Washing pots and pans probably isn’t anyone’s idea of a terrific summer job, but it was my opportunity to work at camp. I loved my years as a camper, and this was a chance to relive some of it—only to be involved in the campfire play instead of watching it. I would have taken any job just to be there. What was not evident on my first day was where it would lead. The next two summers, I was a camp counselor with added responsibilities and more complex leadership situations. My last summer, I was boy’s director and the leadership requirements were kicked up a notch across the board. This was especially true in terms of leading a group of counselors who were at or near my age, and a couple of whom could just as easily have been asked to be director instead of me. Summer camp gave me, by age 21, more opportunity to develop leadership skills than just about anything else I can imagine. In the course of providing an awesome experience—physically and spiritually—for young people that is unmatched anywhere, our youth departments do the vital work of developing the future leaders of our denomination. And that leadership comes at them fast because, for many, the year after they finish their camp work experience, they are in front of a classroom or standing in a pulpit or auditing the financial records of a church. The ones who developed leadership under the direction of an attentive and caring conference youth director are not as deep a shade of green when they take that first job out of college. Camp isn’t just the best summer a kid can have; it’s the best development a young adult could hope for. Doug Inglish is Rocky Mountain Conference vice president for administration.

Summer Camp “Firsts” I love summer camp ministry! A number of years ago, I had the opportunity to be the director of one of our camps for five years. I believe those were the most meaningful years of my ministry journey.  It is hard to explain the dynamics that take place when our young people come together in a camp setting. For many campers, it is their first experience away from home. For many, it will also be the first opportunity for them to ride a horse, or to ski behind a boat. Most importantly, for many, it will be the first time they will have been invited to make Jesus their personal Savior and become a disciple of His.  Research shows that camp is the number one place where young people decide that they will join God’s team. Summer camp ministry deserves and needs our support. Let us pray together for our summer camps as the 2026 season unfolds. —Gary Thurber, president, Mid-America Union Conference   One Hundred and Counting This year we are celebrating 100 years of camp ministry in North America. According to Tracy Wood, youth ministries director for the North America Division, Adventist camps began in 1925 in Australia, with the second recorded camp held a year later in Michigan. What started as a few boys camping beside a lake and learning about nature has grown into an annual global ministry. Here in the Mid-America Union, Pastor Hubert Cisneros, Pastor Roger Wade and I have had the privilege of being associated with—and consecutively providing support to—our eight camps over the past 16 years. “Summer camp isn’t a break from real life — it’s where real life begins. We’re not just building memories around a campfire; we’re building faith that lasts a lifetime,” says Wade. “There’s something magical that happens around the campfire,” adds Cisneros. “Kids make eternal choices there. They connect with the God of nature. And it’s often where kids choose to stay with the church. They see that the church is doing something special just for them.” Cisneros says that camp ministry has been, without a doubt, the most influential experience in his own life and ministry. He was a staff member at Glacier View Ranch in Colorado throughout college, starting out as a counselor and a lifeguard. He remembers that many young people from the inner city of Denver attended camp through sponsorship from Adventist Community Services. The camp was packed with kids, and a number of them came with significant behavioral challenges. A life changing moment One day during lunch, a kid from Cisnero’s cabin started a food fight in the cafeteria. “There was more food on the ceiling than on their plates,” he recalls. “I took the camper who started the food fight and led him out behind the cafeteria to calm him down—to talk with him and pray with him.” Through tears, the camper told Cisneros that his mother had left the family, his father was in prison, and his stepmother hated him. She sent him to live with his grandmother, who couldn’t handle him and had sent him to camp hoping it would make a difference in his life. “He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, ‘I don’t know why I act the way I do.’ I said, ‘Let’s walk up to those trees and pray to God for help—that the next time you feel like losing your temper, He will help you.’” After they had prayed together,  Cisneros remembers thinking to himself, I want to do this for the rest of my life. I want to work with children. “It was at camp that I decided to become a minister of the gospel,” says Cisneros. “It was there that I chose to go into youth ministry. That journey eventually led me to serve as a conference and union youth director.” Celebrating God’s blessings Miracles are still happening every summer at camps across the Mid-America Union and throughout the country. Countless young lives are being changed and transformed. Boys and girls are making decisions to serve in ministry and dedicate their lives to working for God through the church.  We praise God for how He has led over the past 100 years—and for the ways He will continue to guide and bless camp ministry in the years to come. —Tyrone Douglas is church ministries director for the Mid-America Union Conference.  

