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| Sunday, June 22, 2008 |
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Why Camp? It’s About Being Family
Church of God Ministries, Church of God - General
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By Sarah Loftis
 Relationships. We all have the need for people in our lives. Connection. After a year apart, seeing one another again feeds the soul. North American Convention. A chance to be reconnected with old friends.
As each June approaches, those of us who live in Anderson look forward to the sight of campers coming into town. It reminds each of us of the willing hearts of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to be a part of something special: to be a part of the family of God and the celebration that takes place within that family each June. As space has opened up in dormitories and hotels in the area, though, some of us do ask the question, Why camp? It’s a question I’ve often asked and one that is eagerly answered by repeat campers.
Rev. Terry Canfield, of Akron Church of God in Akron, Indiana, has been attending the North American Convention since 1980. He and his wife have relished the opportunity to camp since 1992. Rev. Canfield enjoys the relaxed pace of camping. He is often described as a relational person, and camping gives him an opportunity to reconnect with people he has known for years. People know his campsite; they don’t have to hope to just run into him among the thousands of convention participants. That’s one benefit for those who chose to camp.
Other campers talk about the fellowship that happens between campsites: late night talks, knocks on the door, the sound of children playing outside. For many of them, it’s a longstanding tradition. Childhood memories begin to creep back to the fore each June as they pull into their campsites. But for everyone, the time of celebration and camping comes back to one thing: being a part of a family.
A version of this article appears in the Monday, June 23, 2008, edition of the NAC roundup/08 newsletter. To view the newsletter in its entirety, click here (2.85 MB). The document is in PDF format and requires Adobe Acrobat in order to read and/or print it. If you do not have Acrobat installed on your computer, you can download a free copy of Acrobat Reader here.
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