A Note from Brian
It’s Snowcamp and Pursuit Camp season – one of my favorite times of the year! Every weekend, we welcome hundreds of teenage campers to our campuses and our students (your children) amazingly lead them. We are seeing hundreds of teens take their next steps with Jesus. During these busy seven weeks, our students must get plenty of rest. As you communicate with your Bible Institute student, we would love your collaboration in encouraging them to get adequate sleep and not over-extend themselves during their time off. Thank you for your continued prayer for all that God is doing here!
Latest News
New York
On January 12, the New York campus welcomed about 7 new students for our Spring Registration.
On January 12–14, we had our Spiritual Emphasis Weekend to help students begin the spring semester and Snowcamp season off right! Our guest speaker, Jason Hodges, spoke on Spiritual Grit. We also invited a WOL Alumnus, Elijah Knowlton, and his wife Avery to lead our students in worship through music.
From January 19–March 3 (seven weekends), we have Snowcamp on our beautiful campus! Except for the first weekend, all our weekends are already full! To ensure everything runs smoothly during these weekends, we spent a week training our students and preparing the campus for the upcoming events. The training sessions occurred in the morning, followed by assignments in the afternoon to get the campus ready. Additionally, we put on a mock rally for students to attend so that they could know what to expect when campers arrive!
Florida
On January 2, the Florida Bible Institute welcomed about 7 new students for our Spring Registration!
On January 10–12, we hosted a wonderful Missions Conference themed “On the Victory Side!” Our lineup of speakers featured Guillermo Aguilar, the Director of International Ministries Home Office, Nard Pugyao, a Missionary to the Philippines associated with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and Rich Andrews, our Vice President of Youth and Family Camps. As a result of the conference, 35 students responded to the challenge of following God’s calling for their lives.
On January 13, we celebrated the dedication of our new Coast Activity Center with an attendance of over 350 people at the Youth Camp/Bible Institute. The new facilities include two pools; one with a depth of about 4 feet designed for water games, and another regulation-sized pool. Additionally, we now have a new bathhouse and a Snack Shack building. Thank you to those who prayed and contributed to making this project possible. We are excited about how God will use this enhanced facility to bring many young people to Christ!
Upcoming Events
New York
- Pastoral Care Retreats: Pastors are facing significant mental health challenges, with over half considering leaving the ministry in recent years. Word of Life collaborates with ministries to care for pastors. We’ve invited Dr. Ron Moore for the men’s retreat and Sean Sears for the couple’s retreat. Topics include “Relationships in Ministry,” “Ministry Pace,” “Marriage in Ministry,” and “Counseling Fundamentals.” Along with meaningful discussions, there’s ample free time and enjoyable activities. Pastors are encouraged by seeing the excitement for ministry in our student body. This year’s retreats are nearly full, and we plan to add a second couple’s retreat next year.
- Alternative Halftime Show: While you’re busy planning your Big Game watch party, Word of Life is preparing a fast-paced livestream event so you can keep the energy going at halftime without compromising your Christian values. This year’s Alternative Halftime Show will feature unbelievable giveaways, extreme stunts performed by pro sports professionals, and more! The best part is we’ll present a biblical gospel message during the event so that everyone at your party can hear the good news of Jesus.
- Ready to make this year’s Big Game party the best yet? Click the link below to sign up for Word of Life’s FREE Alternative Halftime Show! wol.org/halftime
- College Fair: On February 18 and 19, we will be having a College Fair for your students and local high schoolers. The following schools will be represented:
- Davis College
- Appalachian Bible College
- Cedarville University
- Clarks Summit University
- Lancaster Bible College
- Liberty University
- Trinity Baptist College
- Houghton
- Moody Bible Institute
- Oaks Hill Christian College
- Northeastern Baptist.
- Campus Preview Days: Our next Campus Preview Days is shortened due to Snowcamp campers arriving on Friday. Campus Days will start on Thursday, February 22, and end around Friday at 2pm.
Florida
- Pursuit Camp: We will have six weekends of Pursuit Camp, starting January 19 to February 23. This year we will be able to use our two new pools! Our weekends are almost fully booked. Pray with us that God’s Word will reach many campers with the gospel!
- Campus Preview Days: Our next Campus Preview Days is shortened due to Pursuit Camp campers arriving on Friday. Campus Days will start on Thursday, February 1, and end around Friday at 2pm. We are praying that those who come to Campus Preview Days will stay for Pursuit Camp!
Intersect Camp
Intersect Camp is a new Word of Life camp run by Word of Life staff and students! Last summer was the first year for Intersect Camp in Ohio, and this coming summer will be the first year of Intersect in California!
- Ohio: There will be two Intersect camp weekends (February 2–4 and February 9–11) at Camp Chautauqua in Miamisburg, OH. This camp will run similarly to Pursuit Camp and Snowcamp.
- California: There will also be two Intersect Camp weekends at Jenness Park Christian Camp in Cold Springs, California.