Camp Highpoint is for young people who want a week that is fun, meaningful, and spiritually life giving—and for those who are ready to grow in faith even when they feel nervous or unsure. What makes it special is the way we blend unforgettable camp experiences with intentional mentorship, powerful worship, and Bible centered teaching that helps campers see themselves in God’s story. Rooted in Joshua 1:9, our theme is B.O.L.D. Believe, Obey, Lead, Do, and the big idea is that courage is not the absence of fear but moving forward while fear is present. Through Miriam and Moses, campers will learn that breakthrough begins with belief and becomes real when we do what God asks. There are some things you can’t replace with another program, another weekend service, or another good intention. Camp is one of them. Camp matters because it does something rare. It takes young people out of the noise of everyday life and places them in an environment where faith can be felt. It creates a space where relationships grow quickly, where conversations go deeper than usual, and where God often becomes more than a concept. When you remove constant distractions and replace them with community, worship, and spiritual activity, hearts have room to soften. Minds have room to listen. And courage has room to grow. This year, Camp Highpoint is especially meaningful because it is our first camp in seven years. We’re not spending time looking backward, but we are acknowledging something important: a gap like that means many of our young people have never had this experience. They have heard adults talk about camp and the impact it can have, but they have not had their own memories to hold onto. So this year is more than a return. It is a beginning. It is the reopening of a place where young people can build spiritual milestones and discover that faith can be personal, joyful, and strong. Camp Highpoint is designed to create belonging. At camp, young people share meals, activities, team challenges, and daily rhythms that bring everyone together from morning until night. Those shared experiences build something powerful. Friendships form quickly because they are formed face to face. Young people meet peers who are trying to follow Jesus too, and it changes their perspective. They realize they are not the only one choosing faith. They are not the only one trying to grow. They are not the only one who has questions, fears, and hopes they don’t always know how to express. That realization alone can be healing. But camp does more than connect young people to one another. Camp connects young people to God in a way that everyday routines often don’t allow. There is a difference between hearing about God and encountering Him. Camp creates moments where worship is not rushed. Prayer is not awkward. The Word is not just information, but invitation. Sometimes that happens in a chapel service. Sometimes it happens in a small group. Sometimes it happens sitting by the campfire, walking back to the rooms, or talking with a counselor who is simply willing to listen. These moments matter because they show young people that God is not only present in church buildings. He is present in their real life, and He is close enough to change them. That is why our foundation verse is Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous… for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” This verse is more than encouragement. It is direction. God does not wait until we feel fearless before He calls us forward. He commands courage, and then He anchors that command in a promise: You can move forward because I am with you. Our camp theme builds on that truth: B.O.L.D. Believe. Obey. Lead. Do. The big idea is simple but life changing: courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the decision to move forward even when fear is present. Faith does not stop at what we feel or say. Faith becomes real when we do. We often see in Scripture that breakthrough begins with belief. It is strengthened through obedience. It grows into leadership. And it is completed through action. To help every camper see themselves in God’s story, we will look carefully at Miriam and Moses. Miriam shows that boldness can look like faithfulness, attentiveness, and worship. She watched, she spoke, and she praised God’s victory with joy. Moses shows that bold faith is willing to act even when the future is unclear. He believed God’s call, obeyed despite feeling unqualified, led through resistance, and moved forward before he could see the full miracle. When the week is over, our prayer is not just that campers had fun, though they will. Our prayer is that they leave changed. That they understand they don’t have to be fearless to be faithful. They don’t have to be “ready” to obey. They don’t have to be loud to be bold. They simply have to be willing to do what God asks. That is why camp matters. One week can become the beginning of a stronger faith and a braver life. Camp Location: Central States Conference Campus 3301 Parallel Pkwy, Kansas City, KS, 6614 Age Range: Ages 9-17 Website: www.central-states.org   2026 Camp Schedule: June 15-21, 2026 Mon | 15th Believe – God Sees Me Tues | 16th Believe – God Calls Me Wed | 17th Obey – Even When Afraid Thurs | 18th Obey – Step Forward Fri | 19th Lead – Use Your Voice Sat | 20th Do – Trust God First Sun | 21st BOLD – Commissioning Teen Leadership Track is a 10-Day virtual leadership bootcamp. This will allow teens to utilize these skills during summer camp through storytelling, real-world activities, biblical principles, and hands on skill building.

