There's been a lot in the news since last summer's tragic events at Camp Mystic in the Texas Hill Country where 25 girls and two teenage counselors died. The camp's director also died.
Associated Press reported that the camp has halted plans to reopen this summer.
In a statement, the camp said, "No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July's tragedy."
Eddie Walker is executive director of Mt. Lebanon Camp in Texas. He spoke with AFN, saying that many camps are still waiting for licenses to be renewed, that the fees have risen greatly and that this has left smaller camps wondering how they will survive.
Walker posted a video on X talking about the safety of summer camps, especially in the aftermath of the Camp Mystic flooding. Regarding the emergency action plan (EAP), he said that he believes most camps didn’t have a detailed plan cause they never had to use them. He revealed that Mt. Lebanon’s EAP has gone from only several pages to 46 pages.
Walker also talked to AFN about the benefits of camp. Four years ago, he came to lead Mt. Lebanon Camp.
"We are packed because parents in the age of AI and total connectedness and social media and all the things want their kids to unplug and to come to camp and, obviously, have fun and meet their lifelong friends and all the good things that happen,” says Walker. “But you really do ask those deepest questions at camp of ‘Is there a God?’ and ‘Can I know Him?’ And so, we see it's just as effective today as it always has been."
Walker shared his story about camp.
"A friend invited me to church camp when I was 11 years old, and it's where I heard the gospel explained in a clear, age-appropriate way, and I trusted Christ. I could take you right to that place where I was, and it was not coercive. It transformed my life, and that simple decision at 11 determined the trajectory for the rest of my life," Walker says.
In 2023, the Baptist Standard wrote about the transformative power of church camp using Walker's experiences.
Christian apologist and American Family Radio show host Alex McFarland has big plans for his summer camps. He also calls them "Equip Retreats."
Participants get a biblical worldview and lessons about being a good citizen.
"We talk about America because sometimes some of my fellow clergy, they say, 'Oh, I don't ever speak about culture, politics.' No, until we get to heaven, we've got to live somewhere, and for 99% of us, it's the USA. So we talk to kids about the gospel and being a disciple, but we also talk about being a ciizen and America."
McFarland co-hosts "Exploring the Word" on AFR. He asks for prayer for summer camps.
"We had a big rally at the end of the year in November. We had 624 teenagers get saved last year. And now many of the kids, you know, they'll come multiple summers and they already are believers."
Equip Retreats kick off in Montana.
"We're also going to be in Iowa, Georgia, Florida, Brevard, my home state, Western North Carolina. And we're also going to be in Pennsylvania into the summer. But I'll tell you, kids are hungry for truth. And at our equip camps, I think we give it to them."
For more information, visit EquiipRetreat.org
