Final Planning Tips for Youth Ministry Summer Camp!

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** Summer camp can be the best week of the year for your youth ministry students while being the most stressful week for you and your team, and the stress usually comes from the simplest gaps: parents who missed an email, leaders who did not get fully aligned, and “tiny” forgotten details that turn into last minute problems. In this episode, we are sharing FIVE home-stretch youth group summer camp planning tips that keep logistics tight and ministry outcomes clear.

We talk through a parent meeting that actually works, what to cover (itinerary, packing list, emergency contacts, spending money, expectations). Then we shift to a leader and driver meeting focused on safety, roles, communication, and wise decision making, including practical boundaries and the mindset that leaders are the stand-in parents on the trip. 

We also dig into summer camp checklists and why shared leadership beats heroic solo prep. You will hear ways to review shopping lists, tech gear, rec supplies, and medical prep, plus a simple visualization tactic that helps you catch the "I can't believe we forgot that" type of mistakes before you leave. 

If you want a smoother, safer, more spiritually focused youth ministry summer camp, hit play, share this with a student ministry leader, and then subscribe and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review so more youth pastors can find it.

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You may also enjoy these episodes:

(#063) How to Keep Your Youth Ministry's "Camp High" Momentum Going

(#043) DIY Church Camp Planning - Youth Ministry Summer Camp CHECKLIST!

(#044) Best Games for Summer Camp - 14 Fun Camp Games Ideas!

(#053) How to Plan a Low Cost Summer Camp for Youth Ministry

(#098) Get More Sign Ups for Your Youth Ministry Summer Camp!

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We love hearing from you all and we do our best to provide powerful and insightful youth ministry content on a weekly basis to be that coach and mentor you may not have, but desperately need.
If you have an episode idea, please E-Mail us at MinistryCoachPodcast@gmail.com!

If you have it on your heart to support this ministry, please consider going to our Patreon page at: www.patreon.com/ministrycoach

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Transcript

Setting The Camp Vision

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Encouraging them too, casting the vision. Like, what's the point of this week? What are you hoping to accomplish like for the students spiritually? And how are the small group leaders and the volunteers coming on board for that vision? What part do they play? Help inspire them for that. I believe that this is one of the keys to making sure you have a super smooth camp. Today we're gonna give you five tips to help you in the home stretch planning of your youth group summer camp.

Five Home Stretch Camp Tips

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast, where we give you weekly tips and tactics to help you fast-track the growth and health of your youth ministry. If this is the first time we're meeting, my name is Jeff Lascola, and this is Kristen Lascola.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

And at the time of this recording, I am 33 days away from leaving for our summer camp. Uh put in the comments how far away your camp is. I bet in this stage, because now it's uh June 8th, we are kind of, you should be in the home stretch of planning, okay? So all the big stuff has been done. You've been communicating it, signups are coming to a close. I think we have like eight spots left. And now it's like, okay, what are the things that we need to be thinking about in this stage of planning? So today I'm gonna give you five things that I'm thinking about right now, planning, those last things that are gonna just tee us up for a really good week of camp.

Tip 1 Parent Meeting That Works

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Number one is a parent meeting. I believe that this is one of the keys to making sure you have a super smooth camp because email, I read my parent emails, most of them, anyways, but I cannot tell you how many parents I hear from that they just delete, delete, delete. Right. Nobody reads their email anymore.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Or they'll read like the first sentence and then moving on.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Or you know what they do is they open it and they think, oh, I don't have time to read this right now, which is valid. I'll give time and attention to this at another time, and then they don't pick it back up. So you I'm not saying stop emailing your parents. I think that is the only like that has to be the primary way we communicate. Like they can take it or leave. We can't have a parent meeting every week, obviously. But when it's something as important as camp, doing something in person really just makes sure we're all on the same page. So here's a couple of tips for that. Number one, I like to do it on a day that the parents are likely to be at church, anyways. So instead of a random time like Wednesday morning, you know, and parents are working or, you know, kids have camps or something like that. I like to do mine after second service on the weekends.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

