For teens everywhere, youth camp is always a blast; it’s a time of building relationships, making unforgettable memories, and recommitting your life to Christ in a new and powerful way. It’s an unpredictable adventure and a yearly highlight.
But the truth is that a lot of planning goes into making youth camp happen every year. If you’re one of the amazing individuals who work tirelessly to make the dream a reality, you know how stressful the process can be. In putting all your energy into even the smallest details of the event, you can become filled with fear and doubt about what you’re contributing toward.
So here is how to eliminate your fears and doubts about youth camp:
Step 1: Forget the ‘worst case scenario’
When planning something big, it’s common to fear the worst and create all kinds of ridiculously unlikely scenarios in your head. This paranoid mindset can actually be crippling to you and to those around you. While you should always plan for emergency situations and be prepared for the worst, you should never expect the worst. This will only make you unnecessarily on edge and maybe even ruin your youth camp experience.
If you have prepared in the best way possible for any circumstance, allow yourself to sit back and simply enjoy. You can’t control what will happen, and a negative mindset does no good. Consider Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
Step 2: Pray for God to multiply your efforts
Often, we tend to plan important events like these as if they depend solely on us. But in reality, we are just vessels, instruments for God’s work. Much of the fear and doubt we face comes from the idea that what we do will not measure up to God’s standards. Who sets those standards through- us or God? We expect our efforts to change hearts and transform lives. God knows that He is the only one who can change hearts and transform lives, and we are simply the ones He works through. Do all that you can, and give the rest to God.
Step 3: Look toward the ultimate goal
What defines success is not a number or a statistic. You don’t have to have hundreds of teens in attendance to consider your youth camp a success. What matters is not how many people show up; what matters is how many people leave feeling closer to God than they were when they came. If even just one person is inspired by your event, then you have not failed. Youth camp truly leaves an impact on every teen who attends; don’t doubt what it can do, because you have no idea what kind of miracles God can do.
