“Are you kidding me…20% of your school wants to go to YFC summer camp?!” That’s the question I asked Trent Nelson, our Jason Lee Campus Life Director yesterday morning as we chatted on the way into the office.  He seemed a bit overwhelmed and I asked why, only to be told that he has 80 kids who want to go to summer camp–60 going to our Island Lake middle school camp in July and another 20 8th graders who want to go to our Rockridgle YFCamp in Canada!  “I can’t believe the excitement these kids have for camp,” Trent told me, “and we’re doing everything we can to get them there–bake sales, car washes, work parties–because most of these kids can only afford $20 to $50 so we’re trying to scholarship the rest.  I  need help!”

Now let me tell you about Trent and his wife, Kelly. Trent is one of the sharpest young staff I’ve had the honor of working with in a long time. He loves the kids at Jason Lee and is passionate about telling them and showing them the love of Jesus. He and his wife, Kelly (who is a teacher at Jason Lee), intentionally bought a house just blocks away from the school so they could be available all the time for kids.  They are great at mobilizing volunteers and regularly have 100+ kids/week at Friday after school Campus Life meetings in the gymnasium.  Last summer they brought 38 kids to camp and most of these students made decisions to follow Jesus Christ.  For all of these kids, this week away is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get out of the city, have fun and encounter the love of Christ in an all new “habitat”.

Trent’s camp “opportunity” is just like that of several other Campus Life and City Life staff as Tacoma YFC tries to help over 300 kids experience summer camp in the next two months.  Whether it’s a week at Island Lake or Rockridge, a weekend or week long experience at Warm Beach, or two outdoor adventure trips in the wilds of Montana, we are trusting God to provide not only the students who desire to go, but also the resources to make it happen.  These camps cost anywhere from $100 (Warm Beach) to $475/student (Rockridge) for the greatest week of their life!

As I mentioned in Trent’s story above, many of the students we work with simply can’t afford to show up with a check and say, “Paid”…they need our help. Our TYFC staff and volunteers creatively fundraise to help offset the costs.  So, here’s my challenge to you today: Imagine the impact you can have in a kids life by helping them get to camp this summer…20% of the entire Jason Lee Middle School population wants to attend YFCamp at Island Lake…just think what can happen at that school if these young lives are changed?!  Will you help us by investing in sending a kid to summer camp?

If you would like to help send a student to camp, we’ve made it as simple as possible by adding an online donation component to our web site.   Here are the steps:

1) Click on the “Donate Now” button on the upper right of this page

2) Then click on the “Give to Tacoma YFC single gift Donate Now” on the left side of the page

3) Under the “Core Ministry Teams” drop down menu choose  the final option “Summer Camp”

4) Then choose the camp you’d like to support, and if you would like to help send a student from a specific school, simply put that in the “Comments” box at the bottom of the page (i.e. Summer Camp, Island Lake…comments=please apply to Jason Lee)

5) Finally, complete the form and choose whether to give via credit card or electronic check

The following schools/ministry sites are taking kids to camp:

Island Lake YFCamp ($355/person):

Jason Lee MS, Frontier MS, Gault MS, Giaudrone MS, Stewart MS, Baker MS, Truman MS, Keithley MS, Woodbrook MS

Warm Beach ($200/person): City Life/SOZO (Hilltop/Eastside outreach)

Warm Beach Campus Life camp ($100/person): Washington HS

Rockridge YFCamp ($475/person):

Lakes/Clover Park high schools, Foss HS

Thanks for considering this opportunity. I’m excited to see what God does in the lives of these kids because people like you and I cared and we saw the “hope and potential in every young person”.