DAYSPRING

Dayspring 2023 was nothing short of incredible. Dayspring is our high school camp for rising 9th graders thru recent high school grads. Each year, churches from across the state come together for a week of camp. Recently, this camp has moved to the campgrounds of Sky Ranch in Miami, Oklahoma. It is quite the haul up to camp, but the drive is so worth it.

One of the greatest aspects of Dayspring is the opportunity for fellowship with both our church and others. Students are put into small groups that are comprised of students their age. These groups meet twice a day to discuss the theme for the week. There are also other opportunities for students to engage in activities together. Students get to choose each day if they want to participate in the yearly volleyball tournament, swim in the spring on the campgrounds, go horseback riding, ziplining, skeet shooting, and plenty of other fun activities. This fellowship is so important for these students to grow alongside one another and to create community.

This year, the main theme and focus of the week revolved around calling. Specifically, the camp speaker, Aaron Calhoun (church planter in Tallahassee, Florida), dove into the story of Peter and his calling from Jesus. Each night we discussed a different way in which Peter was called, but how God still calls us today. Students and leaders learned that we are all called out of darkness, called to follow, called by grace, and called for a purpose. Each of these examples looked at Peter’s interactions with Jesus, but also allowed us to examine our own lives.

For our students, this was a great focus for the week as many mentioned that they had learned more than they had ever learned from a camp like this. Not only did the students learn more about Christ, but they also were moved into understanding how they fit into the stories of Peter. Lives were given to Christ, new believers were created, and testimonies of faith and victory were shared. Even our own Katherine Russ shared her testimony in front of the entire camp!