The weekend of Nov. 10 to 12, 2006, brought the Houston, Texas, area's eighth annual campout at Lake Livingston State Park about 50 miles north of Houston. There were 280 campers from all over Texas, as far away as Corpus Christi and Dallas/Fort Worth.

The weekend started out hot and humid with a huge mosquito problem, but by about 7:30 p.m. a storm headed our way and brought gusty winds with cooler weather, which chased away the mosquitoes. A lightning show with some thunder lasted late into the night, but we escaped the rain. The wind continued to blow throughout the night testing the stability of the tents!

A park ranger told several people Saturday morning that the radar had shown the storm heading straight for Livingston but it separated as it approached and went around the town then came back together on the other side! Houston and its surrounding areas received several inches of rain during the night, but the campers only got a few sprinkles! One person told the ranger that we were a church group and that lots of prayers had played a part in that!

Jim Servidio, Houston North pastor, presented a Bible study on the use of wind in the Bible (inspired by the night's windstorm) to a group of 351 overlooking the lake on Saturday afternoon. Amazingly, as we walked back to our campsites, the winds disappeared and left us with a beautiful, sunny, yet cool day.

Other activities included a Friday night combined dinner at the pavilion, a Sabbath sing-along on Saturday morning, and a young adults' activity on Saturday night.

We hope to start a new tradition by having a spring campout March 2 to 4, 2007, at Bastrop State Park near Austin.