Camp Comes to the Peace Center

By Pastor Matt Clark

Activity time

For one Saturday morning, the CFNA Peace Center was transformed into rustic Camp Discovery. A sign welcoming children to camp framed the front door. Trees, mushrooms, and flowers lined the halls. Chester the squirrel talked to children from his tree trunk in the chapel area. All of this was part of a fun-filled, one-day Vacation Bible School for children who are new Americans.

Approximately twenty eager volunteers from Ascension Lutheran Church, as well as three CFNA high-school scholarship students, set up and oversaw the program. A total of 34 children from 5 different nations participated. Children ranged in age from 6 to 12 years old. Divided into three groups, they rotated to different stations throughout the morning, including a “tree-mendous” opening, treetop storytelling, Big Timber Bible Challenge, campfire snacks, and wilderness crafts.

outdoor games

The theme for the event was “Jesus Saves Me,” and children heard the account of God's deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. The key Bible verse the children memorized was Daniel 3:17, “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us.” Children learned that the same powerful God who saved the three men from the fire of the furnace also saves them from sin and death. At Camp Discovery, through Jesus' death and resurrection, children of all nations can truly say, “Jesus saves me!”