So basically after your last service on the weekend.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Yeah. So 12:30, they come in, church is over, their kids already there. And then it's just takes about an hour. And I go over things like this our travel itinerary, the packing list, and I note things that are extra, extra important that they could have glazed over. For example, don't pack your spending money in your luggage because it's buried in the trailer. You need your spending money with you on your person. So when we go to In N Out or Chick-fil-A, you can buy yourself lunch. Those are the kind of things that sometimes parents would overlook. And so we go over um like emergency contact kind of things. I let them ask questions, you know, in real time so that other parents can learn from them. And we do record it so that if a parent cannot make it because it's summer and people are out of town, then we can send them the link to that. But I always say it's much better if you're here in person because it's just, you know, gives you the opportunity to see the other parents, meet the leaders that are going to be there with your children and ask any questions you have. So, anyways, parent meeting, I cannot stress it enough. And then another thing with that that I'll mention real quick before we move on is I love having the leaders who are going to be attending the camp go to that meeting so that I can look and say, hey, parents, these are all the adults that are gonna be there with your kids. This is Andy, he's been on this trip this many times. This is Trevor, he's been on this trip this many times. And, you know, that gives them a little more comfort to know, like, okay, like there's real adults going on this trip. And I always tell my team, I'm like, I want all of you to be there. You're all very important. For this, if you're like over 25, over 30, please make sure you make it to this trip or this meeting, because I want parents to turn around and see, like, wow, that guy looks like a dad, or that lady looks like a mom. Yeah, okay, I feel comfortable sending my kid. And it's like, and those of you who are 19 and 20, yes, I'm so glad you're coming. If you can't make the parent meeting, it's not the end of the world. You will not provide that extra comfort for a parent sending their 11-year-old. So we always joke. And so one of my leaders, Ryan, he goes, Just say it. I'm old. You need old people at the meeting, just say it. And I was like, Well, yes, but I wouldn't put it quite like that. So wise people, wise, responsible, capable problem solvers. Like if something were to go down, that guy knows what to do. That lady knows what to do.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

So when do you have, excuse me, when do you have your meeting? How far before the actual dates of camp?

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Good question. I think ideally it would be three at the most, two at the least, somewhere in between there. I would have done it.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

So two or three weeks.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Yeah. Jeff, thank you for translating. I think I would have waited one more week. We're gonna do it this weekend, but the following Sunday happens to fall on my birthday. And I'm like, I really don't want to do a parent meeting on my birthday. Like, I'm already gonna probably have to be at church for five hours, and which I love. But I was like, and then if I had to tack on a like camp parent meeting to that, I think it'd be the worst birthday in the world. So, anyways, yeah, that's why I'm doing it a little earlier this year, but yeah, two to three weeks.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

Two and a half would be prime.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

It would be like, wow, sweet spot right there.

Tip 2 Leader And Driver Alignment

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Okay, speaking of meetings, number two is a leader and driver meeting. So I know everyone does transportation differently. You don't need to have your bus driver there if you're taking charter buses or something like that. If you're doing vans or SUVs and trucks and it's a caravan and you guys are going up, you should have your drivers do a meeting along with any volunteers who are coming along for the camp. So, what I like to do at this meeting is I usually do this on a Saturday afternoon, right before our Saturday night service. You can do whatever works best for you. And we have like drinks and snacks. I try to make it like a little bit enjoyable because I, for one, hate meetings and I can't imagine like, yeah, somebody else showing up for the first time, like, yay, Saturday meeting. But it's super important that we're all on the same page. So I go over the itinerary, I go over the rules of the road, I go over just kind of like our list of never ever do this. And here's what the expectations for the week are. Here's what your role is, here's what to do in case of an emergency, here's how we're going to travel, here's your role during travel. And then it's like a lot of mindset stuff too. Like, hey, we are their parents on this trip. So safety is always first. Like, treat them like you would want someone to treat your child if you had one or if you do. We always make decisions based on that. Um, we always say things like, if you can't live with the worst case scenario, don't do it. If you have to imagine what the headline will be, just be very careful, you know. So just trying to instill in them like really good judgment, really clear thinking when it comes to safety and things like pranks. Like, we don't do pranks and you know, be careful about being one-on-one alone with a student at any time. Like, there should be no reason for that. Yeah. And just encouraging them to casting the vision like the episode we did last week on what's the point of this week? What are you hoping to accomplish like for the students spiritually? And how are the small group leaders and the volunteers like coming on board for that vision? What part do they play? Help inspire them for that. So this is really a meeting where, yes, you do the logistics of here's how we're gonna have a smooth sailing good week, but also here's why we're doing it. We're not just hoping we all get back safe and sound. That is success, but not completely if there was no life change, if there was no spiritual breakthrough, if there was no relational breakthrough. And that is kind of like the two sides of that leader meeting. And especially if people have not been on your trip before, I think it just helps them like get their head in the game instead of just showing up like, so what do we do? And yeah, again, if a leader can't make it, then you can either meet with them one-on-one and go over it with them, which is really annoying because then you have to do the meeting twice, or you can record it and send it out. So we just put a camera on a tripod, push record. It's a little stale, you know, it's not some cool quick edit or anything, but it's better than nothing, honestly. So, any questions or translations, Jeff?

