Almost 270 teens and counselors meet in Spokane WA for NW Youth Camp. There were youth from Anchorage, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Spokane, Seattle, Missoula, Bozeman, Great Falls, San Diego, Portland, Sacramento, Ashland, Tacoma, and Boise. The theme for the 2010 camp was Hardcore.
This world has its definition for what it means to be hardcore but we believe that its time for us to truly define what it means to be hardcore for God. At this camp we asked the questions: What does it mean to be a follower of God down to the core? What does it mean to have hardcore convictions, hardcore faith, hardcore passion, or make hardcore changes? The camp was all about helping youth to make concrete decisions to live the rest of their life fighting for the Lord.
The camp directors and leaders of the Spokane Chrisitan Church, Jermaine and Stefanie Peacock, show that they have a passion for family ministry by directing youth camps for over a decade as well as leading the youth ministry in Spokane. They strive for balance within the camp atmosphere; bringing together all kinds of fun, sports, structure, entertainment, hard-line sermons, practical lessons, and discussion groups. The coordination of preachers, speakers, counselors, classes, and workshops is a vital part of the camp.
We studied topics such as: Noah having hardcore bravery as he stood up to peer pressure; Moses having hardcore leadership to be used by God to lead people across the sea. David was a hardcore seeker of God, a man known to be after God’s heart. Abraham had hardcore faith to go to a country not his own because God told him to. Samuel had hardcore devotion to God. Esther was hardcore as she is an example of great purity. Hannah was a hardcore prayer warrior. None made the hardcore changes that Paul would make, Peter’s hardcore convictions would be so great that Jesus would give him the keys to open the door for the Church. No one was more hardcore than Jesus, his love for God and passion to save mankind makes him stand out as our ultimate example of what it means to be hardcore.
The NW Family of Churches have a close team atmosphere with pulling off an event like this. Just to name a few of the key roles: Marcus Wallace from Tacoma WA organizes the sports; Phil Salvador and Bryce Biggerstaff from Spokane, WA organize the media; themed-night fun activities are organized by Chris Schwartenberger from Ashland, Oregon; Canteen is organized by Ruth Ann Tacher from Seattle, WA; Robbie Deadlow from Boise, Idaho really gets the flagpole assemblies pumped up; registration and set up by the Spokane Christian Church; and our camp nurse was Tracy Gensch from Sacramento, CA. Church leaders throughout the NW typically do the keynote sermons. This year, we were excited to have church leaders David Jung, Mike Luzine, Jermaine Peacock, Brian Felushko, Jake Jensen preach incredible sermons. Youth Ministers and others also shared the preaching and teaching responsibilities including Chris Schwartenberger, Aaron Mullins, Robert Borgersen, Komoh Malcolm, Robbie Dedlow, Marcus Wallace, Matt Rollins, Tim DeWolf, Tony Latham, Willie Price, Ksam Perkins, Stefanie Peacock, Nancy Jensen, Erica Jung, Danielle Moss, Demetra James, Saundra Schaapman, and Jolynn DeWolf. One of the new things that we did this year is add a practical workshop for the upperclassman called H2H (Hurt to Hope) taught by the Felushko’s from Vancouver. We had three musical groups perform at the camp: “BIG City,” “The Void Reclaimed,” and “Intervention.” as well as a skit by the Spokane Christian Church Drama Team.
Our goal for the camp was that every youth would walk away from the camp inspired and unashamed of the gospel, God’s people, and especially His Son. There is a need for a generation of youth to rise to the call and follow God whole heartedly, to follow hardcore after his word, and truly realize that it’s sharper than a double edged sword. This camp is all about learning how to become that hardcore warrior for the Lord. This camp is about redefining what it means to be hardcore in this world.
There were many teens that left the camp resolved to become disciples of Jesus. Teen disciples that were there were encouraged to take it higher in their faith and truly be hardcore for God.
Our theme song for the camp was entitled “This is Hardcore.” The main hook for the track is:
“This is hardcore with my double-edged sword, I’mma live my life fighting for the Lord.” Here is a video of the group called “Intervention” (K-sam Perkins, Wontel Washington, Willie Price and Jermaine Peacock) that performed it live at the camp. The song can also be downloaded to your ipod or phone from the site www.nwyouthcamp.org just click hardcore rap in the upper right column. Click the link for the video of Intervention performing This is Hardcore.