Every August, for as long as I can remember, as the sun is beginning to rise, a Coach bus pulls into the Hebron parking lot. A group of sleepy middle schoolers, often wrapped in blankets, gather along with their parents in a circle to pray. The middle schoolers say their goodbyes and climb the stairs onto the bus where they will be for the next nine hours (give or take for food stops).
Every group that has taken this journey is unique, but they are as similar as they are different. As the bus pulls into the Grace Adventures’ parking lot the more energetic students take off to join the opening activity, as the more shy ones stand in the back so as to not be noticed, and others begin to survey the students from other churches looking for new friends or maybe even a camp crush.
Middle school is often remembered as the “awkward stage” for many of us. Personalities are still forming and interests are changing faster than any adult could hope to keep up with. Perhaps the internet has made this worse, imagine having a camera on you for every hairstyle, clothing style, or personality change you made as a seventh grader. Pittsburgh Kids Foundation offers these ever changing middle school students a place where they can go to be their awkward selves. A place with adults walking alongside them, showing them love no matter how late those students kept them up the night before.
Surf City is a week full of high adventure fun, high energy worship, and an opportunity to show the unconditional love of God to middle schoolers, perhaps for the first time. Every year and every student brings their own unique personality to the week and every year the same God is there with them. It may be through the beauty of His creation as a sixth grader looks at the stars from the top of a sand dune. It may be through the laughter shared with a leader who gave up a week of their summer to spend with these students. It may be through the songs sung (or screamed) in the club room. It may be through the twenty minutes spent in silent prayer and reflection students get on Wednesday night.
For me, something I always look forward to at these camps is the joyful noise coming from middle schoolers as they sing their favorite worship songs in the club room. This year I was particularly struck by the excitement as the song “Good News” built to its climax, the words “Jesus Loves You.” By Thursday even the most quiet and reserved students were jumping up and down and yelling those words, perhaps influenced most by our two high school junior leaders.
I was so thankful for the fantastic example that Reed T. and Keira G. set for our middle schoolers to follow. All week we spent being silly, having fun and getting to know the group of 19 middle schoolers for the wonderfully made students that they are. We rode on (and sometimes fell off) the tubes with them, we swam in the freezing cold lake with them, we ate camp food with them, and we talked about the unconditional love God has for them.
Surf City is foundational to our ministry to middle schoolers. During this week in Michigan, we are able to connect with these students in a way nothing else we do would allow us to. The shared experience of the bus ride, the memories of tubing on the lake and the songs we sang together all contribute to the success of the following school year and the years that follow.
These students may not understand the intricacies of theology, but they do understand the way their leaders showed them love at camp. By God’s grace that reflection of His love might grow into a faith of its own. By God’s grace the awkward stage might be used to His glory and to the building of His kingdom.
By: Tim Warner, Youth Intern