From the Slidosaurus to the zipline to the bungee trampoline, Pine Cove is jam-packed with “seriously fun” activity classes for campers to create memories that last a lifetime. But we want campers to take home more than just a fun camp experience. We want them to take home a deeper understanding of the Gospel and a tangible sense of God’s love for them. And, believe it or not, activity classes are one of the primary places the Gospel is shared!
Of course, Bible study, Club, and counselor hangtimes are key for Christ-centered conversations, but the illustrative Gospel-sharing opportunities during activity classes have contained some of the most spiritually eye-opening moments for campers and staff alike.
After each activity class, counselors take about five minutes to debrief with campers not only the fun they had but also how their activity class tied back to the Gospel. This time is called “spiritual application,” or “spapps” for short.
For Bright ‘B-Slay’ Qiu, a senior counselor at the Towers, some of the most impactful spiritual application happened during a Towers-specific activity class called “Spy Training.” The activity itself is simple and imaginative: the leading counselor tells the campers that they aren’t actually Pine Cove counselors—they’re really top-secret spies with a mission to catch the bad guy who stole all the cupcake pillows from the camp store!
For the next hour, the counselor trains the campers on how to be spies, running around camp and interviewing other counselors to see who might be the culprit. Toward the end of the activity class, they’ll “catch” the guilty person and prepare to blast them with their water guns—the appropriate “punishment” for stealing from the camp store.
But, according to B-Slay, sometimes the lead counselor will show grace to the culprit, asking if they understand what they did was wrong and giving them the opportunity to ask for forgiveness. Once grace has been extended, the counselor will say, “Well someone still has to get punished for this. I think I’ll take it.” And then they take the water-gun hit themselves.
“That’s probably my favorite because campers just get it,” says B-Slay. “At first they don’t understand. They’re like, ‘Why would you take the punishment? You’re the good guy.’ And then we get to explain to them that this is what Jesus Christ did for us.”
Over at Silverado, the zipline is a unique opportunity to teach about the armor of God. “Much like the gear that you must put on to be protected and safe on the zipline, the Bible tells us of some gear that we must wear daily,” says Seth ‘Ted-A-Bop’ Francis.
As counselors suit campers up with a harness, tether, and helmet, they teach them about the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, and the sword of spirit, which is the word of God. After teaching campers about the full armor of God, they yell “to battle!” as they’re sent off the zipline platform, pointing their “sword” forward.
It’s not just the counselors who are teaching the campers. Sometimes campers come up with creative spiritual applications that hit home for the counselors too! Noah ‘Beef’ White from Pine Cove City recalls a camper at the climbing wall likening the carabiner that connected him to his harness, to Christ. This camper articulated how, “Jesus is like that carabiner that connects the pulley system to the rope… Sometimes we might slip, but we know that we are always protected, always safe, always having help.”
“We’re sitting back here like, ‘Oh my goodness, I am fifteen years older than you. And I never would’ve thought that,’” says Noah.
Other times, campers articulate their own spiritual applications that subtly reveal misconceptions about their faith, and counselors are able to teach God’s word in those moments. “Campers will say things like, ‘I’m going to climb up the rock wall the same way that I would climb up to Jesus,’” says B-Slay. “There’s already this mindset of ‘I have to work my way up to Jesus.’ In that moment, counselors have the opportunity to share how a relationship with Jesus actually has nothing to do with our efforts. The Gospel isn’t about climbing our way to Jesus, but about simply receiving His love for us.
And many times, the spiritual applications that counselors are teaching campers end up impacting the counselors’ lives as well. B-Slay recalls that her week with the youngest campers at the Towers was one of her hardest weeks at camp, and she didn’t think she was going to make it to Saturday. Then on Tuesday, it was her turn to give the spiritual application at the ropes course. As she was telling her campers, “We can’t do anything apart from Christ… because He is our strength,” B-Slay remembers thinking, “I am talking to myself right now just as much as I’m talking to these campers!”
Not only do our counselors do an excellent job at making camp seriously fun, but their first priority is to share Christ with campers in a way they will understand. “The Gospel should be the thing that we talk about the most at camp. And if we’re not eager to share the Gospel to campers four times a day, what are we doing?” says B-Slay.
At the end of the day, the Gospel is simple and beautiful—something a seven-year-old can understand just as much as an adult. Through the repetition and creativity of spiritual application in activity classes, campers and counselors alike build the habit of seeing Jesus in their everyday lives, especially as they return home.
“We don’t want this to be a week-long thing. We want this to be a lifetime,” says Noah. “Our God is a God who’s constant. He’s not more at Pine Cove than He is back at home… He is ever present no matter where we are in life.”
Posted Jan 28, 2025
Categories: Spiritual, Stories (Browse all)
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Tags: activity classes, counselor, faith, gospel, lessons, ministry, summer
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