What to do immediately after returning from Summer Camp.

Late Friday night we returned from an amazing week at CIY MOVE (If you’ve never heard of them look them up!) Now it’s Monday morning and I’m trying to get caught back up on all the things I missed. But Summer Camp isn’t quite over yet. There are a few things I have left to do and I thought I would share them with you:

Send Thank You Cards
I always send Thank You cards to those that made the week possible. From people who helped a student go financially to our sponsors. One of the biggest thank you’s go to the spouses of our sponsors. They give up their spouse for a whole week. That’s a BIG sacrifice. It’s important to take time to thank the people who helped out. If they feel appreciated they will be more willing to help in the years to come.

Write Down Notes
This may be old fashioned but I keep files on all past events. Every year after camp I take some time to write down all the things that worked, along with the things that didn’t. What would I have done differently? How can we improve in the years to come. Once finished I place that in the file so that next year when I am preparing I have those notes handy. It’s important to continually be improving. You never want camp to become stagnant. 

Pray
This one may seem obvious but it may be the one we skip over the most. Pray. Pray. Pray. Pray for those students that responded this last week. Pray that they remain strong now that they are back home. Pray that they get involved and stay connected to the body of Christ. Also pray for the students who didn’t respond. Pray that the seed was planted and that God will use that seed however He pleases. Don’t underestimate the power of prayer.

What about you? What do you do when you return home? I’d love to hear! 

Justin Curl is the Youth Pastor at Twin Oaks Christian Church in Michigan.