On the afternoon of Thursday, June 28, 2012, 47 staff members from 10 states gathered to begin the 17th orientation for Camp Pinecrest. The Pinecrest staff is unique in that a majority of those serving also bring their teens and other campers from their church areas. The remainder of the campers arrived on Friday afternoon. The 68 campers—30 young ladies and 38 young men—were divided into six dorms.

The 2012 version of Pinecrest began with camper orientation on Friday followed by get-acquainted games in the gym. With the introductory games out of the way, the campers returned to their dorms for meetings and the closing out of the day with their assigned dorm parents.

The Sabbath day began with a question and answer session covering a variety of questions submitted from the campers. The Q&A was followed by a hymn sing. Services began at 2:30 p.m., with Mark Welch giving a foundational sermon on the Kingdom of God, followed by dinner in Sabbath wear. The Sabbath concluded with a Bible scavenger hunt as dorms used scriptural clues to take them to various locations around the camp. At each station, the dorms where given biblical challenges to answer.

Each activity day began with a 45-minute Christian living presentation focusing on different elements of the camp theme: Calling, Honor and Faith. With the conclusion of Christian living, the activity day began. The daily activities included canoeing, archery, the amazing race, Bible class, journalism, riflery, low ropes, softball, speedaway, swimming and volleyball.

Each evening after dinner, a unique activity was planned. Campers and staff enjoyed dodge ball, team-building games, an open activity session, capture the flag and a dance to close out camp on Thursday evening. At the end of each evening, “Camp Fire” was held in the chapel to bring the day to a close.

As camp began the temperatures throughout the Midwest were sizzling. One headline trumpeted 118 degrees in Kansas. Because of the brutal temperatures, many prayers were offered to God asking for relief from the heat. God answered those prayers, giving the camp cloud cover and rain from Sunday through Thursday.

The camp week included the Independence Day holiday. Prior to camp, fireworks had been planned by the camp on the evening of the 4th. However, with the heat and drought there was a high potential of fire, and the camp management indicated on Wednesday, July 3, that unless there was rain there would be no fireworks. David Yates, one of the camp managers, was explaining that it was doubtful there would be fireworks and showed various members of the staff where a fire had broken out on the property as a result of fireworks.

Interestingly, as the conversation was coming to a close a few drops fell from the clouds above, and everyone went on to lunch. As lunch progressed more drops began to fall, and eventually 1.25 inches of rain fell on the camp. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, rain clouds seemed to blossom up over the camp area. Later that afternoon, the camp manager came by to inform us that we would have fireworks at 9:00 p.m. the following evening. The fireworks were set off over the lake as campers and staff enjoyed the beautiful display to close out the 4th of July.

As check out began on Friday morning, everyone was tired as they began their journeys home. Each camper and staff member could compare the attitude of the campers at the beginning of the week and at the end. Because the purpose of the camp is to create a safe zone where God’s way of life is put into practice, one could see the hearts of the young people coming together in unity and a turning of most in a godly direction. This positive outcome was achieved for the 17th time at Camp Pinecrest because of God’s blessing and the sacrifice, love and service of the counselors and staff.