Missing Out On "God Moments"

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COVID-19 has turned a lot of things upside-down. It seems to have affected almost everyone to some extent and I know that we’re all wishing it would go away. One of the most difficult things for me has been trying to live with an unknown future. I don’t know when our church will be able to reopen. I don’t know when my family will finally be able to come visit my first-born baby. And I don’t know long it will be until we can act normally around each other again.

I’m not alone in this. For the past few months, there have been many groups that are waiting and waiting, looking for hope in the unknown future of this coming summer. They are the groups that open up their churches, camps, and retreat centres so that young people can have amazing experiences of faith, community, and adventure. 

In my circles, the camp programs I was looking forward to this summer were:

We’ve been watching and waiting, hoping that things would get better with COVID-19. We’ve been taking cues from the government to let us know if there would be any possibility of still being able to run the same kinds of day-camps or overnight-camps like we’ve done for decades. We’ve been hoping that families would still want to send their kids to camp, even with the fear of the virus.

This week, the unknown future of at least two of these summer camps has been made known to us. Our Sterling VBS Kids Camp is cancelled and there will be no overnight camps running for Camps with Meaning for this year . 

I know how difficult it was for leaders to make the final calls. This unprecedented time has led to this necessary measure, the likes of which we’ve never experienced before. And while I understand the decisions to cancel, it still breaks my heart.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always spent some part of my summer at camp. Growing up, I would go for at least a few weeks to overnight camps. I also went to sports and VBS day-camps. One highlight from my childhood was going on a family retreat in the summer and spending time with my brothers. 

I started volunteering as soon as I was old enough. I trained to become a camp counsellor, a role in which I took care of campers and taught them activities like archery and rock-climbing. I continued to do this up until I went to Germany for Bible College - even there I helped my school run all kinds of youth retreats. When I moved to Winnipeg, I was immersed in the camp world here. I have spent at least a few weeks of each summer being a part of some camp or retreat.

Here’s the thing about camps - I love them so much because I know I’ll find God there.

That may sound strange, but that’s been my experience all these years. Camps hold such an important place in my heart because each and every time I go, I have “God moments” wherein I meet Him in a special way. Perhaps it’s the setting (I find that being somewhere different can make me more spiritually attentive). Maybe it’s because the nature of the programs really requires me to rely on God for strength and patience. Or maybe it’s because the mission of camp is all about drawing closer to God, and so inevitably, it happens. Interacting with so many great kids from all walks of life makes a huge difference too, because I can see God at work in them.

Whatever the reason, whenever I spend time at camp, I always feel more connected to God. I return home excited to continue on in my faith. When I was younger, we called this the “camp high” - which was fitting because when we returned to the “real” world, we would often crash back into the same patterns of life that we weren’t happy with before we went to camp.

In recent years, I’ve come to understand that God isn’t only at camp and that I don’t need to be at camp to discover God. In fact, God is with us no matter where we are, even in the monotony of normal life. But I still love being a part of camping ministry, and I’m saddened that we will have to spend this summer without it.

I feel so bad for all the campers, staff, volunteers, planners, and families who won’t be able to benefit from what summer camps have to offer. There was so much excitement and work that already went into this summer, and I’m sorry that it will all be for not. I also know that some of our camps will struggle financially because of these cancellations; I hope and pray that they make it through.

As I lament the loss of camps this summer, I have one image stuck in my head - Jesus with glasses on! This last Sunday, we had a guest preacher at Sterling, Leshia Verkerk, who spoke on the story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus. She pointed out how peculiar it was that the disciples who were walking with Jesus didn’t even recognize Him. Instead, they were all sad and disappointed because Jesus had died and they didn’t believe that He rose from the dead.

Leshia reminded us that sometimes God is present in ways that almost seem too obvious. She gave the illustration of Superman, who disguises himself as Clark Kent by wearing glasses - as if he is so unrecognizable with them on! Leshia encouraged us to look for Jesus with glasses on - to see Jesus in the places where we don’t always expect, because He is present, sometimes in ways that are just too obvious.

As I try to deal with my emotions about a summer like no other, I’m truly sad that I, and many others, will be missing out on so many “God moments” that would have happened if camps were not cancelled. But I also have to believe that God will be present with us all even when things are so different. God will not be absent just because we can’t go to camp. Instead, we need to recognize God in our lives right now. God is at work, and whatever our summer holds, we will encounter Him when we open our eyes and hearts to His presence.