LIVE OAK, Florida—With sunny weather most of every day, and temperatures in the 70s at times, 51 teens (44 campers and seven workers) were brought closer to the Lord and spiritually enriched at the Florida winter Spiritual Enrichment Program (SEP) Dec. 27 to Jan. 1.
This year the SEP camp took place at Camp Suwannee, near the town of Live Oak, in northern Florida, right on the Suwannee River. Activities included basketball, indoor hockey, volleyball, paintball, football, canoeing and pontoon boat trips, indoor swimming, arts and crafts, music training, a praise music night, dance, and an outing to nearby Wild Adventures Amusement Park in Valdosta, Georgia. The final banquet and dance took place on New Year’s Eve, followed by a celebration and some fireworks.
Each day started with solo time for personal prayer and Bible study, and a daily morning worship service. Additional Christian living classes and youth ministry training classes were conducted for the teens as well.
In the evenings, the group gathered at the camp fire circle for praise music and sharing their testimonies of how God has worked in their lives. The campers were strengthened in their relationships with Jesus, and some came to know him personally for the first time.
As an example, one camper shared his testimony with the group of how he did not believe in God when he came, but through his experience at SEP Florida he had come to believe, and later received Jesus as his Savior.
During the final day’s worship service and communion, four campers came forward for the invitation to accept Jesus as their Savior and commit their lives to him.
We thank God for his miraculous hand in the lives of the young people with whom we have the privilege of working, and for his blessings and fruit borne through the SEP camps in many regions around the country.
Copyright © Grace Communion International, 2004