A New Series! Fruits of the Spirit at Camp

Hello again, friends!! Welcome to the very first Swamp Blog of 2020, I’m really excited to share my thoughts with all of you again. :)

This blog is a little bit different from what I usually write, so please bare with me! So- over the next few weeks, I’d like to do a mini series on the fruits of the Spirit and how they manifest at Camp!

Galatians 5:22-23 reads, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

I firmly believe that every single one of these fruits can be found in abundance at Camp Swamp. For that reason, I’d like to share my observations about them, and how they’ve been very intentionally incorporated into Camp’s culture. I hope you guys will enjoy the series and be encouraged by it!

The first fruit mentioned in the scripture is love. I think love is found in all sorts of places at Camp- whether it’s sharing at the Ring or Mingle of Honor, playing a game you might not really enjoy just so you can spend time with a friend, or washing someone’s face because they’re too tired to stand (Thanks, Titi!). You’ll find it in the Bible lessons, during free time, at meal times- it’s present anywhere you go.

One of my favorite ways love is shown at Camp is early in the morning, before breakfast. If you walk in the dining hall, you’ll see dozens of people with their bibles and open journals open, spending time with God and with each other. People go out of their way to meet with their friends and pray together and share scriptures with one another. Sometimes it makes me emotional to see so many people sacrificing their sleep to grow closer to God and to encourage those around them.

I’m also really humbled by the love that’s shown in all the measures that are taken to make Camp Swamp a safe environment. Every Sunday morning after church, we have training for the staff and volunteers. A question that always comes up is, “What can YOU do specifically to make sure that Camp is a safe place spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally?” It warms my heart to know that there are so many people that wake up at Camp with that thought on their mind.

These are just a few ways that this particular fruit of the Spirit shows itself at Camp. And of course, these are just my observations- how about you? How and where do you see love at Camp?

Shifting gears, I wanted to share this with you! Someone actually had a really cool idea to do something with our gift cards. Oftentimes, we don’t get to use ALL of the money that we receive on a gift card. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could donate that change to Camp instead of letting it go to waste?

On a similar note, there’s one last thing I’d like to say for this week- did you know? You can actually donate change from your credit and debit card purchases to Camp Swamp! By using the RoundUp app, you can link your card and, you guessed it, RoundUp your change and donate it! You can click right here for more information about it! Even though we're not at Camp right now, this could be YOUR act of love. If you're able, I encourage you to donate your change in order to bring about change for the better. :)

Thank you for taking the time to read the blog this week, friends! As always, I really appreciate it. I love you all very much, and I’ll be praying for you to have a safe and encouraging week!

Much Love,

Bri <3