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Divinity professors continue vocational calling on Summer Break by serving at youth camps

Dr. Keith Oglesby leads a Liberty Theological Seminary camp team-building activity at Two Moose Camp in Montana. (Photos provided)

 

While Liberty University’s faculty spends a large portion of the school year instructing students in the classroom, Summer Break has provided some professors in the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity the opportunity to positively impact the lives of youth at Christian summer camps.

Dr. Keith Oglesby, director of Liberty’s Camp and Outdoor Adventure Leadership (COAL) program, and Dr. Derik Idol, executive director of the Center for Youth Ministries, continued their ministry this summer by traveling across the country to share the good news of the Gospel at multiple camps.

For Oglesby, his summer typically begins by traveling to three to five camps in the weeks immediately after Liberty’s Commencement to train and prepare thousands of camp staff for the summer. He then spends two months traveling to different camps to speak. This year, he visited camps in Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, Montana, and Wisconsin.

Oglesby said summer camp is often a pivotal point in campers’ lives because they can learn the truths of God’s Word as they fellowship with God and other campers without the daily distractions and temptations of school and home.

“I am passionate and willing to work all summer long and sacrifice time for myself and my family because of the deep meaningful, life-transformational impact that camp has on every single camper,” Oglesby said. “It’s unlike any other environment. You get them for a week where you can pour out and invest and they get to be prayed over. That’s one of the reasons we see such powerful and dramatic life change at camp.”

He said his love for camp stems in part from growing up as the son of a camp director and spending much of his life serving at, directing, and even founding summer camps.

Dr. Keith Oglesby baptizes a student at a summer camp.

“There’s not a summer in my life that I don’t remember spending substantial time at camp,” he said. “I believe it’s one of the most powerful vehicles that we have for permanent life change and helping people be healed through the Holy Spirit with the Lord. It wakes me up every day and keeps me up half the night. When we go to a camp, we’re not just there for 30 minutes. We’re there to be the hands and feet of Christ. We’re not in and out; we’re there fully committed and invested in what the Lord is doing in the lives of those kids.”

This summer, Idol attended four different camps throughout Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, speaking to around 3,500 youth.

“For me, it’s a big honor to get asked to do something like that because these ministries and churches are trusting you to give God’s Word and treat that carefully but also present the Gospel and give students the opportunity to respond,” he said, recalling that he was 17 years old when his life was dramatically changed at camp.

Camp represents where both Oglesby and Idol were called to ministry, and they hope to guide the next generation of campers to make the same decision they did.

“We both do a call to full-time ministry at our camp because a lot of times kids are wrestling with that decision and the Lord is speaking to them, but nobody really asks,” Oglesby said. “For both of our lives, it was a really important moment where we said, ‘Yes, I’m called to full-time vocational ministry. I may not know what that looks like, but I feel like God is calling me to serve him full time vocationally in ministry.’”

Dr. Derik Idol (right) at an NTS (Never the Same) camp in Indiana

Oglesby and Idol said they have witnessed a large outpouring of response from campers during these “calls to ministry,” with hundreds of students devoting their lives to Christ and hundreds more rededicating themselves to the mission of the Gospel.

Instead of spending their summers at home relaxing and recuperating for the upcoming fall semester, Liberty’s professors understand the incredible significance of the Great Commission and seize every opportunity to share the love of Jesus with others.

“I have one life,” Idol said. “I will rest when I die. There are so many people that need to know Jesus. I take a week’s vacation in the summertime and recharge. But for me, I don’t need a whole summer off. Camps are exhausting, and I’m away from my family for several weeks, but my family and I understand the mission. We support each other through it.”

They also play a role in representing Liberty at the camps and said they often see campers being called to ministry there and seek further training.

“Liberty’s presence in camps is a big deal, and it’s a big deal for our School of Divinity,” he said. “I meet around five to 10 students every semester who come to me and say, ‘Hey man, you spoke at the camp that I went to, and I was called to ministry, so I started looking into Liberty.’ There is a huge opportunity for Liberty when it comes to getting kids connected through camps. There’s a receptivity that kids have when you get them away from their distractions that is pretty incredible.”

Students worship during a service at a camp in Indiana where Dr. Derik Idol spoke.

At many of the camps, they will take time to fellowship with former and current students serving as interns or attending with church youth groups.

In addition to serving at the camps, Oglesby and Idol also provide additional resources to staff. Oglesby’s book, “Live Your Purpose,” was published last year, and the accompanying six-week Bible study workbook was released in the spring. He said he has already heard from multiple camps and churches who have used the book to train their staff. He is currently working on the first book in a three-volume set that will provide details and rules for various camp games and activities. The games provide not only stimulating fun for campers but also teach them meaningful life lessons that will stick with them long after camp is over.

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