At first glance Thousand Oaks Ranch is a place of sports, games, lakes, meals, and Swimming Pools. These things are great fun, but too often when dealing with teenagers, we as teen leaders can do everything in the name of fun. This year was different from the start, as the week was titled All I Need. This theme referenced Jesus and how he needs to be the focus of our life, and it was lived out all week as more than words. The very first day began in the footsteps of Jesus as the kids and counselors greeted the sun with a surprise, early morning prayer and worship time. It was amazing to see kids shaken out of bed at 5:30 and led to the lake for a chance to see and experience a world that was as free of distractions as Jesus’ own. The idea was to walk in Jesus’ footsteps until we were able to see in him “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). It gave the week a special start and a spiritual focus that the kids were able to follow all week.

Another unique element of this camp was seeing God’s heart to unite families under the banner of Christ. Many soon to be high school freshman were able to attend camp with their older siblings for the first time ever.   The combination of family love and Jesus’ grace brought an emotional closeness to camp that was enough to soften every heart. It was great to see the Colliers (Charnay, Cory, Chelsea), the Turcios (Fabi, Vincent, Fabian), and the Endaluz/Phams (G-boy and Josh) coming together. In every case you could see younger family members looking up to their disciple siblings and wanting to be like them. It produced some very emotional moments. But the most powerful was seeing the younger siblings impact their older Brothers. It was a great living example of 1 Timothy 4:12 ( Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers).

And finally, the camp was special for the way in which it led kids to make decisions about their walks with God. Teenagers are constantly assaulted by Satan in today’s society. They have very few of the protections from his schemes that kids could expect to enjoy in previous generations. If one spends any time talking with teens today they hear a heartbreaking tale of how Satan has crushed spirits that are almost too young to resist. However, teen camp gives them a chance to finally strike back against the Devil and his schemes. The kids were reminded all week that every part of life needed to be spiritual, whether they were hearing the word preached or throwing a dodgeball. At every point it was about living with God, until finally on Friday, a celebration of Cabin unity (through a dance contest you can ask Dennis Sacaza about), turned into a chance to share decisions that had been made during week. An hour later many kids had pledged to either start following God, or to return to him. Nine of our Houston kids stated a desire to study the Bible and walk with God and not one person from the greatest to the least was left with a dry eye.