The summer I graduated from high school I was given a gift.
A plane reservation with my name on it to Seattle, Washington.
A ferry boat ticket to Vancouver.
Travel plans to British Columbia .
Finally an itinerary that ended at Beyond Malibu for a backpacking trip.
Incredible! What a gift! I can’t think of a better way to transition from High School to the next chapter of my life! My response?
-I decided last minute that I was not going to go and I bailed!-
I missed the chance to celebrate a ‘HINGE MOMENT.’ Simply, a place where you turn the corner and enter something new. Traditionally, we have called these stages or events in someone’s life a ‘rite of passage.’ They mark transitions like birth, puberty, marriage, and death. Adolescence is at the intersection of these moments and that is why so many of us are called to this season in a person’s life and love what we get to do in Young Life Camping. For years, I told everyone that would listen, that this was my biggest regret in my life! I say that less now because it seems a bit dramatic, but now, as I begin my 6th summer working in Young Life Adventure camping, I know more about what I missed.
What I missed was THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE MY LIFE STORY for the first time. As people involved in ministry, this process can become watered down. As a reminder, though, for an 18 year old to think about and articulate what all has happened so far in their life, and for a bunch of other people to listen to it and respond in care, can be pivotal. The majority of campers coming through adventure camping are rising or just-graduated seniors and, while we aren’t asking them to close a chapter of their lives, this week can lead to growth out of that chapter. High schoolers who have come through camp in recent summers (‘20 and ‘21, particularly), are looking to process and vocalize some recent life and world events that they haven’t yet been able to healthily move past.
I didn’t consider how I was giving up AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY. Though I had known this group of friends for years, I later heard from the trip report about the depth that I had missed. Not unique to Beyond, the fleshing out of Acts 2 happened that week: I found out that one guy devoted himself to the apostles teaching for the first time, that they grew deeper in their fellowship with one another, that they broke bread and prayed together multiple times daily with dirt & ice beneath them. Campers that come through adventure camp experiences get a week-long taste of what it can look like for them to seek life together in Christ for the rest of their lives.
Now, after the summers I have worked in adventure camping, I have come to REFRAME WHO DISCIPLESHIP CAMPING IS FOR. I, like most, used to consider adventure camp a 2nd-timer opportunity. And while that can be true , the population is not that narrow. The discipleship content that we get to share is embedded with Gospel truth for those who may be hearing it for the first time and those who have been in relationship with Christ for years, for campers, leaders and camp staff alike. If discipleship camping is about growing deeper in Christ, I hope that growth is true for me everyday I come to work, for teams of volunteers across adventure camping, for staff & volunteer leaders attending camp, and for 1st, 2nd, 3rd time campers. A friend on field staff helped me realize this when he said, “I never like to miss my area’s trip to adventure camp because it is one of the best things for my relationship with Jesus.”
If we are going to live up to our rhetoric and not only introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ but truly help them grow in their faith, then ‘hinge moments’ are going to be a key part of our camping plan. They facilitate the ability to
Look out: Share our story with others
Look around: Experience Community
Look in: Realize that God is always doing something ‘in us’ and ‘through us’.
What is your ‘hinge moment’ plan for the students you serve in your YL context? There is no richer part of ministry, don’t miss it!
Written by Kristin Farren kfarren@wg.younglife.org