My last post explained why, in the middle of the craziest of months, I applied to work at camp. This post explains why, on the first day of Junior Camp, I am still in Red Rock.
The craziness that has been July is a topic for another post. This one, however, is a more serious topic and, yes, one that ties in with why I am not going to camp after all.
I am not going to camp simply because not enough children were going to need all the staff that volunteered.
Camp Tishomingo has never been a large camp. Even during the time at what is now affectionately known as the "Old Property," each camper left knowing everyone, both campers and staff, who was there that week. Some speakers made it a point to know each camper by name, the price for forgetting being a candy bar given to that camper. Personally, as someone who tends to get lost in a large crowd, I liked it that way.
However, when I hear the number twenty used in relation to how many campers are registered for a week, warning bells go off in my head. As far as I have ever known, Camp Tishomingo usually lacks staff, not campers.
The irony? Last week, they were. When I called the pastor of a nearby church to see about getting a ride for Junior week, I was asked if there was any way I could possibly work Teen week. They were scrambling for another girl's counselor. As I had only been in the state for under three days at that point, I was unable to do so.
Nothing about that surprised me. What did surprise me was the call saying I was not needed for Junior week.
Where are all the kids?
This did not happen overnight, and I admit that I have no idea what the numbers were for the past three years of camp. But for so few 3rd through 6th graders to come to camp concerns me. And my biggest question is "Why?" Why so few?
My honest answer is "I don't know." I don't know the whole situation. I don't know if churches have made the decision to send their children to another camp or to not send them at all. I don't know what is going on behind the scenes. All I know is that if this is a reflection of the number of children in these churches, there is a problem. A major problem.
More than that. Where is my generation? There are many Arizona pastors who have been serving at camp since I was the 3rd grade camper. They are still doing so, and I am grateful that they are. However, why are the younger Christians not stepping up? Where are those from my generation who can bring young blood and passion into serving? Where are those who can be the practical example of someone on fire for God in a culture that has changed by leaps and bounds in the past fifty years?
Satan wants my generation and the generation that follows. Nothing is new under the sun, but it cannot be denied that churches as a whole are losing us. It is not my purpose in this post to get involved in the whole debate about why that is the case or how doing or not doing certain things will or will not bring us back. However, the fact is that it's happening.
Perhaps this is nothing more than a reaction of a recent college graduate returning home after being in Iowa Regular Baptist Camp territory. Perhaps it is the reaction of one who has many, many friends serving at various camps across the country. Perhaps it is the reaction of a former camper who longs for other kids to have the same experience. Perhaps it is nothing more than a wake up call to me.
Where are all the kids in Arizona? Why are we not reaching them? What needs to change? What needs to stay the same? What can I do about it? What should I do about it?
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