Leading to Camp: Part 3: Priming
Priming
A Word on Preparing Sheep
In the previous article, I spoke about “prognosticating”, which is when a shepherd anticipates the needs of the sheep. But a shepherd can’t just collect information. He has a further duty to prepare. Because he knows what’s coming, his job begins well before he ever leaves on the journey.
For kids growing up in Central Texas, 4H and FFA were a given (Google it, city people). Just about everyone took a turn at animal husbandry. The traditional animals raised for stock shows (think fashion show with live animals instead of outfits) were rabbits, chickens, goats, pigs, steers, and of course, sheep. We were sheep and cattle people in my family. And, I wouldn’t have considered myself a shepherd, but since “show” steers were out of our price range, the much more accessible and manageable sheep became my livestock specialty. Preparing sheep was much more than daily feeding. We not only got comfortable handling our lambs and got them comfortable with us, but we also spent a lot of time exercising them so as to build up their muscles. In one form, we built ramps so the sheep had to work hard to eat their food. We also routinely got up in the dark before school to go feed and exercise the sheep. My brother and I literally chased our small flock around a pen and had them jumping over hurdles. We desperately needed a good dog! I digress… All that to say, when the annual stock shows came around, our sheep knew us, knew roughly what we were trying to do, and they were fit for the competition.
Now, most of this analogy breaks down in getting to summer camp. If you press the analogy too far, you’ll probably be relieved of duty. But hopefully you can appreciate that preparing sheep for what they’re going to face is a basic responsibility. Priming for camp is a form of discipleship. You have an idea of where you want the sheep to go and what you want them to be ready for, and especially of what’s awaiting them on the other side, so you work to help them be ready when the day comes to
A good youth leader senses the momentum of the youth group and adapts his approach accordingly. When you have a large herd that knows the routine, they’re usually inclined to go with the flow. You may not need to exert much effort. But sometimes you may have a maverick (cattle term) or wandering sheep who influences the flock away from the camp destination. Small flocks also tend to be more skittish and ready to break loose. In either case, the more confidence the sheep have in their shepherd, the more likely they’ll be to stick together (Mt 9:36).
Part of priming both students and parents involves explaining the philosophy of camp. Camp serves multiple ministry purposes which ought to be explained on the front end.
Church-Orientation
A well-chosen camp is one where the leader anticipates solid Bible preaching and teaching for his people. You take the sheep there because you know they’re going to be spiritually fed. You also know that camp is an identity-forming experience. When a group embarks on a significant journey, lives together over a period of days in cramped quarters, breaks bread together morning, noon, and night, is away from home but accompanied by committed church leaders, they will have participated in a profound church-orienting experience. Such experiences are deeply rooted in the Bible’s narrative (the Exodus) as well as God’s program to preserve His people’s faith and mission (Deut 16:13-14, 31:10-13; Mk 6:31).
Fun
Camp is also fun. And you’re counting on it being fun. It isn’t supposed to be a graduate-level seminar (and I think those are awesome!). But there are profound reasons we don’t just do a teaching conference all week in the youth room, or worse, have them watch a video series at home in front of a computer. Camp is supposed to be huge fun in a context where they are ready to grow. Camp is uniquely church-fun. The social environment is unlike anything else in the rest of the year. It’s not just the preached word, but the journey and the environment and the community that’s formed. And the camper does all those things in the company of the reorienting preaching of the word of God.
Trials
And yes, part of your priming parents and students is reminding them that bad things do happen at camp, and that is actually good! Trials are a feature, not a bug (James 1:2-4). Minor injuries, rainy days, interpersonal conflicts, and lost flashlights are all opportunities for spiritual wins for which leaders can be thankful. No better example exists in Scripture than Paul’s first letter to Corinth. The people he begins by calling “saints” or “holy ones”, Paul goes on to instruct them on and rebuke them for a multitude of embarrassing issues and conflicts. And yet he finishes his letter with these words: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen” (1 Cor 16:23-24). Their sins, failures, and disappointments were something to work with and work out of. Shepherding parents means that you teach them to anticipate and welcome their children’s likely trials (homesickness, hurt feelings, strange food, etc) as an opportunity to learn and grow. At camp, young people learn steadfastness, how to repent, contentment, giving thanks in all things, loving difficult people, dealing with selfishness, and a multitude of other life and church skills. Camp provides a wealth of opportunities to deal with these issues in the best ways: in the church with Christ-loving and serving leaders. Reformed believers have theology that is too honest to allow them to go looking for utopian camps. Camp is yet another place to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12). When everyone knows that ahead of time, they’re ready to embrace those moments when they come.
