A SELECTED
"NORTHERN LIGHTS" MAGAZINE ARTICLE
(from Issue #495)
REAL LIFE at
NCEM's BIBLE CAMPS
 The
Eagle Feather characters aren't real people. But each summer hundreds of
real life (and really lively!) First Nations children and teens attend our
NCEM Bible camps.
Outdoor activities, good food,
friends, fun and spiritual encouragement ... all are part of the Bible
camp experience.
It's a different world in many
ways. The youths' familiar routines at home are left behind, along with
their media habits.
It may seem like a very short
outreach, but the 24-hour-a-day relationships experienced in one week of
camping add up to more time than a missionary may have with local kids
during an entire year! And Bible camp creates memories that last for
decades, or even a lifetime.
So what does it take to start
and operate a Bible camp?
Honorary missionary Harold
Roberts tells about the vision and dedication required to get NCEM's Pine
Ridge Bible Camp in northwestern Saskatchewan up and running.
He says the idea really began
with this question: "Why should there be so many Bible camps and Christian
opportunities for other young people in Canada, and so little for the
northern Native people?"
Harold and his coworkers
trusted the Lord and acted in faith. Years later, reflecting on whether it
was worth it, he recalls:
"One
eight year-old girl, in particular, trusted in the Lord and has never
turned back. She became a regular camper in the years to follow. As she
grew older she would come for her week of camp and would then stay on as
part of the kitchen staff. She then took part as a junior counselor and
then on to the responsibilities of a regular cabin counselor. She went out
to a Christian high school, then on to graduate from Bible school and into
nurses training.
"God
is faithful and does exceeding abundantly above what we can ask or think,"
says Harold, "and this girl is a seal of His faithfulness.
"Others,
too, went on to become part of the summer staff. One year we had the joy
to have on staff five of those who had come to camp in those first years
as campers."
Readers can find Harold Roberts' full
account of Pine Ridge's beginnings on our Mission's web site (follow "Bible
Camp" and "Pine Ridge" links). To request a printed copy, write or call
us.
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