SPEAKER_00 10:06

No, that one's good, very clear and concise. If you have any questions, put them in the comment section below.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Yes. Okay, number three, get more than one set of eyes

Tip 3 Get Extra Eyes On Lists

SPEAKER_01 10:15

on your prep lists. So, oh man, and even with more than one set of eyes, we've still missed stuff. So when it comes to camp planning, shared leadership is really smart because say you're making a list of like we do a lot of grocery shopping because we're at a campsite, so we have to bring all the food and put it in coolers and it's a whole thing. So I have lists for Costco, I have lists for Walmart, and I have lists for a store once we get up there. I'm the one who keeps track of that, but I could very well miss something like wait, we're having this dinner on this night. You didn't say there's no beans or tortillas or whatever on your list. So getting more than one set of eyes of somebody who's come to the camp and knows the camp is super helpful. So maybe it's a shopping list, maybe it's your transportation. Like I have counted the seats and my vehicles so many times. I even had Alexa count them. I've done it with a calculator and then I sent it to some of my staff and I said, Can you put your eyes on this? Because there's always a weird nuance that someone could catch, like, wait, you made a spot for Sarah, but Sarah's driving herself and meeting us up there. So she doesn't need a seat. Oh, that's right. Okay, that does open another seat. Or, oh, don't forget, we're picking up this kid up in Northern California. So we need to keep a seat open for them because blah, blah, blah. I'm like, oh shoot, you're right. So when it comes to transportation, shopping lists, even game supplies, you know, like we do our own programs. So, you know, we need inner tubes and pool noodles and balls, like whatever else we're doing.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

And you guys are so far removed from like normal civilization that it's not like, oh, we forgot whatever.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Just pop over to Walmart and grab something. It's like, see you in four hours if I have to go to Walmart.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

And there's nothing worse than like whether it's food or games or whatever, you're like, wow, we brought all this stuff, but we can't use it because we forgot this week.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

