Aviation Camp from Paul Jones on Vimeo.
This summer myself and two other MMS staff had a couple of opportunities to be involved in teen summer aviation camps. The goal of these camps wast to expose young men and woman to aviation and how it is used as an effective tool to glorify our Creator.
The first camp was up in Ashtabula, OH and was at Stoney Glen Camp. This was a Christian Service Brigade teen boy high adventure camp. Each of the approx. 60 boys (12-18 yo) chose one high adventure activity to participate in for the entire week. The activities included Scuba, Riflery, high performance go-cart racing (these things are fast!), Paintball, Outdoor Challenge (spending the week camping in the wilderness), Life Guarding, and Aviation. We had 4 enthusiastic boys in aviation. We were the boys' cabin and aviation counselors.
The second camp was at Skyview Ranch in Millersberg, OH. This was more of a typical Christian summer camp for boys and girls and had approx. 350 Jr. & Sr. High campers. However, this year Skyview added the aviation camp as an option for daily activities. While the other 150 Sr. High campers did their typical camp activities during the day, the 11 boys and 1 girl who signed up for aviation had an entirely different experience. From 8am till 4pm we taught them more than the basics of how an airplane flies, and how to properly fly the plane. More importantly we studied scripture and focused on how God uses the airplane for His glory on the mission field. Every day, during these ground school sessions, pairs of campers would go fly in shifts in one of two airplanes. During the flights we taught them everything from how to taxi in a straight line to how to navigate cross country. We logged a total of nearly 30 flight hours during the week. By the end of the week at least 3 of the campers made public declarations to serve God full time through missionary aviation.
Above and beyond the aviation aspect of the camps, we saw young peoples' lives changed. God not only used these camps to show how these youth could glorify Him with their interests, but we saw Him soften their hearts and draw them closer to Him in powerful ways.
Thanks again for all of you who support the work God has led me to through your financial and prayer support. We are making an impact for God's glory!
Above is a video that Skyview Ranch put together after our week at camp. It gives a good idea of what our daily activities were like.
