Our camp meeting season has approached from 8th-15th August 2020.
Sometimes it is not easy to engage in a mission whose theme, objective and moral is unclear.
The Theme for this year is “Believe in God and His Prophets”
During the Jewish nation sojourn in the wilderness, God gave them seven instructive feasts, which pointed to various celebrations during the year. They started from the feast of the Passover, 14th day of the first month (Marking the night of deliverance from Egyptian bondage Lev 23:5), to the feast of tents/tabernacles or booths, signifying God sheltering of the children of Israel in the wilderness and God’s provision for them during the whole year (Lev 23:33-36).
These feasts pointed to specific aspects of Christ’s ministry in the salvation of man and fulfilled in His life, death, resurrection and ascension to glory.
The Christian church has maintained the Feast of Tabernacles, popular as Camp Meeting today.
The passion to celebrate camp meetings was awakened in the early 17th century by a Presbyterian preacher James Mcgready in Kentucky USA in the year 1800. Several Protestant churches adopted the Camp Meetings, notably Baptists and Methodists. The meetings became a distinct feature of the Second Great Awakening.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church held the first camp meeting in Wright Michigan on the farm of Elder E.H Root and during this and the subsequent meetings,
- The spiritual life of members was promoted.
- Campgrounds became a vast school of soul winning.
- Time for counsel and prayer.
- Members experience revival among them.
- The revival of devotion to spiritual interest.
- Music praise meetings happened.
- Last warning message was given at that time ( Prophecy sessions),
- Promotion of spiritual life among those not of our faith was underscored.
- Solidifies our bible faith- it is a great place to deal with and combat errant theology.
- Worshipers experience object lessons of neatness, order and good taste.
Camp meeting is one of the most important agencies in our work. It is an important agency of arresting the attention of God’s children and promoting spiritual life among church members.
For superb camp meetings, significant time, energy and finance are a prerequisite. The church in inspiration and wisdom has designated this giving in two distinct ways.
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Camp meeting offering
The camp-meeting offering is an extra offering from a grateful heart for the work of the gospel. It is the gift of one who has seen anew the glory of God’s plan of salvation, who has drunk deeply again at the quell of salvation and has been satisfied, and who is discerning his place in God’s plan to rescue a lost world and gives from his heart to his Redeemer. Camp-meeting offerings must not be as the result of the urging and pressing of God’s ministers for this is not their work. It is rather, as all offerings are, the spontaneous opening of the heart as we look at our Savior’s sacrifice and for the needs of His cause.
Let us be generous with God this year for He has done so much for us! God’s servant wrote,… “As a class,
Seventh-day Adventists are generous and warm-hearted people. In the proclamation of the truth, we can rely upon their strong and ready sympathy. When a proper object for their liberality is presented, appealing to their judgement and conscience, it calls for a hearty response. Their gifts in support of the cause testify that they believe it to be the cause of truth. {RH July 10th, 1883 Par 7}
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Camp meeting expenses
This year, the church will be conducting a unique camp meeting where we shall virtually gather to run the program and enjoy the fellowship, for this cause the expenses will include but not limited to;
- Facilitating the various speakers travel to Nairobi, and accommodation and meals
- Broadcast of the programs via the various platforms, online streaming, webinars for family life sessions
- Materials required by various departments to successfully run their programs e.g. children’s department.
The success of the meeting depends upon you.—“Each one should feel that in a measure the success of the meeting depends upon him. Do not say: ‘I am not responsible. I shall have nothing to do in this meeting.’ If you feel thus, you are giving Satan the opportunity to work through you.”— Testimonies Vol 6 p. 41.
This will be the greatest year in our history of camp meetings, and it will be if we allow the spirit of evangelism to permeate. What can be more thrilling than a huge baptism at the close of camp meeting?…. Think it through.
God bless and prepare you for the 2020 Camp meeting
