UGM Camp: the final week

Editor's Note: UGM Camp ended a couple weeks ago. We don't know about you, but we're sorry to see it go. Every Monday for us was energized by the pictures and stories of children having a blast and learning about Jesus. This final post from Jenny Weddle will let you re-live the joy one last time.

Challenge Accepted

By Jenny Weddle, UGM Camp Director

Photos by Clare Pursch (night sky photo by James Bishop)

In two hours, the UGM Camp bus will pull out of the driveway, packed with 67 campers. When the dust settles, Summer 2014 will officially be over, and the clean-up begins.

Ken and I have seen the dust settle at the end of 13 summers at UGM Camp. Each summer brings its own challenges and victories, new friendships, new experiences; each summer is unique. This summer has perhaps been the most unique of all.

Our team of 20 staff has bonded tightly, creating the closest staff group we have had in years. Over countless puzzles, Bible studies, meals, long talks and tears, a group of strangers became a family deeply invested in each other’s health and growth.

Our staff family has made camp a labor of love this summer. We’ve cooked healthy scratch meals, facilitated on the challenge course, driven the bus and luggage trucks, done mountains of laundry, plunged toilets and taken care of a thousand details both small and large that make the camp run smoothly. And we see the dividends. We see that God has moved in the hearts of 427 campers over 8 weeks of camp.

One camper, Sadie, wrote, “I like UGM Camp because everybody is really thoughtful. I love all of my counselors. I like the waterfront, and tubing, crafts. I think this experience really opened me up to Jesus and God. I really want to follow Jesus. I had fun doing challenge course. We really had to work together. I loved that. Thank you everyone.”

Her letter is one of hundreds written by campers over the summer, each detailing what they liked about coming to UGM Camp. The part that sticks out to me is Sadie’s mention of the challenge course.

The challenge course at UGM Camp is an integral part of our programming. Each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, all campers participate in the challenge course with their cabin groups.

On Tuesday we begin with big-group, icebreaker games. We then break into cabin groups to play name games and more icebreakers. The kids get to know each other just a bit and start the process of learning to work together.

On Wednesday, they are back for another two hours of what we call “beginning initiatives”, challenging games designed to encourage the kids to brainstorm, plan and problem solve. If the group does well and demonstrates that they are trying hard to work together, they may have the chance to make it up to our challenge course elements, which increase the difficulty with physical obstacles that the kids work through as a team.

Thursday is another day working through challenge course elements. By Thursday afternoon, each camper has spent around 6-8 hours doing teambuilding activities with their cabin groups, and most of the time, we’ve seen trust and friendships develop at an astounding pace. At times, the challenge course time is frustrating, because campers lack the ability to focus or they have a hard time working in a group. When the cabin can’t function on the challenge course, the approach changes, and teambuilding becomes working together to build a fort or exploring the creek, and then talking about what they learned.

Challenge course is very much about encouraging campers to engage with each other. It’s about learning to trust other people, to communicate how they feel without using angry words and fists, and it’s about pointing kids to a relationship with Jesus Christ. Ideally, our use of challenge course reinforces the messages shared at chapel, and the discussions at cabin time. It’s one big experiential package telling campers over and over that Jesus loves them, and it allows us to be very effective.

I mentioned that this summer has been unique, and the numbers tell the story.  Local churches have sent 287 individuals to volunteer at camp, racking up over 16,000 volunteer hours. We have served 427 campers over 8 weeks. Our cooks have churned out almost 10,000 meals. Our volunteer staff who worked all summer added another 1,550 hours of volunteer time.

But the number I am the most blessed by is 143.

143 kids accepted Christ this summer. 143 children have new hope, and we rejoice over each and every one of them. 143 campers know what the best part of camp is because Jesus is the best part of camp for each one of them.

So as the campers climb on the bus to leave and our family of staff depart to return to their lives, we end our summer with our heads high. We came to camp and God has moved mightily in the hearts of children who desperately needed him. And now we begin the preparations for next summer.

Working with at-risk kids goes on all year round at UGM. Interested? Click on the link below to find out more about volunteering.

You might also be interested in these other blogs about UGM Camp:

• Life at UGM Camp
• UGM Camp: Feeding Hungry Kids
• UGM Camp: Tyrie Catches a Big Fish
• UGM Camp: You've Got to Be All-In
• Campers to Leaders