I love to visit a very familiar place, especially during an unfamiliar season. This week our staff went to Riverbend for a retreat. Riverbend is an extremely familiar place for me personally. However, November is not my usual time to visit Riverbend. The summer months are when we are accustomed to being at Riverbend. It was quite refreshing to experience the campgrounds and not be constantly trying to find shade or air conditioning from the heat.

To me and so many others, Riverbend is like home. It wasn’t just seeing the facilities that created a familiar feeling inside, but thinking about all the memories that this place holds for me and our church. Our church has been doing camp each summer at Riverbend for over 50 years. Riverbend holds so many memories. I can still remember when our children met in the Chapel for worship. We have since outgrown that space and now we have our worship times in the new worship center. I remember when there was no waterfront, no blob, no zipline, no waterslides and the pool area consisted of only one pool. Riverbend has made some incredible changes over the years to better serve the campers each summer.

However, there are some things that have not changed. The commitment of those that work at Riverbend has been and continues to be a spirit to serve and provide a space for everyone who walks on that campus to encounter God. I have been personally blessed by experiences at Riverbend and I know of countless others that have as well. I can remember when Lori and I had the opportunity to talk with our daughter about what it meant to follow Jesus and listened as she prayed to accept Him as her Savior.

Not only does Riverbend feel like home, but we feel that this place is holy ground. So many of our children have gone to camp and made life changing decisions at Riverbend. It is definitely a place where so many of our people have encountered God and there’s more to come.

This summer we will once again take our children who have completed 3^rd -6^th grades to Riverbend on June 1-5. We are currently making plans for a great week of fun and worship as we learn how to follow Jesus. We always take amazing counselors and staff and are looking forward to another great camp. Make sure that you mark your calendar to be a part of an amazing experience at Riverbend.

P.S. Be on the look out in January for early camp registration.