Camp: Yesterday and Today

Prestonwood students are off to camp this week and I can’t help but think of my own student days and the life-changing experiences at Camp Sagamore at Latham Springs, Texas. Our home church, Sagamore Hill Baptist Church in Ft. Worth was well known for it’s youth ministry and camp was always the focus each summer. Over 500 campers joined us every August for fun and faith on the Brazos River near Waco. Scores of teenagers came to Christ each year and many others strengthened their walk with Christ – including me.

In 1965, I was a 15 year-old soon to be sophomore at Eastern Hills High School. Playing baseball was pretty much my world. Girls were also in the mix, but the great game was the most important thing in my life. Growing up in church and being saved as a child, my Christian faith was stable but definitely not a priority. Some spiritual slippage was taking place and compromise was a real possibility. I was at a crossroads. Would I follow Christ with my whole heart or just be a “church kid.”

The theme of Camp Sagamore that summer was “I Take Hands Off My Life.” Taken from a chorus we sang at each camp service, the words began to capture my heart:

I take hands off my life
It is no longer mine
I take hands off my life
Let it be forever Thine.
Help me to walk each day
Just for Thee
All the heart of me
Every part of me
Just for Thee.

I knew it was time for me to get in or get out spiritually. Lukewarmness was not a choice. Be “hot or cold” Jesus said – not lukewarm. My friends needed to know Christ. I needed strength to face temptation. What kind of person would I be? What would I do with my life?

That summer of ’65 my life turned. I fully surrendered to know and do God’s will. I gave myself unconditionally to Christ. It wasn’t long after that I heard God’s call to preach and the course of my life was in motion. Camp Sagamore was the place I discovered my purpose and passion.

This is why I strongly urge you to make sure your children are involved in the student ministry of your church. It has been more than forty years since my camp experience but obviously I’ve never forgotten what God did in me those hot days of August so long ago.

There are many activities that seem to compete with the church youth ministries. There are many more options for kids in 2008. But make sure your teens are being exposed to spiritual influences at church. I am preaching the Word of God today because of what happened in my life at youth camp.



This photo is taken of me and my pastor Dr. Fred Swank a few years late baptizing campers in the Brazos. The young boy who was called at camp is now preaching and baptizing.

As I am praying for Prestonwood students at camp this week, I am forever grateful for God’s work in me and asking God to raise up a new generation of young men and women who will take this Gospel to the world.