As my final summer 2010 “snapshot” I’d like to provide an overview of the summer at SpringHill. In my posts I’ve told stories in an effort to provide a glimpse into all that God was doing through SpringHill as well as giving insight into this ministry. Now I want to share some numbers that will provide context for these stories.
I’m asked every fall by friends of SpringHill, “How was the summer?” And I always answer, “It’s been the best summer ever at SpringHill.” This year is no different. I can answer with integrity that this summer – in many ways – was the best.
Here are some reasons why:
- We broke our own record for number of campers in our summer camp program: 14,056. These numbers include our two overnight camps in Michigan and Indiana as well as our Day Camp ministry.
- All three (Michigan, Indiana and Day Camps) grew in the number of “camper days” compared to last year, which means 2010 is the largest summer-camp program in SpringHill’s history. A “camper day” represents one day of summer camp.
- Our Indiana camp, compared to much of the youth-camp industry, saw significant growth both in number of campers (10% more than last year) and camper days (23%).
- Our Day Camps ministry saw explosive growth in both campers served and locations. We served more than 4,800 campers (compared to 1,450 campers in 2009) in 25 locations in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio (compared to 12 locations in 2009).
- We, by God’s grace, had an extremely spiritually fruitful summer. In our preliminary count, 48% of this summer’s campers indicated a first-time or renewed commitment to follow Christ in their daily lives.
As you know from my posts this summer these numbers represent individual kids. Each of these kids had the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ, see Him in the lives of our staff, and experience Him in the context of intimate communities and shared experiences with the result being life transformation. This is why we count numbers and why having the largest SpringHill summer ever is important to us. It’s not the record books that truly matter, it’s the life change that we have the privilege of witnessing and being a part of.
Please thank God, as we have, for the work He has done – and is still doing – in the lives of our 14,000-plus campers and the 700 staff who served them.