Watch the video to learn more about our FUNraiser! Your gift this holiday season will help us to upgrade and improve some of the most FUN parts of Camp Deer Run. This is so important to our mission because at Camp Deer Run, the carefree and fun environment helps kids to lay their burdens down and become receptive to the good news of Jesus. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. There are a lot of camps out there that are fun just for the sake of fun. At Camp Deer Run, we are having fun for the sake of the gospel!
When you donate to Camp Deer Run, you’re making an eternal impact.
$40k
Camper Scholarships Provided Last Year
1500+
Campers Served Annually
65
Years in Service
The Rafters Project
JOIN THE LEGACY
The rafters of the Rec Hall are covered in names, names painted in all different colors, from every generation of Camp’s history. Behind every name is a story. A story of a kid, either a camper or a staff member, whose life was changed by experiencing God at Camp Deer Run.
The Rafters Project is Camp Deer Run’s Monthly Donor Group – a group dedicated to preserving the legacy of God’s work at Camp and ensuring that it continues for generations to come. Join us today by starting your monthly donation!
At Camp Deer Run kids make friends, experience God, and have the most fun of their year, pure and simple. Your gift ensures that the special Deer Run experience will continue for years to come.
Every year we provide over $30,000 in financial support to families who otherwise wouldn’t be able to send their kids to Camp. We believe every kid should have the opportunity to experience God at Camp Deer Run, pure & simple. Your gift makes that possible.
A memorial donation is a fitting tribute to your departed loved one. Your support helps Camp Deer Run provide a life-changing experience for children that fosters enduring relationships and lifelong discipleship. We hope that you can take comfort in knowing that your loved one’s memory will be honored by helping children simply experience God.
PeeWee day camp is for our youngest campers. Partner with us to help your children establish a foundation in Christ while having the best week of their summer!
Get outside, make friends, and experience God, pure and simple. At our overnight camps, kids unplug from the world and experience old-school, authentic childhood.
Join us for a Camp Deer Run retreat during the school year or rent our facilities for your own event or retreat. Our retreat program includes options for the whole family!
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” Deuteronomy 6:4-6
DEVOTIONAL:
This is a verse that we hear often. It’s a common memory verse. It’s the basis for countless worship songs and hymns. It strikes at the core of all Christian faith and life. These words come from Moses, as He speaks to the Israelites before their entry into the Promised Land. Behind them, there has been a long journey – from slavery to freedom a promise of a land of their own that is very good. But along that journey there has been temptation, and the Israelites have time and time again lost sight of their covenant with God and forgotten the salvation that He delivered to them. Because of that, they spent 40 years wandering in the desert instead of going straight to the new homeland that God had promised.
It’s a lesson to all of us that when we lose sight of God, when we forget about Him and His Word, when our focus drifts away from Him, we end up wandering in a desert instead of enjoying the good things He intended for us.
At Camp Deer Run, we leave behind many of the things in our day to day lives that distract us from God. We leave behind the phones, the TVs, the social media, the stress of school or work, the trials and struggles that we carry with us. When you step through the gates as your session begins, you can leave all of it behind you and just focus on God, pure and simple. When we set those burdens down, and remove all the distractions that are keeping us from seeing God clearly and putting Him first in our lives, we come closer to Him, we grow deeper in our relationship with Him, we feel His love. And when we know His love for us and understand that we are His beloved children, our love for Him grows too.
But Camp doesn’t have some kind of magic forcefield around it that makes you leave your worries at the door. It’s definitely easier at Camp to leave those things behind. There’s so much fun to be had, so much nature to enjoy, and so many friends to surround you. But at the end of the day, it’s still up to you to let go of the things that distract you from God and to put Him first. Sometimes that’s hard to do, and sometimes it takes a little while to figure it out. That’s ok!
As you prepare for Camp, we just want you to know that God wants to have a relationship with you. God knows you. God loves you. And He wants you to keep your focus on Him, because He doesn’t want you to be lost in the desert. He wants to lead you to the Promised Land!
DISCUSSION:
What are some of the things that make it hardest for you to focus on God at home?
Can you leave that behind when you go to Camp? How?
Camp Deer Run is all about seeing God in everything, not just worship or Bible lessons, but in the games and activities and friends and fun. How do you keep your focus on God in all of these different situations?