ABOUT CAMP PINNACLE
Christian Youth Aflame was the name of the youth ministry division of Elim Fellowship in the 1940’s. Its purpose was to provide a Christian camping program for the many children of Elim Bible Institute staff families and affiliated churches. Not owning any campground, facilities were and still are secured by renting specific weeks from existing campgrounds and parks. In the 1970’s the popularity of the camps, along with the growing number of people who respected the ministry of Elim, saw a swelling occur that necessitated more than one camp location being operated each summer. Ministry Teams were formed consisting of volunteers traveling from camp to camp carrying with them everything needed to run a successful program. These teams, along with volunteer staff and counselors from each local area, formed the camp staff and were the backbone of the entire Elim Fellowship Youth Camps.
Today, Elim Fellowship affiliated camps are run by volunteers from local churches in a given area/region throughout the US, and are usually overseen by a local Camp Board. Many camps include Junior High, Senior High, and even Children’s Camp weeks. Elim Fellowship Youth Department team members and Area/Regional Reps offer their support and attend as possible. We include many of the camp elements that have been proven over the years. Camp Pinnacle strives to maintain the highest standards of quality as well as make camp as exciting an experience as a kid could want. New ideas are constantly being introduced to make camp even more effective and exciting. Thousands upon thousands of young people have been touched through the ministry of C.Y.A. and Elim Fellowship Camps. One of our chief goals is to see lives changed and charged by the power of God so that both young and old alike will raise the perfect standard – their witness – a torch aflame for Jesus Christ!
CAMP OBJECTIVES
Our basic objective at Camp is to introduce our campers to the Lord and encourage them in their relationship with Him through our testimony in word and deed. There will be a wide variety of backgrounds, personalities and ages; therefore, a different approach may be necessary to reach each child on an individual basis. Some kids will be reached by how we talk to them and what we share out of our own experience. Others will be reached by our testimony lived before them in contentment and happiness. Many times actions speak louder than words.
What we would like to see accomplished at camp is for our campers to grow as individuals and to introduce them to Jesus; if they already know Jesus – to commit their lives to Him more fully; if they have wondered away – to re-dedicate their lives to serving the Lord. And, we also expect the Staff to be challenged and to grow. Their walk with God is just as important as the campers’ walk, and if they allow it, the Lord will change, bless, and mature them in their walk. This, in turn, will multiply their affect on the campers.
CAMP GOALS
Someone once said, “If we don’t know where we are going, then any road will get us there.”
This is so true regarding all the activity, fun, fellowship, games, crafts, swimming, special events and canteen at camp. All of these activities are good in themselves, but they can cloud our vision and cause us to lose sight of the goals of camp. If we conduct a week of camp and run down an incorrect road, neglecting to accomplish our goals, then we have clearly wasted our time.
Following is a list of the stated goals of PINNACLE:
The first goal is to reach the lost. The great commission is to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. It is our desire to see every person who spends a week at our camps go home to his family a new creature in Christ, born again by the power of God.
The second goal is to provide an atmosphere via prayer, worship, and preaching of the Word of the God, that will allow the camper to respond to the “drawing” of the Holy Spirit – for any “prodigal” son or daughter to come home to the Father. If they have strayed in any way in their relationship with God, then we want to allow them the opportunity to rededicate their lives to serving Him. To realize that nothing else will satisfy, and that following His plan & His direction for their lives is the only way to find that “abundant” life – through the One who is the ONLY way, truth, and life – Jesus Christ.
The third goal the strengthening of the camper who is presently walking in the knowledge of the truth, possessing a right relationship with the Lord Jesus – through discipleship offered via the morning teaching classes, the evening praise & preaching chapel services, and the one-to-one ministry of the Staff to each camper.