South Carolina
Discovery Weekend: 
The Power of Paintball
and Prayer Partners

By Shane Bazer

CARY, South Carolina—"That weekend changed my life. Can I go to your camp this summer" was an e-mail I received from Nathan, an unchurched teen I took to the "In His Steps" Discovery Weekend Dec. 28 to 30 at Look Up Lodge Retreat Center in South Carolina. He and his two brothers came mainly to play paintball, but they got a lot more.

The weekend began with the assignment of prayer partners. The 107 young people and adults in attendance received a card with the name of another youth or adult on it. They were asked to secretly pray for that person all weekend, and if they wanted, they could reveal themselves on the last day.

The weekend was full of energetic praise and worship, interactive breakout discussions and encouraging chapel messages. Activities included novelty games, paintball and a giant chair ride. In addition, the youths enjoyed playing basketball, miniature golf and table tennis during free time.

At the end of the weekend some interesting things came to light regarding the prayer partners. One of the most moving is Erika, a teen counselor who was assigned to pray that weekend for a girl she didn’t know well. At the last service, during time for the young people to come forward with any prayer needs, this girl asked Erika to lead her in prayer to accept Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

Yes, Nathan is still planning on attending the Higher Ground summer camp, and his two younger brothers want to come too.

The Higher Ground SEP summer camp is open to young people ages 10 to 20. For more information go to www.carolinacamp.com

Copyright © Grace Communion International, 2003