It was an ordinary evening at our house—the kind that doesn’t feel “important” until later, when you realize God was quietly teaching you something. We were playing Monopoly Jr. with our youngest kids. If you’ve ever played it, you know the whole game is basically bright colors and quick choices. Properties are grouped by color, and the money and cards are easy enough for little hands to manage without too much arguing… most of the time. That night, my 9-year-old daughter kept placing her cards on the wrong color spaces. Not once or twice—consistently. At first, we thought she was rushing or being silly. Then we assumed she wasn’t paying attention. Finally, my husband and I looked at each other: Something’s off. We started asking questions. “Which one is the purple?” “Show me the green.” Her answers didn’t match what was right in front of her. The room got quiet in a way it hadn’t been a moment before. And there it was—our realization forming in real time: our daughter might be color blind. I’ll be honest: our first reaction was sadness. Not because she was “less than,” but because it hit us hard to think she had been living her whole life seeing the world differently than we do—and not even knowing it. As a mom, you want your child to experience everything in the fullest, brightest way. You want their world to feel wide open. And then the second wave of sadness came for an even more specific reason: she loves art. She talks about being an artist when she grows up. She draws constantly. She notices patterns, shades, and details the rest of us miss. Her favorite thing to paint is a rainbow—rainbows on paper, rainbows on crafts, rainbow color schemes everywhere. In our minds, color blindness felt like a door closing on a dream she cherished. But the Lord has a gentle way of challenging what we assume is “loss.” After the initial emotions settled, we started learning. We started paying closer attention to how she describes what she sees, how she chooses colors, how she arranges them. And slowly, a new thought began to grow: her world isn’t empty of beauty—it’s simply different. Different does not mean broken. Different does not mean without purpose. Different does not cancel calling. That lesson has stayed with me, not just as a parent, but as an educator and superintendent.  Because in our schools, we see this truth every day: children learn differently. They come from different backgrounds. They carry different strengths, challenges, histories, needs, and hopes. Some are confident and outspoken. Some are quiet observers. Some are quick with words but struggle with numbers. Others can build, fix, draw, sing, or lead in ways that don’t always show up on a test or a worksheet. And our teachers—our incredible Iowa–Missouri teachers—are doing holy work when they refuse to treat “different” like a deficit. In Adventist education, we don’t believe students are accidents. We believe they are created with intention. We believe God places gifts inside children long before the world has language to name them. And we believe education should be more than delivering information—it should be discipleship, nurture, and formation. One verse that has come back to me again and again is 1 Samuel 16:7: “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” As humans, we’re quick to judge by what we can easily see—performance, behavior, labels, differences, test scores, who “gets it” first. But God looks deeper. God sees the heart. God sees the whole story. God sees what a child can become. That is what our teachers are aiming for, even on the hard days. They meet students where they are, and then they patiently help them take the next step. They adjust, reteach, encourage, reframe, and try again. They create classrooms where a child doesn’t have to pretend to fit a mold to belong. They help students recognize their own value—not because they match someone else’s strengths, but because they are God’s workmanship, made for a purpose (Ephesians 2:10). I think about my daughter now when I walk through our schools. I think about how quickly I assumed her “difference” might limit her future. And then I think about how God is teaching me to see what He sees: possibility, calling, beauty, and promise. Maybe that’s part of the real mission of education—helping children see themselves clearly through a biblical lens. Not as “less than.” Not as “behind.” Not as “too different.” But as fully known, fully loved, and still called. And for that, I’m grateful—for the lesson at our kitchen table, and for the teachers across Iowa–Missouri who live it out every day.  Jovannah Poor Bear-Adams is education superintendent for the Iowa-Missouri Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.