We don't have a ball pump.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Yeah, something dumb like that. So get more than one set of eyes on that, your packing list, you know. And then if you can divide and conquer once we've all looked at these lists, and then it's sort of like, okay, is there somebody who can be in charge of now we have a tech list that we've all agreed on of the tech supplies we need? Can you make sure all of those are staged and ready to put in? All right, we have a list of all of our rec stuff that we need for all of the programming, all of the games. We all agree this is what we need. Can you make sure all of those items get staged and ready to pack? Medical stuff. We always bring a medical bag with basic, you know, it's more than just a little first aid kit. It's pretty hefty. So it has a lot of things, but it's a week long with a hundred and something kids out in the middle of, you know, the mountains. And so we have someone who actually goes through a checklist and looks at that and makes sure everything we need is in the medical bag. So it's just a lot if you're the only person not only writing the list, checking the list, staging what is on the list, and packing what's on the list. It just seems to me if you have the option to ask for some help from an intern or a leader or a parent who's coming along, or it has to be somebody who's been on the trip before, I feel like, but to kind of divide and conquer, even if it's just you and one other person, that's better than you having to do that on your own.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Um, I like to plan something out in my head too, like not only doing because I'm I'm all about checklists. Like I have to do checks, I'll forget things. And then I always keep an ongoing checklist where one, when it's like you forgot something one time, it's like make sure that's on the checklist and immediately add it because you don't want to forget it again the next time. But when I'm planning something out, like hypothetically, let's say you're playing nine square, I mentally go through. All right, I am there, I'm setting it up. I need the bag to carry it in. I need the nine square itself, I need the straps, I need the ball, I need a ball pump. Like I physically or not physically, mentally go through each step because then all of a sudden you're like, like you're saying like a ball pump. It's like, how would we have inflated it? We would be playing it with just the, you know, a deflated ball. So that I have to walk through mentally every single thing like that. You know, if it was like a barbecue or whatever, do I have this? Do I have propane? Do I have the the uh hose that connects the propane, you know, all that stuff because I'm like there'll be one thing I'll miss, but if I'm mentally setting something up, I feel like I can cross those things off.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Yeah, that's a good point. I think I do something similar, like I visualize myself there.

SPEAKER_00 14:56

Yeah, visualize it.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

And I think that is so smart because you would maybe remember that little detail instead of just saying we're going to grill, it's like, okay, I'm pulling the burgers out of an ice chest. That ice chest needs to have fresh ice in it. Like, do we have a supply somewhere? Okay, and then do I have the tongs to do this and the seasoning and whatever? So yeah, I think, and once you've looked at those lists and you've confirmed this is correct, I think it's even great to table them for a couple days and then come back and say, Oh, this, this, this is because I think sometimes your mind does this thing where it's like, we are done. Like, how much more could there be? But then your fresh mind and your fresh eyes a couple days later are like, oh no, we probably should bring this. And I you never want fatigue to tell you you're done, you know, because you'll just be like, ah, it's good enough. I'm tired of looking at this thing, which that's what I do. I'm like, oh, who cares? It's like, no, no, no, that's just because I'm tired. It doesn't mean it's actually correct or actually right. And guys, I've known youth pastors who literally go to camp, I feel like on a whim and a prayer. And then they just figure, who cares? There'll be a Costco somewhere, and I can send someone, you know, right before dinner to figure it out. That's how we burn bridges, friends. Like, that is how people that's a really great way to lose respect with your team. Sometimes my team will admit like that they're like, sometimes you're intimidating to work for, and I'm like, ooh, I don't like that word. That sounds like I'm mean. And there's and they say no, it's because like I feel like the ship is so tightly run, I want to rise to the occasion and like be that type of leader as well. And sometimes it's intimidating, like, can I like work like that? And I'm like, okay, I'm okay with that mentality then, because you know, when people volunteer to help or want to join, I don't want them to be like, what is this? Some like circus and nobody knows what they're doing and whatever, or was everything perfectly packaged, planned, and prepared so that anyone coming in to help can know exactly how to help, what to do. And then you don't put the burden on them, like, well, you told me to start the rice. Where are the pots? Like, there's nothing where's the rice?

SPEAKER_00 17:28

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

And so I think, you know, it's just these are like the little things that create reputation in your leadership. Like when people think of you, what kind of leader are you? They're like, Well, Kristen didn't have uh bread for the sandwiches, but we all saw that coming. Like, ouch. I've heard people say that about other leaders. Like, of course they didn't. Of course she didn't, of course he didn't. It's like, so now that's just what you're known as as sloppy, and volunteering for you is a nightmare because you haven't had anything prepped. So just make sure, like, at a something like a camp at this scale, everything really does need to be really lined up, and we something will fall through the cracks. It's inevitable. Like there will be a problem you have to solve, but let that not be the norm, right?

