OCTOBER 2025

Summer at Thousand Pines overflowed with joy and the unmistakable work of God. We finished the season with one of the best staff teams we have ever had, people who served with passion and helped campers see, know, and experience God in deep and lasting ways. Their faithfulness set the tone for the year ahead, and it shows. Next summer is already filling quickly as groups line up to return for another encounter with God in these mountains.

Fall carried that same spirit of renewal. Families laughed, worshiped, and roasted more s’mores than we could count at Fall Family Camp. Our Outdoor Education team opened young eyes to the wonder of God’s creation through lessons about bugs, while a visiting magician reminded us that wonder still points us toward truth. Man Camp was our best attended since COVID and filled with powerful moments of transformation. Sixteen guys stepped forward during the rite of passage, choosing to live as men of God. One story that stands out is of a man whose life changed so dramatically last year that nine of his fourteen kids and grandkids were baptized this year because of what they saw in him! Together we witnessed that God often works through small, steady acts of faithfulness that ripple out farther than we can see.

Now we turn toward Winter Camp with the theme Game Start. We will look at people in Scripture who delayed following Jesus and challenge students to move beyond apathy and say yes to Him. This has been a theme that youth pastors have been begging for, so your youth pastor today if your church is attending! It is no secret that this generation faces powerful distractions, deep isolation, and a world that makes following Christ seem optional. Thousand Pines exists to interrupt that story, to create a sacred space where people can see, know, and experience God for themselves. But this mission depends on a community that believes retreat leads to renewal. We need prayer partners who will lift up every camper, supporters who give so no child is turned away, and volunteers who help make camp possible.

If you want to join that work, visit thousandpines.com/give