be available to our campers. A great way to get time with the camp director is to go out fishing and talk about what you are learning. Cabin devotions have time built in for camper questions, we do a dedicated question/answer night, and a cabin debrief is a great place to start a discussion.
4. Write down your thoughts and experiences. Journaling is a great way to process what you are learning or feeling. It can also be a great way to pray as you write. Sometimes slowing our thoughts down long enough to write them helps clarify our mental process. Another good reason to write things down is that you can look back at it later. Looking back can be a part of moving forward. In the first couple chapters of 2 Timothy, Paul spends some time reminding Timothy about what he has learned previously and uses that as a launch pad for what he wants to teach Timothy. Bringing a brand-new journal to camp is a great way to capture your process of growth over the summer. If you don’t bring a new one, make sure the one you bring has enough empty pages for your summer!
5. Continue to grow after camp! One of our favorite things to hear about in the off season is a bunch of campers that have a group chat and regularly encourage each other to take the next step in their faith journey back home. We have campers that have started bible studies with camp friends and campers that tell us that some of their closest friends in life are the ones they met at camp. We love it when camp people connect outside of camp. You can also find a local church or youth group as a way to continue to grow in your faith. And then next summer you can bring friends from home to camp! However you do it, make sure your summer camp experience carries into the rest of the year.

Continue to grow after camp! One of our favorite things to hear about in the off season is a bunch of campers that have a group chat and regularly encourage each other to take the next step in their faith journey back home. We have campers that have started bible studies with camp friends and campers that tell us that some of their closest friends in life are the ones they met at camp. We love it when camp people connect outside of camp. You can also find a local church or youth group as a way to continue to grow in your faith. And then next summer you can bring friends from home to camp! However you do it, make sure your summer camp experience carries into the rest of the year.