Louisiana youth camp reaches out to community

Louisiana youth camp
reaches out to community

By Joy Cryer

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana— More than 125 campers, ages 7 to 15, and 53 staff spent five days at Fontainebleau State Park, July 12 to 17. Nearly three fourths of the campers were not from our fellowship, but came with a WCG friend or relative or heard of our camp through brochures that were mailed or hand-delivered by members.

Melvin Howard, a member of Volunteers of America and a Little League coach of inner city youths in New Orleans, heard of our camp and brought 14 boys ages 8 to 10. These boys were able to attend camp because of donations from businesses and individuals who helped pay their registration fee. He mentioned what little opportunities these youths have to participate in any kind of positive, wholesome activities.

Even though camp began the first night with a severe thunderstorm, causing the loss of electric power for several hours, God’s power was evident. After a rousing session of praise and worship by flashlight, campers were divided into groups and played several mixer games.

Nine members of Youth With a Mission joined us again this year serving as counselors. They also led the morning and evening devotionals and one evening performed a drama called "The Chair," which showed how easy it is to get pulled in by the temptations of this world and how important it is to stay close to God.

One of the highlights of camp was the visit of Ashanti Weatherspoon, a former inmate of Angola, a maximum security prison in Louisiana. Ashanti is featured in a filmed documentary called "The Farm," which depicts life at Angola. Ashanti gave a testimony on how he came to Christ while in prison and encouraged the young people to avoid getting mixed up with the wrong crowd and ignoring a relationship with God. Campers and counselors wrote letters to inmates at Angola during camp.

LOUISIANA CAMPERS—One of the boys dorms. [Photo by Amy Walmsley]

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