Tip 4 Prayer And Worship Night

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Okay, so number four, prayer and worship meeting with your leaders prior to camp. This is a newer thing we do. We've only done it for one year, so two camps now. And one of our high school interns came up with it and it was so cool. So the the youth group before camp, we set aside some time after all the kids leave and get picked up, go home. We go into one of the rooms, like we call it the family room because it has like couches, it's nice, and we turn down the lights, and our worship leader just leads us in a few songs, and then we just open it up to praying over our camp. And it was just such a game changer. Like, I can't even tell you, like, I pray for our camp all the time because you know, buck stops with me. So if it goes wrong, it all comes back to me. And so I pray constantly for our camp. But inviting everybody into that was so powerful. And I think it like, like, God definitely was faithful to what we asked for, but also it like united us kind of like spiritually and got us in this like really great spiritual climate before we even went to camp. You know, like you feel the camp spirit like a couple days in, and everyone's like so close and all the spiritual movements happening, but it was so cool that we had started that even earlier. Like it was already in motion before we even hit the road. And it was so simple, like it didn't even take long. I love things like that, like low prep, high impact kind of things. There's just like show up here, let's pray. And we did for probably 20 minutes. It wasn't like some, you know, burning the midnight oil thing. It was like 20, 30 minutes at most, and it just was wonderful. Because we always like close our meetings in prayer, but like an extended time of prayer as the leadership of the ministry altogether, that's kind of a rare occurrence for us. I wish it weren't, but you know, we have about 15 minutes to meet before our youth group, and we do pray, but it's not like this extended, like just open anyone pray for whatever's on your heart kind of thing. So that was awesome. Highly, highly, highly recommend.

Coaching Program Invitation

SPEAKER_01 20:47

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Tip 5 Bring Backup For Gaps

SPEAKER_01 21:53

And then the last one this is kind of like a hack pro tip. Come prepared for the things. That will derail you if not done well by others. Let me explain. There are certain things I ask parents to do and students to do to make camp run smoothly. I go over it in our parent meeting, I email about it, all of that. Somehow it still doesn't get done, which parents have a lot. I'm a parent, I understand thing I miss a pajama day, crazy hair day, can't keep up with spirit days. Like we miss stuff. But if it's something that's going to derail the organization of your camp, you should come with backup. Here's what I mean. We ask our parents to label their children's luggage because we load all of the luggage in a trailer. We don't have enough cargo space in the vans to put everyone's luggage in there. You need a sleeping bag, a pillow, a bag, a backpack. Like there's no way. So we tow a luggage trailer. Well, when we get out of the cars and we're trying to set up camp, there's like 80 black sleeping bags and trash bags that all look exactly the same. Do not assume kids know what their sleeping bag or even their pillow or even their luggage suitcase duffel bag looks like. I would figure everyone knows what their stuff looks like. They'll grab their stuff. No. What will happen is they will go do something else. Then it will be 11 o'clock and they'll say, I don't have a pillow, I don't have a sleeping bag. What do I do? I'm like, what do you mean? Well, I don't have one. Yes, you do. Your parents packed you on them. No, I don't. Then we have to go back to the trailer. Oh, what do you know? There's some lone sleeping bag in there. So if their name isn't like we just bring a bunch of duct tape, a bunch of sharpies, and we have a rule. Nothing gets in our trailer without a label because there are there's too much at stake. And it sounds so small, but that's what I mean. Those little things that will derail you now. It's dark. And I'm looking with a flashlight all over the place for some sleeping bag that didn't get put where it was supposed to go when it was daylight at 4 p.m. Because we camp. So it literally is dark. There's no external light. And I'm like, I don't know where your sleeping bag is, but this is the last thing I want to do at 11 p.m. Label, label, label. So we come prepared. Um, the other thing that really derails our camp is if kids don't have a water bottle or they lose their water bottle, which happens within, oh, I don't know, 45 seconds of them being on this trip. So we have just invested in a bunch of cheap plastic, reusable, and refillable water bottles. And then we label it for them because even telling parents pack a backup water bottle for your kid will not happen. Or they'll come with those Costco size little like Kirkland water bottles, and this is your reusable water bottle. I'm like, so you'll die of dehydration just in about a plastic bottle. Yeah, just like those little, like literally a water bottle, not a re and they'll be like, Yeah, I have a water bottle. I'm like, it's 107, and we're gonna be outside all day. Like, you're gonna die of dehydration. So, in order to avoid that, we're like, here, we we have a water bottle for you. The other thing is like van assignments. So the drama that ensues for us by letting kids pick their own seat and vehicles. Like our daughter had a birthday party last month, and we took two cars, and that was even a wreck. Like, I just figured, oh, it's a smaller group, you know, you girls can figure out where to sit. And why would I assign you? It's a birthday party. What do you know? The drama van was rolling down the freeway. I was like, and then I looked at them, I said, guys, this is why I do van assignments, you know, when we go to Whitewater. And it just solidified it so much in that moment because we only took what 13 of them. And I'm like, and we couldn't even have a drama-free. So I think we do van assignments by small group, by grade, by gender, by friendship, by request. I'm willing to consider requests, you know. But if you are taking a bus, yeah, I wouldn't assign it. But if you're taking vehicles, yeah, I think assigning people where they're gonna sit really helps you not have like that one kid that's like, well, everyone got a seat before me. Those are my friends. I don't fit. It's like, so you're the odd one out. It's just like so sad.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

