Camp Outreach - a Mission in America

Our first “Camp Outreach” of 2010 – a “mission” in America – is about a month away. As of today, 43 young people and families from all over the country are coming together to work in “Stringtown,” a very poor neighborhood on the near-west side of Indianapolis.

This year we have an abundance of work projects for widows, the elderly, the poor, the fatherless and orphans. We’re also working with the new local neighborhood association to engage people in the neighborhood to work alongside of us. Partly as a result of our efforts last year, there has been a huge growth in the willingness of the community to help each other.

One of the most exciting aspects of the Indianapolis Camp Outreach is our ministry to neighborhood children. We’ve been holding a monthly Sabbath “Kid’s Camp” in the neighborhood and have had as many as 40 local children attend with us. During Camp Outreach we will run an expanded version this activity from 9 AM to 2:45 PM where we teach children stories from the Bible, have crafts that relate to the values from the Bible stories, activities, music and food.

Food for the kids is important: we feed breakfast and lunch to neighborhood children during the summer because many of them rely on school breakfasts and lunches during the school year but have a skimpy diet during the summer. It is hard to believe that there are hungry children in America – but there are.

At the end of Camp Outreach, we are inviting the entire neighborhood for a Sabbath celebration of all the work accomplished. The neighborhood kids will perform a Bible-based play about “every day miracles,” the theme of the week. We will have worship music, some short messages and food.

For an undertaking of this size, we appreciate people and congregations to partner with us. Thank you for your prayers and support.

If you have people who want to come but have not sent in an application, go to www.CampOutreach.com and navigate to the form that is online. The deadline was June 1 – we can work some more in if we get the application right away.

If you want to sponsor someone or make a tax deductable donation, you can send it to Common Ground Christian Ministries, 7545 Rockville Road, Suite 200, Indianapolis, IN 46214.

Please keep praying for the success of our evangelism in Indianapolis – and for the change missions make in the people who minister to their neighbors in need.

Guy Swenson
Pastor, Common Ground Christian Ministries
317-707-5026
gswenson@NTEvangelism.org