A&M Youth
Summer 2023
Highlights
The summer of 2023 was a great one! We are so thankful for all of the experiences, all of the times together, all of the opportunities, and all of the incredible blessings from God. Here is a quick look back at the summer. Enjoy!
Paint-O-Rama
One of the first "big things" of the summer was Paint-O-Rama. During the 3 days of Paint-O-Rama, we had 52 students who painted 3 houses in one of the Habitat for Humanity neighborhoods in our community. Yep, 3 days, 3 houses...and our students did an awesome job!
MEGA DAYS
After Paint-O-Rama, it was the first of our three summer camps, Mega Days. Mega Days was June 5-9, and was for students who had just completed 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th grade. It was all about Daniel, his consistent faith, God's consistent presence and how Daniel's love for God made an impact in the lives of all those around him.
Between all three of our camps, we took 124 students to summer camp this year. In addition to that, we took 19 high school students to Mega Days as counselors and Director's Assistants.
HS MIssion Trip
We were so excited to return to Southern Christian Home in Morrillton, Arkansas, with our high school students this summer. And wow, our students were awesome! They worked hard, had joy, and brought so much encouragement to the children at staff at SCCH. We did service projects at the farm and at the main campus. We cooked a lot of meals for the house parents and the children. We made supper for a church on Wednesday night. We spent time with the children: playing games, talking, hanging out, and encouraging the children as much as we could...it was a truly incredible week filled with faith.
Camp Cornerstone
Camp Cornerstone is a camp just for middle school students. On the campus of Oklahoma Christian University, Camp Cornerstone is a week filled with enthusiasm, excitement and faith. There's a lot of middle schoolers and a lot of love for the Lord. This year's theme was "Waymaker" and we spent the week looking at how God is a waymaker, promise keeper, micracle worker, and light in the darkness. It was a great week!
Trek
Our last big trip of the summer was Trek. Trek is a 5-day backpacking trip in the wilderness of Colorado. It is focused on time with God, spiritual growth, connecting with other students, and reaching the summit of a mountain. We carried everything we needed for the 5 days in backpacks. Low camp, high camp, Solo time, devotionals, hiking, getting drinking water from the stream, exploring, cooking and eating together, sleeping in tents, rappelling down a cliff, seeing God's creation in so many big and small ways, making it to the top of a mountain...all of it was awesome and all of it made for a great week of growing closer to God and growing closer to each other.
We all made it to the top of Gray's Peak with an elevation of 14,278 ft. Some of our group also summited Torrey's Peak with an altitude of 14,267 ft. Life is different on the mountain. You see God in ways which you may not have seen Him before. You see His creation in ways you just don't see it during normal, everyday life. The noise of this world goes away, and the opportunity to focus on God becomes so clear. It truly was a great week of faith, seeing God in new ways, and trusting in Him.
_edited.png)
Other Summer Things
In addition to all of these things, we had some great things like Powder Puff Football, Summer Kickoff, bowling days, Paint Wars, meals at places like Gumby's or Jason's Deli or in The Refinery, Back to School Family Fellowship, and all of the weekly times like Sunday morning Bible study, Sunday night youth worship, and Wednesday night youth.
End of Summer Video
You can see the End of Summer Video we showed at the Back to School Family Fellowship below, or click here to open the video in a new window.
Thanks to all of the students who joined us at any time for class or a service project or a fun day or a camp. Thanks to all of the parents who went on trips or helped with in-town events. And a special thanks to our two great summer interns, Avery and John. They gave up their summer to spend it with our students, and they did an outstanding job showing God's love to everyone.
To all students who were involved: we're so grateful for your presence and we pray that whatever you were able to be a part of was an encouragement to you in your walk with God.
To all students who were not able to be involved in something this summer: come join us this fall! Lots of great things happening, and we want you to be a part of it.
Final thought: with all the great things above on this page, don't miss the most important thing: all of this is for Jesus. Every trip, every camp, every house painted, every moment of worship, every Bible study, every camp, helping every person at SCCH, and every mile in the bus...it's all about Jesus, growing closer to Him and living for Him.