Starting on June 5th, the Summer Camp season begins.  One of the ways to stay up on what is going at Camp Christian is by going to www.gadisciples.org and checking out the posting of photos and news from each camp.  Another way to participate is by sending letters and emails to the campers.  The address for the camp and directions for sending emails is also at this site.  Here is the list of Campers and the camps they will attend.

CYF will run from June 5-11.  Mitchell and Ethan Thompson, Jessica Hebenstreit, and Taylor Hicks will attend this camp.

YADA runs only for the Saturday and Sunday of June 11th and 12th.  Due to the brevity of the camp we have little chance to send mail and emails.  However they will post news and photos.  Melissa Hebenstreit, Shannon Bosarge, Nicole Hicks, Chris Rogers, and Mitchell and Matt Thompson will be there.

Junior 1 runs June 12th-17th.  Levi Cook is the only camper from our church at this camp.

Chi Rho follows on the 19th-25th.  Dalton and Haley Crofutt, Gavin Edmundson, Savanna Gowin, and Andrea McCleese will be campers.

Chrysalis begins the camps of July, running from the 17th to 20th.  Sarah Cook will be there.

Overlapping the Chrysalis Camp will be Junior 11 on July 17th to the 22nd.  Levi Cook, Oliva Gowin, Tyler Hurlbert, Mary Martin, and Carter Nolde will be at this camp.

The last camp of the year will be Genesis.  This is the camp for kindergarteners and a family member.  It is on the weekend of July 22nd to the 24th.  Andrew and Sara Hebenstreit, Austin and Mike Hurlbert, and John and Jim Stokes will enjoy the last camp.

Please take advantage of the news and opportunities to communicate with our campers.  As I write these words, we have passed the hour designated as the time and date of the end of the world.  We as Christians often fall sway to the desire to know when the end will come.  We want to make ready in the last part of our time for that heavenly finale to get into heaven.  Unfortunately, we will never know when.  We are to live in faith, not absolute certainty.  We are not to cram for some kind of final exam; rather we are to live daily in the way taught by Jesus.

In Matthew 25:31-46, we find the most concise instructions for living in the way of Jesus.  We are to love, and feed, and comfort, and care for people all around us.  Not just the people we like or with whom we agree, but even the least worthy, the least important, the least loveable.  When we treat people as if they were Jesus, we are fulfilling our calling as disciples.  If we live in this manner, we will have no need to fear the end of time, for no matter what, we will be welcomed as sheep by our loving Shepherd.

Whether someone says that the end comes tomorrow or in 2012, or whatever date, live as Disciples of Christ described in this passage of Matthew and celebrate the joy of already living in God’s Kingdom.

Shalom, Darrell