Another successful summer of camping fun at WorldSong Missions Place in Cook Springs is complete, and more missions education opportunities are planned for fall.
WorldSong welcomed 639 campers and 25 camp staff members in June and July during eight camp sessions. Girls in grades 2–12 experienced Missions Adventure Camp (MAC), while younger girls had the opportunity to bring their moms along for Mom & Me camps. During MAC for Children, girls and boys completing grades 2–6 shared in the fun.
Every week of summer 2016 was guided by the theme “Following and Forging,” inspired by Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns.’”
‘Where our feet are’
“Each week campers learned that our mission begins right where our feet are,” said camp director Hope Stephens. “There are lots of different ways we can be on mission, and we can follow the example of missionaries such as Paul, Lottie Moon, Annie Armstrong and Dr. Martha Myers who have come before us.”
Campers also heard what a life on mission might look like from resident camp missionaries Tim and Charlotte Cearley of Montgomery. The Cearleys retired from the International Mission Board in 2015 after 33 years on the missions field. During their service they lived in five countries in Africa and learned four languages to further their work. The 10 years the Cearleys spent in Mozambique, the focal country of MAC 2016, provided an opportunity to talk to young Alabamians about the need for missionaries to continue the work of starting churches in Africa to reach people groups across the continent.
To emphasize missions in Africa, WorldSong campers were challenged to raise $4,000 to build a new well in a village in Mozambique.
“Our campers blew that goal out of the water, raising more than $4,100,” Stephens said. “This will pay to build a new well and also provide funds to make necessary maintenance and repairs on several other wells.”
Campers also were encouraged to forge ahead and make paths of their own, a mission reinforced by the various Camper’s Choice activities offered during each week of camp. Campers exercised their creative energies in activities like arts and crafts, dance, flags and Rhythm & Beats and their physical energies in activities that included canoeing, archery, hiking, outdoor cooking, rock climbing and other sports, as well as swimming and a ropes course.
Kaley Stephens, MAC program and activities director, said the skills campers learn in Camper’s Choice activities help them see their interests in light of the gospel.
“We are each a messenger with beautiful feet because we carry the good news of Christ. We may carry it to our friend or neighbor, or we may carry it around the world to Africa or Asia, but either way, our beautiful feet carry a beautiful heart full of the beautiful good news of salvation through Jesus,” Kaley Stephens said.
The example of the missionaries and the counselors will be one of the lasting memories of camp, according to Virginia, a 15-year-old camper.
“I enjoyed the passion for Christ that the counselors shared with us through everything they did,” she said. “Whether they were teaching us to dance or simply speaking with us at mealtimes, they influenced me immensely, and I really appreciate that.”
Worship is another unforgettable part of camp, as parents and leaders learned at each camp’s closing worship rally. The enthusiastic singing and dancing to praise music that campers enjoyed throughout their week at WorldSong still echoes in the chapel in the final moments of each camp.
Twelve-year-old Klaire said her Camper’s Choice dance class was her favorite thing about camp.
“It was just really fun to worship without having to be quiet,” she said.
In contrast, nightly Vespers worship is quiet, reflective and powerful, said Sarah Catherine, 13.
As program director for the past three years, Kaley Stephens said she continues to be amazed by what God does at WorldSong each summer.
Personal growth
“It is so encouraging to see campers and staff grow throughout the summer. WorldSong is being used as a platform to expand missions,” she said.
That platform will continue into the fall and winter, though not quite at the same pace as summer.
WorldSong will host two sessions each of the Fall Missions Festival for Children on Oct. 7–8 and Oct. 14–15 and the Adults Falls Missions Festival on Oct. 18 and Oct. 20. Student Missions Weekend will be held Jan. 20–21, 2017. The events will focus on Norway, the subject of the 2016 national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) International Mission Study and will include food, customs, crafts and other activities related to living out the Great Commission in Norway. In April 2017, WorldSong will hold Mom & Me Spring Fling for girls in grades K–3 and their moms, and then in June 2017 summer camps will start once again. For the summer 2017 camp schedule and information about upcoming events at WorldSong, visit www.alabamawmu.org/camp or contact Alabama WMU at 1-800-264-1225, ext. 325.
WorldSong facilities also are available for one-day and overnight retreats from January to May and August to December. Recreation options, including team-building adventure rec and ropes course programs, are available. For more information about these programs, as well as facility rentals and lodging options and rates, visit www.alabamawmu.org/worldsongbooking.
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