Anyone who has been to day camp likely has fond memories of the adventure and fun it offered. Day camps typically include a mix of nature, physical fitness activities, games and refreshments. Church day camps top this off with scriptural teaching. It’s easy to plan a day camp that goes beyond the usual. Here are a few ideas:

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Location: The best day camps have beautiful locations in the great outdoors with opportunities for hiking, exploring, outdoor games, boating or swimming. Create a day camp experience no matter where you live. Camps can be held at home, in the backyard or at your church. If you live in the country or have a cabin or lake property you have a perfect day camp retreat. Other good spots: city, state or national parks. Check park rules and ordinances to see if you need a reservation or permit. Also learn what activities, such as a campfire, are allowed and whether there is a limit to the number of participants.

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Food & Drinks: If your camp runs from dawn to dusk or even for just an afternoon, you will need to consider food and drinks. Make it easy and ask day campers to bring their own nonrefrigerated snacks, boxed lunches and drinks, or have food delivered to your site at the needed times. Or, do as we do and plan a full campfire menu. Find the recipes on page 76. Ask campers about any food allergies. Have plenty of water and ice on hand. This may require several ice chests to ensure you have enough refreshments for a full day of activities. Planning requires good notes and checklists. Ask others to supply some provisions and to help with cooking and cleanup.

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Activities: Adventure and physical fitness activities make the day fun no matter the age of your day campers. Some ideas for the outdoors: a hike to spot birds or identify trees, crafts using found natural objects, a baseball game, a water-balloon toss or a scavenger hunt.

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Learning: Games and activities can play an important role in teaching about American history and the Bible. Consider including skits or memory games, reciting quotes and guessing the author or sharing stories. Close out the day out with a time for sitting around the campfire, singing, Bible study and prayer.

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Safety: Start the day with prayer. Ask God to bless the day and to protect campers from injury or harm. Then, use good judgment—whether it’s working around the campfire or hiking. Have handy a well-stocked first aid kit that includes bug and sun protection.

Day Camp Menu

Roasted Rosemary Chicken with Radishes

Hickory logs infuse each bird with a pleasant smoky flavor.

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See recipe

History Lesson

The foundation of America is grounded on Judeo-Christian principles, such as the belief that all men are created in God’s image, a strong code of ethics, a respect for the rule of law and a desire for an orderly, fair government. Americans believe all people have inalienable rights and basic freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly and the right to petition the government. The Charters of Freedom—the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights—set us up for success.

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America’s rich heritage of faith and the Word of God are knitted into the very fabric of our national foundation. Our most influential leaders throughout history have exemplified great reliance on Scripture and prayer. But the struggle for righteousness is a constant pursuit and one we cannot take lightly. Years before the Charters of Freedom were signed, one of our country’s greatest preachers, Jonathan Edwards, delivered a timeless message, which is  needed today as much as it was then.

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According to Robert J. Morgan’s book 100 Bible Verses that Made America, colonist Jonathan Edwards’ message on July 8, 1741, was so powerfully and supernaturally charged that his congregants moaned and wept. It was just one sermon of many by Edwards and other preachers of the day, such as George Whitefield, that spurred revival by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Edwards’ vividly descriptive and relevant salvation message delivered the unbridled truth that cut through the concerns of daily life and human arrogance. He laid out the certainty of death and the promise of excruciating damnation if people ignore the lifeline God sent. Now, as in the early days of America, this timeless message rings true:

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“Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen,” he said. Edwards’ words illuminated the burning pit just below the feet of the person who refuses Christ’s merciful gift and showed how the bulk of unrepented sin increases the risk of falling through the weak foundation we’re standing on.

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“Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downward with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock. … And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners,” Edwards proclaimed.

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Edwards and other brave pastors with urgency and fire delivered the righteous message of God that ignited the Great Awakening, a movement that changed New England and the American Colonies. It was one of three parts of a great, Western-world, spiritual transformation that included Germany’s Pietism movement and England’s Evangelical Revival.

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The Great Awakening changed history for all nations; however, for America the spiritual and moral strength inspired our free and sovereign nation.

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But it was only a little over 100 years later, on June 16, 1858, that Abraham Lincoln spoke to the Republican State Convention in Springfield, Illinois, delivering an address entitled “A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand,” which used Jesus’ words from the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke to call out the nation’s disagreement over the wickedness of slavery. The speech played an important role in Lincoln losing the Illinois Senate race. However, the loss was worth the price as it set him up for a successful run as president, a presidency that changed the
trajectory of our nation.

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Great leaders speak truth, unity, peace and reverence to our Holy God. We live in a powerful nation because of our biblical roots and our historical deference to God. But we as a people have let the enemy take root in our schools, government, media and, in some cases, our church pulpits. We need a revival, a Great Awakening. If we are to return America to being the great beacon of light to the world we must water our godly roots with repentance and knowledge of the Word and proclaim boldly the righteousness of God. It’s up to each individual believer to prayerfully seek God for direction and to ask that He reclaim this country. We need to emulate the brave founders of this country if we are to retain the right to be free.

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Bible Lesson

God has placed us in this land for a time and a purpose. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior our first allegiance is to our Heavenly Father. We know our eternal home will be with Him in Heaven. While we’re here on Earth we are ambassadors for Him. The Bible tells us, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9 ESV)

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Our love of country is important only in that this country is founded on freedoms including our right to live free, to openly share the Gospel and message of Jesus Christ to others, and to teach our children the way in which they should go.

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Key Verse: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21 ESV)

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Readings:

• Job 12:23

• Philippians 2:9-11

• Revelation 21:1

• Matthew 22:21

• Matthew 8:19-21