What we believe

Camp Watermelon is called Camp Watermelon because of Galatians 5:22. “But what happens when we live God’s way?  He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard.” Every year I show campers one of several of my dying plants, hot and thirsty, sad and brown.  Then I show them a healthy tomato plant, well cared for and growing several tomatoes that we love eating in the summer time.  We talk about how when we spend time with God, we learn more and more about who He is and what it means to live in a way that brings Him delight.  When we do this, we start looking like the tomato plant that grows fruit that will bless the world. We teach the campers a song about the Fruit of the Spirit, emphasizing that God won’t grow tomatoes (or watermelons!) out of our fingertips, but that He will grow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control in our hearts as we learn to trust Him. 

We believe that we are God’s children, made in His image and yet fallen in nature.  We know we need a Savior and that God provided us that gift through Jesus.  We believe we are invited to know the Lord through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and that He delights in who we are while encouraging us to grow to embrace the things that are dear to His heart. We believe we are all, regardless of age, under construction, in need of grace and mercy, and yet capable, with God’s help, of being swept into His good work on our own behalf and on behalf of others.

We believe God’s rich fruit in the life of one, may plant seeds in the hearts of another, and we delight that campers are just as much a blessing to the counselors as they are to the campers!