NORTH COAST CHURCH

Be sure to check out the video and photos below to get an up-close view of camp fun!

This winter, hundreds of students from the Vista Campus 6th grade through high school ministries went away for a few days to experience time with God, community, and fun. Winter Camp is one of the rare opportunities for student ministries to spend extended time together in an intentional setting that minimizes distractions—like having 36 hours of church and fun all in one weekend.

Like anything in life, that multiplied time together often creates a multiplied impact in students’ lives much greater than the usual one-hour service once a week. The student ministries teams consider one weekend at camp to be worth six months of weekly church service and youth group in a student’s life.

In the midst of fun activities, like “color wars,” lip sync battles, paper airplane tournaments, ziplining, dancing, playing in the snow, stargazing and hiking in Zion National Park, each of the camps also included worship and teaching, and for some students, learning about God for the first time.

At one of the Vista winter camps, there was a student who had only been to North Coast one weekend before signing up for camp. He didn’t know anyone in the ministry; he wasn’t a Christian; and he had never been involved at North Coast. Over the course of a weekend at camp, he had an incredible time hearing about God, he made friends through activities and small group time where students meet together to talk about what they’re learning, and he gave his life to Christ. Later that month at the next church baptism, he got baptized to publicly declare his decision to follow Christ, and he has since been weekly involved and plugged into the ministry.

Travis Sybert, Vista Campus’ Family Pastor, said, “That’s what camps have been for North Coast Church. Year after year, students who have never experienced Christ, don’t feel comfortable at church, and don’t know anyone go to camp and walk away with relationships that completely change their next six months to a year and forever impact their relationship with God going forward. Camp is a front door that radically changes lives.” What God does at Winter Camp, doesn’t just stay at Winter Camp— it has ripple effects far greater than just a few days of fun and community.

This is just one of the many stories of how God worked in our students’ lives over the course of a weekend. We want to thank YOU and celebrate with you as partners in this work of God through prayer and support, as the future generation of believers got to encounter Him, grow in their relationship with Him, and experience community this winter.