THE FRIO CANYON IS SAFE. Join us in praying for those along the Guadalupe River.
THE FRIO CANYON IS SAFE. Join us in praying for those along the Guadalupe River.
It is summertime in the Canyon, which means trunks are unloaded, cabins are full, and sugar shack accounts are slowly depleting as campers slurp down another “Articuno” (a blue ICEE mixed with Lemonade). Our staff are all-in with their campers and literally jumping into the Frio River with them to prove it. Water bottles and sunscreen are out to welcome the sunshine!
We are thrilled to kick off another summer of wild adventure, alongside peaceful renewal and meaningful community! Each day is packed with cabin times, group games, rodeos, skits and competitions – all of it echoing off the limestone walls here in Echo Valley. All of the fun works toward one goal: for campers to be themselves while forming deep friendships, exploring faith in Christ, and encountering God.
Each night at Roundup we have centered our talks around one big theme: Encounters with God. We spend months in the spring praying and planning for what we will share with kids from the Roundup Stage each night. During the development process this spring, our team read the book Woven by Meredith Miller. This book illuminated ideas around sharing faith with kids and how to set them up for exploratory conversations about God. We also met with Dave Nienhuis, who is on the Foundation’s Theological Advisory Board. He gave invaluable insight that helped inform biblically grounded content for this summer. He pointed us to this scripture as a theme for each talk.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Our summer staff have also been part of this process of writing, refining, and practicing their own Roundup Talks. Along with the Roundup talks, we ask counselors from each session to share their own stories and encounters with God. A lot of intentionality, care, and preparation goes into these nighttime talks for campers, not just for what is said from the stage, but for what they spark afterward. We hope that Roundup sets the stage for counselors and campers to have honest, meaningful conversations during and beyond cabin times.
Why encounters with God?
We believe God is deeply relational and He wants to encounter us! Each talk this summer is rooted in these truths:
We see this theme play out repeatedly in the Bible:
We see that God Himself chose weakness as the avenue through which he would restore relationships to Himself through Jesus. He became weak (being born as a baby, his humility on earth, and his death on the cross) in order that in his resurrection, we may also find new life and renewed relationship with Him.
Through their stories we are reminded: God, who created us for relationship, doesn’t leave us in our broken state and in our weakness, but instead meets us where we are. He longs to encounter us. Eventually He comes to earth as the man, Jesus, as the ultimate way to restore our relationship with God.
Our prayer as campers hear these biblical stories and personal encounters from our counselors, is that they might notice God’s work in their own lives. We hope the campers’ experience here offers opportunities for authentic encounters with the God who sees, loves, and calls them by name.
Questions to consider:
