Reflections from Camp Stover

We received a warm welcome to Idaho from Dan Brown, a.k.a. “Dan the Mountain Man.” We heard all we needed to know about Idaho – mountains, animals, culture, and people, all within the first two hours of our arrival. Thanks Dan!

Camp Stover is an intergenerational camp set in the foothills of the Idaho mountains. This style of camp was unique and new for us. Different age groups were separated for daily activities, but everyone came together for meals and evening campfire. This was also our first experience of going from one camp to the next, which at times tested our energy and endurance. But we are adapting to this busy and ever-changing summer schedule, and becoming more effective at operating within it.

Our primary responsibility this week was to provide leadership for the main evening campfire. All ages attended this campfire, and then everyone split into their age groups to have another smaller campfire to close out the evening. Using the theme “Be a Hero: Live like Jesus,” we were able to let our creativity flow. The daily themes were: “Welcome Others,” “Be a Friend,” “Accept Others,” “Give,” “Rejoice,” and “Share the Good News.” We led silly campfire songs, performed skits, and held reflection and devotional time during these campfires.

Monday afternoon, we had the opportunity to share our peace workshop with the junior and senior high campers. The youth were involved and responded with interest to our message. We were excited to expose the youth to the Biblical foundations of peace and options for practical application in everyday life. We also held a discussion with the adult campers to share about ourselves and our summer’s ministry. They were interested in our team’s theological diversity and how this relates to the denomination’s current situation. A thought that was brought up was that peace can potentially become a divisive issue. Despite differing opinions on the church’s historic peace position, all agreed that pursuing peace within the denomination is imperative to living a life of Christ-like integrity. They were encouraged by the idea of using communication, discussion, building relationships, and remembering that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, to help us rise above conflicts brought about by differences.

Two fun afternoon activities we were able to participate in were hiking and visiting a hot spring. We all did both activities, but on different days with different age groups. While some of us saw snow and had a snowball fight, others of us soaked in 105-degree water. Both activities were fun, relaxing, and full of new and memorable adventures.

We closed the week out with a Saturday morning worship service that gave an overview of the week’s theme. We were called to action to be heroes for Jesus in everyday life. As a team, we are planning and working together more efficiently as the weeks go by. Thanks for a great week, Camp Stover!

-Cambria, Tim, Hannah, and Marcus

One thought on “Reflections from Camp Stover

  1. Thanks peace team. It was a great week. The kids loved the silly songs. I liked seeing you grow as a team. I would like to be fly on the wall of one of your last camps to see how much you have grown as a team. Good luck in all the rest of your travels.

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