Camping and Retreat

West Angola Conference youth pose for a photo during a weeklong Juventude Metodista camp in Lubango, Angola. The gathering, the largest in the group’s history, featured morning devotions, team-building exercises and a gospel concert. Photo courtesy of Juventude Metodista.

West Angola camp helps youth shine

Hundreds of young people gather for a week of fun and activities designed for their spiritual growth.

The Rev. Rob Spencer leads a group of Paris, Texas, schoolchildren at Methodist Camp on Pat Mayse Lake. Spencer, a longtime United Methodist elder, is the fulltime leader of Cultiv8 Community, a nonprofit he started that has a goal of getting kids into nature more. This group from Justiss Elementary was at the camp on May 19, and planted milkweed seedlings to improve habitat for monarch butterflies. Photo by Sam Hodges, UM News.

Blessing rural kids, butterflies

The Rev. Rob Spencer stepped down as a local church pastor to start a nonprofit that, among other things, has had hundreds of children in and around Paris, Texas, experiencing nature by planting native wildflowers for butterflies.

Mission and Ministry

Jordan Wagaman (left) instructs challenge campers June 29, before they try their hand at archery at Innabah Camp and Retreat Center in Spring City, Pa. The campers are taking part in a week-long camp for adults with developmental disabilities. Photo by Jim Patterson, UM News.

Enjoying a ‘kindness bubble’ at camp

Adults with developmental disabilities need a vacation like everybody else, so Camp Innabah does it eight weeks a year each summer, providing activities like archery, an obstacle course and swimming.

Faith Sharing

Hidden in the towering pine trees of the Conecuh National Forest in Andalusia, Ala., sits Blue Lake Camp. Established in 1952 as an assembly ground, Blue Lake quickly became a beloved gathering place for campers, churches, and communities across the Southeast. Photo by BearVision, courtesy of Blue Lake Camp and Retreat Center.

Annual conference helps camp be debt-free

More than 2,000 campers call Blue Lake Camp home every summer. After 70 years in ministry, the Alabama-West Florida Conference camp still seeks to connect people with God. Now, because of generosity at this year’s annual conference, the camp is debt-free.

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