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By John Keery
THE Young Life camp near Princeton is now in its fourth
summer; and this year, RockRidge Canyon is catering to a boom in teenage
campers.
“We had 600 in 2003, the last year we used
Malibu,” camp manager Jack Mortensen said. “This year about
1,700 kids will come to RockRidge.”
Junior and senior high school campers come from Young
Life organizations across western Canada, and from as far away as Ontario,
to spend a week of high adventure, music and good food with their own
Young Life leaders.
Campers get to slide down the camp’s two
2,300-foot-long zip lines, and do a variety of exciting water sports such
as wake boarding, kayaking, dragon boats, mountain biking, hiking and other
outdoor activities.
“We want them to experience something they have
not done before,” Mortensen said. “Life is an adventure, and
God wants you to have a great time.”
Mortensen describes RockRidge as a “Christian
camp for non-Christian kids.”
The physical adventure helps campers bond with their
leaders, and creates an atmosphere where they are ready to consider
spiritual things. The camping and activities are all designed to make kids
open to hearing the gospel, Mortensen said.
“We give them a clear presentation of the gospel,
and time to think. We are not really in the camping business.”
At the beginning of the week, they sing and play
popular music with good lyrics and healthy themes. As the week progresses,
they introduce Christian music.
Young Life groups work with high school students across
Canada. Local groups arrange to send groups of students and leaders to the
camp each summer. They often raise money to help reduce the cost for
individual students, especially those who might otherwise not be able to
attend due to the cost.
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The camp costs $70 per day. The eight full-time
employees are helped by a small army of volunteers, mostly young
people who have attended the camp themselves.
One of the most important employees is a professional
chef, Mortensen said.“The most important thing for kids is
food. Everyone leaves RockRidge saying the food was awesome.”
This year, they have volunteers from as far away as England and
Norway. The volunteers do most of the work of running the camp. But
they also experience Bible study and discipleship – so for
them, it is like a camp within a camp. Mortensen also stresses that
Rockridge – located on a lake, a 15- minute drive from Princeton
– is open for retreats and conferences for the rest of the
year, except July and August.“We want to serve the Christian
community,” he said. Off-season business helps cover the cost
of maintaining the facility and makes it possible to keep down the
cost for teenage campers in the summer, he said. Young Life Canada
celebrated its 50th year when the new camp opened in 2004. Before
that, it used the Malibu camp on the BC Coast owned by Young Life in
the United States. It can accommodate 325 now and they plan to open a
new 100-bed lodge by next summer.
August 2008
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