And for a trip like yours, where it's two days, well, four days total of driving, two days there, two days back. Uh that's gonna kill camp for some time. Totally.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

It's not like, oh, we'll be there in an hour, it's fine, don't worry about it. But yeah, I mean, I've had people sob because it's like, what happened? So we always assign it. And then I just say, once I've assigned it, I'm not changing it because that creates a ripple effect. And we did the best we could with what we knew. And you, I make sure every single person has a friend in the car, at least one. Nobody's like, well, too bad. You're an eighth grade boy with all sixth grade girls, deal with it. I would never do that. That's what I always tell parents. Like, can we know the van assignments? No, because that creates a lot of drama if they leak. So don't tell anybody your van assignments prior to the morning you're leaving. It's too late. You know, our daughter's school won't even tell you the teacher your child has until literally eight hours before school starts.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

Because like as the office is closed, they post it.

SPEAKER_01 27:46

Sorry, can't help you. This is your child's teacher. Because you would have a million parents like, no, actually, my kid wants to be in this class with this person and this is their best friend. And it's like, hey, when you're a certain size, you do your best, but you can't accommodate every little thing. And what I tell parents is sometimes just the numbers don't add up. Like, I've never even been in the car with our own daughter because the way the numbers are, it didn't make sense for my vehicle to have her and her friends. I've never been with her, and it just it is what it is. I'll see you at the stops, I'll see you up at camp, you know. So everyone has to just kind of get on board with that. So yeah, I think that has been sort of a game changer for us, and it sucks to do it's a lot of work. But if you're smaller, it should be no problem. And then giving every like driver a co-pilot, so someone who's doing communication for them so that a driver never ever has to be on their phone. So I assign a co-pilot to the driver, and then kids are in the rest of the car. So yeah, even the little things, you know, I mentioned the medical bag earlier. We say pack sunscreen. We bring extra. Uh, we get these little packets, you know, they're like little individual sunscreen packets, liquid IV packets, um, emergency snacks. You know, we try to like if someone's blood sugar is low, they didn't eat enough.

SPEAKER_00 29:08

They're not liquid IV pack. You don't know what liquid IV is, like literally putting the in their IV.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

No, it's a drink mix.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

I'm like, oh my gosh, kids dehydrated, go go put an IV in them.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Yeah, just wear gloves, get some alcohol, swab that thing. We're high. We are top tier.

unknown 29:30

No.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

No, you just put them in an ice bath, Jeff. Empty the cooler, put them in there. Just preserve them until the pain passes. No, we go to Costco. There is drink packets called liquid IV. They're like electrolytes and stuff like that that keep you hydrated. Because the biggest problems we have are sunburns and dehydration. So instead of just saying bring a water bottle and sunscreen, we're like, we're gonna do you solid and be ready to catch you with a safety net because we've had kids with blister sunburns, like so bad, we've had a kid get kind of delirious from dehydration. It's like we have to have a safety net for people who aren't following directions. Again, when it derails your camp or when it like you getting dehydrated, derailed my camp. I don't mean it like that, but like when it's like the stakes are high and things will go wrong if you just put like, well, I'm just trusting that you're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 30:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

What have I learned that it's not bad intention? It's just people won't always see the importance of it, you know, or they'll think they did it and they didn't.

