SEP California

CAMPERS AND STAFF—Photos by Bermie Dizon
and Ron Grove

Steven Perez

By Dennis Pelley
Camp Director

BIG BEAR LAKE, California—SEP California exceeded our highest expectations. One hundred fifty-three campers, 48 staff and three children of staff, a total of 204 worshipers, gathered July 6 to 12 at Cedar Lake Camp, a 270-acre retreat 7,000 feet above sea level near Big Bear Lake. This was a huge increase from our total of 117 participants last year.

PRETEEN BOYS

We had 112 teen campers and 41 preteen campers. The week was full of exciting and challenging activities including a high and low ropes adventure course. At times we had three water activities going on simultaneously at our little private lake—canoeing, water polo and swimming.

ARCHERY--David Leon (left) and Maju Lim.

A favorite activity was a prayer journey, which each dorm went through once during the week. Teen campers each gave two speeches in front of their dorm—an ice-breaker, and a heart-to-heart speech with the title, “My Journey With Jesus.”

BASKETBALL

Each dorm had one representative give his or her second speech on Friday night in front of the whole camp. The speakers told many personal stories, and many tears were shed. Friday night ended with a memorable communion service outdoors under a full moon as we all stood around in a big circle.

ADVENTURE COURSE

Spirit-filled praise and worship was a highlight of camp, with two teen praise bands performing. The Spirit of Jesus moved with great power and love as he prepared an environment of openness and grace for our youths to feel safe and accepted.

CANOEING ON CEDAR LAKE

A number of youths had invited their friends to camp, so we had several non-Christians and youths of other faiths among us. This helped make our camp not just a building event for our denomination, but an equipping and a winning event. Six campers were baptized on the last morning, and dozens of campers made first-time commitments and recommitments to their Lord and Savior.

DANCE—Paula Nuguid and Britton Markle.

Quotes from SEP California

“Camp has taught me to be more Christ-centered in my everyday life and to better see the correct choices in my life.” Alexis Huff, 15.

“At SEP you get a great spiritual, mental and physical workout. People never come out the same.” Matthew Waltz, 18.

“I would recommend SEP to a non-Christian because you’re with so many people who love God and you feel his presence just by seeing all the emotion in the room. I love it because they never leave Jesus out of anything. If a non-Christian came to this camp, I guarantee they would be changed by the end of the week.” Kathleen Sorensen, 17.

“I’m a non-Christian but I’m coming back next year. The environment has really helped me to see and believe more in God—and it’s just a total blast!” Britton Markle, 14.

“The prayer journey was awesome. There were three parts. The outer realization was giving your sins to God and learning to forgive yourself and forgive others. The center was where you came to God and focused on one area where you really needed work and prayed to God about it. The inner part was where you prayed to God for someone else and it’s a constant reminder that we need to talk more with God. It was a significant and meaningful experience.” Rachel Munoz, counselor.

SEP GIRLS

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