Campfire Stories at Word of Life
IT’S A SUMMER TRADITION
as old as three-legged races, country fairs, and picnics is an evening campfire beneath the stars. Can you remember the last campfire you were at? Were you with friends or family? Maybe scary stories or campfire songs have already started running through your head. You know...songs like Kumbayah , Pass it On or I have Decided to Follow Jesus . If they weren’t before, they probably are now. There is just something about sitting in the darkness, staring at the dancing flames of a fire, listening to the wood hiss and pop as it is consumed, and the smell of smoke that settles our hearts and evokes a sense of peace. That comfortable, relaxed atmosphere around a fire has prompted a good many stories to be shared and songs to be sung. There is something unexplainable about the shield of darkness and the mesmerizing flames that initiate a vulnerability of dropping our guard and a willingness to be introspective and honest. As a people group and culture, we love campfires and the warmth of relationships and the memories that are created as we gather around them. Word of Life Campfires Over the past 70 summers, each Word of Life camp has had a weekly campfire service. On The Island, you walk a dark, root-strewn path lit only with torches to the ‘north end’ where you sit on wooden plank benches in an amphitheater carved out of a rocky hillside. The bonfire, with flames big enough to be seen from the mainland, crackles and burns beneath century-old towering pines. Nine miles down the lake at The Ranch, the campfire lights up the night sky at the bottom of Kenya Hill. The young campers assemble in rows along benches like ants on a log. The twinkling star constellations take their places in the dark canopy overhead, while the majestic mountains trade their daytime splendor for the cloak of velvety darkness. The evening breeze rustles through the
TESTIMONIES OF THE IMPACT OF DEDICATION CAMPFIRE SERVICES AT WORD OF LIFE CAMPS
BY JODIE SEWALL
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