SPEAKER_00 30:44

Yeah. It will derail it for that kid though. Like, hey, we're all gonna go rafting right now. Oh, you're passing out, so you're not gonna be able to go. Yeah. Which means another leader probably won't be able to go and stay, you know, so yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

So, but I yeah, I don't want it to go across like don't ruin our camp by getting dehydrated. It's so selfish. I mean, they're kids, so we just have to be ready to catch that net for them. Again, something will slip through the crack, but you know, we try to be absolutely as prepared as possible. And so just that's why I feel like even more important to wrap the whole entire thing in prayer, you know, because sometimes we can take, like, oh, like this is all on my shoulders. Like, I have in it's a lot of pressure, you know, and I agree, like there's a lot riding on this week, but that's why we have to remember it's ultimately in God's hands. So be capable, be responsible, be prepared, and then you know, put it in God's hands. Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:44

And obviously to have, you know, those kids really have a spiritual encounter and and really grow close to God during that time because it's not just about the games and the rafting and all that stuff. That's a fun part about it, but ultimately you want them to grow closer to God in the end.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

As you're saying that, you don't agree with it. I feel like, no, I do so much so I feel like that I have noticed that the enemy will use like the weirdest little things to distract everybody from what we're

Keeping Distractions From Winning

SPEAKER_01 32:13

doing. Like a kid getting a blistering sunburn. It's like one of the things of camp. But when that kid's in pain and hot and miserable and crying and wants to go home, they're gonna miss out on everything, you know, or a kid who feels sick because they're dehydrated and they have no energy, it's like they're not going to like be participating in worship. They're just like, I feel awful. That's all they can focus on. Or we had a monsoon one year and the kids' morale just plummeted because their sleeping bags were soaking wet and their pillows were soaking wet. And they were like, What am I how am I supposed to sleep? And so now all you're thinking is I'm miserable, I want to leave. And I can't like predict their every little comfort need. We're still roughing it, but it's like when like one year we had a ton of bugs, like they were everywhere, and it was so distracting. Like our speaker couldn't even speak, like the bugs were flying everywhere, and then he just stopped and prayed and the bugs left. So I'm like, what? Like, is this the enemy just trying to like throw like these little darts of like this experience sucks? You want to go home, you're miserable, you're uncomfortable, you should have never come, you should have never signed up. And now that's all you're thinking of is like, when is this over? Instead of I never want to leave. So it's like if I have to pack some water bottles and sunscreen and fig bars so that you people don't drop like flies, you know, so that you can lock into what God's trying to do. You know, I think it's also like a tactic to keep people engaged because they're not distracted by like, where's my sleeping bag? I have to sleep on the floor, kind of thing.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

And we also also did an episode all about how to keep that camp momentum going, um, that camp high, just because it is such a cool time, really uh you're growing close with God and you're coming back down from the mountain or wherever you go, and everyone's just like glowing like Moses. And it's like, how do you keep that going and not just be like, that was a cool time, and now back to the humdrum of you know regular life. So make sure you guys check out that episode

Listener Comment And Closing

SPEAKER_00 34:25

too. All right, this uh is a community comment of the day. This comes from Nellie Brooks who says, Great podcast. Love the questions and answers, sending blessings from Chile. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

I love like hearing about our international and global listeners, and that's so fun because I have this like curiosity, like, because we've had listeners in Ireland and Siberia, Chile, probably a bunch of other places, but those are the ones that come to mind. It's like, what does youth ministry look like there? Yeah, you know, like it's just so cool that globally we're all doing this in our own context in our own way. But it's like, I would love to attend a youth group in Chile and just be like, what is this?

SPEAKER_00 35:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:06

What do you guys play? What do you do? What are the kids like? Yeah, that'd be fun.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

Thank you, Nelly. Appreciate that. And we appreciate you guys watching and listening, and we'll see you next time.