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Every year in July, people from Oklahoma and many other states gather at Wewoka Woods Adventist Center for Oklahoma Camp Meeting. For those ages 16 to 18, Camp Meeting is a special time of fellowship and fun. Unlike any other division for young people at Oklahoma Camp Meeting, the Youth Division has something going on all day.
The day started early at 7 a.m. with a morning devotion held in the Prayer Garden, an area encompassed by trees, plants, and a few benches for sitting. Even though it is only a short distance from the main campus, the trail that leads to the Prayer Garden makes you feel miles away from modern civilization. Every morning the Youth Division Leader Pastor Jim Landelius shares a devotional thought from scripture. This year, the focus was on being a servant of Christ.
After morning devotion, the work began. The opportunity to witness through service was open to all who will come. Much like every year, the Youth Division was divided into two groups and each worked in one of the surrounding communities. One group passed out Bible studies and shared books, while the other worked on a community project in the city of Seminole. Pastor James Bokovoy, the Community Service Coordinator, and his group of 20 young adults decided to tackle the project of re-weatherproofing the wood on a massive wooden playground in the city park. Applying sealant with brushes and rollers, the youth worked for four hours on the playground. Although it was morning, heat temperatures were already reaching 90 degrees. However, that wasn’t enough to deter the young people. With frequent breaks for water and Gatorade, they pressed on.
Generally, in past Community Service Projects, the first day results in the highest number of young people. But this was not the case for 2009. Each day more people joined in and volunteered to help. On Wednesday, 43 young people and staff worked to complete the project and apply sealer to the last few wooden beams. Since they finished earlier than expected (but not soon enough to start another project for the city) the young people held a free car wash on the Camp Meeting grounds.
Followed by several seminars the Youth could attend, the afternoon kicked off with a Bible study centered on the first chapters of the book of I Thessalonians. They studied about living in community and taking the Gospel to those in their sphere of influence. Afterwards, those who wanted could learn to use ShareHim (evangelistic materials with a goal of preaching an evangelistic meeting) in their Church. Later in the afternoon, the seminar continued with a money management seminar designed for High School students called “Generation Change”. The young people learned the advantages of saving, staying out of debt, and stewardship principles.
One of the favorite activities of the young adults’ time together was the off-campus day. The purpose of the off-campus day is two-fold: one goal is for the Youth to have a fun day together; the other (and most important) goal is that it is a day to learn. This year, the group headed to Oklahoma City. The first stop was the Oklahoma Heritage Museum. Here, the young people learned of Oklahomans who have made a difference in their community, state, and even the world! Among the many historic men and women featured at the museum, they learned about Sequoyah (known for creating an effective writing system for the Cherokee) and Jim Thorpe (a renowned athlete from the Sac and Fox Nation), two outstanding Native Americans. The day continued with lunch on the Oklahoma River Taxi. The group of 40 young people and staff ate a sack lunch on a large boat that winds its way around Bricktown, a historic district of Oklahoma City. Finally, they went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. There they learned of the unfortunate event of April 19, 1995 when Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols bombed the Murrah Federal building. Almost every year, the Youth Division has gone to the Memorial, but this year they went to the Museum as well. A fun and educational day was had by all.
Every evening during Camp Meeting, the Youth would gather for the evening program. Pastor Geraldo Alonso, a new pastor in the Oklahoma Conference and the Program Director, was in charge of the night’s meeting. Much like every night, this night began with song service. The recruiters from Ozark Adventist Academy led out in music the first half of Camp Meeting. Wednesday night, recruiters from Southwestern Adventist University helped them finish the week in song. A variety of entertaining speakers talked to the Youth about the importance of not bowing down. Two of the speakers were peers and were especially well received by the crowd.
Even though the division Young Adults has recently been added to the Camp Meeting program, the Youth division saw an increase in attendance at the evening program. In 2008, there were 30 attendees (ages 16 to 22 years old). This year, our age category was narrowed (ages 16 to 18 years old) and the evening meeting attendance averaged nearly 40 young people. Hopefully we will continue to see a rise in number and have more and more young people come to Oklahoma Camp Meeting. It is our prayer that we will continue to point them to the Savior who loves them, died for them, and is coming soon to take all His children home.
Article written by: Jim Landelius
Photos taken by: James Bokovoy