Thirty-two campers and 32 staff members gathered at Eden Nature Park in Davao City from May 14 to 21 for the United Youth Camp 2006. Members of the staff came days earlier for setup and precamp training.

The theme of this year's camp was "God's Special Forces—Fight the Good Fight!" This year's camp was designed to prepare the youths in God's Church to fight the good fight of faith. Like the Rangers or the Navy SEALS, God's Special Forces are few in number and often isolated from one another. Yet they have been called, not only to survive, but to accomplish the mission in hostile territory. All the campers were presented with "The Creed," patterned after the U.S. Special Forces Creed.

Each camper was assigned to one of four dorms—two boys' dorms (1B and 2B) and two girls' dorms (1G and 2G). Each dorm of eight campers (plus the counselor and assistant counselor) stayed in two five-man tents and cooked their own food on two-burner gas stoves.

Each day began at 5 a.m. with "quiet time," an hour of prayer and Bible study. Then at 6 a.m. campers would get ready and prepare breakfast. Like a family, the campers and counselors in each dorm ate together and worked together. At other times, however, dorms would invite one another, help each other prepare meals and join forces in cleaning up afterward.

The first activity of each day was the Interactive Christian Living class. For five mornings, camp director Edmond Macaraeg led discussions on the major issues and problems facing the youths today. He presented the concept of the Special Forces as a metaphor for our calling in this world, battling against a society designed to destroy our faith. He presented various ideas and strategies for overcoming the various booby traps of the enemy.

The other activities consisted of classes and workshops (arts and crafts, carpentry, cooking and baking, first aid, journalism, PA system, public speaking, signaling [International Morse Code], silkscreen printing and song leading) and regular day activities (confidence course, dance, in-line skating, riflery, softball, soccer, swimming and wilderness skills).

We also had a day of hiking and outdoor cooking, followed by a "confidence course." For the evenings we had novelty games, fellowship time, an open forum and a variety show and dance.

On the Sabbath, we had Bible bowl and Sabbath services. David Baker, our senior pastor, and Mr. and Mrs. Rey Evasco, pastor of the Manila congregation, visited us this year. Mr. Baker gave the sermon on leadership principles from the life of Joshua. After the service, we had "Open House," (a.k.a. open tent!) then a pizza and ice cream night.

The next day, we had awards ceremonies and pictorials, capped with a buffet lunch at the Holiday Terraces. It was a very memorable and profitable camp, with a lot of valuable lessons learned.