The Quest for the Lion's Pride

On the last night of camp, all of the campers who are 14 years old or have finished the equivalent of the 8th grade are eligible to take part in the Quest of the Lion's Pride.  The four part test is based on the four parts of Mark 12:30 - "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your soul and with all your strength."  The challenge begins on Friday night after Summit Fires.  Participants are required to build a fire, using no more than 3 matches,  and keep it burning all night long.  If they succeed, they must complete a vigorous run at a pace that is set by members of staff.  The few who complete the run are asked to write an essay about what they have learned during their Quest and write 5 verses that they are required to memorize.  The entire quest takes place in complete silence.  In the 11 years of camp, we've had about 10 campers successfully finish the quest and join the Lion's Pride.  Even though very few campers actually complete the challenge, many of them grow in their faith or even trust in Christ for the first time during the journey.  Of course we consider these life-changes far more significant than whether they pass the challenge or not.


Tarrah attends a British school that Daley and Tyler, two new members of our student ministry team, might be working next year. She's been at camp for 4 years and is very familiar with the program. She was a leader all week in her cabin. Tarrah was the only camper in Meru (middle school girls) eligible to attempt the Quest for the Lion's Pride. But she was afraid. 


In devotions the first night Tarrah stated that although she was interested in Jesus and the stories in the Bible, she is not a Christian. Kaelyn's entire cabin had many questions about the Bible, God, and the stories we've been telling in morning and evening devotions. On Thursday night, after Jason's talk about Jesus, Kaelyn's girls' questions turned more personal. They began asking questions about what it would look like in their lives if they began to trust and believe in Jesus. Kaelyn answered their questions and shared a lot scripture with them.


 On Friday night just before Summit Fires, Tarrah finally decided to attempt the Lion's Pride. She was afraid, nearly in tears when we set out for the test, but hopeful. After an hour of collecting wood, Tarrah's fire was lit on the second match. Her fire, then, however, burned for only 30 minutes and went out, ending her attempt at the Quest. Tarrah, smiling, walked back to her room and went to bed. She was happy just to have lit her fire, it was a huge accomplishment for her. That was her first time ever to build a fire on her own. The next morning, Kaelyn asked her several times what she learned on Friday night and Tarrah continually replied, "I can't really explain it; I'll tell you later," so Kaelyn didn't press. Finally, just before closing Tanya told Kaelyn that while sitting in the dark under the stars in the silence at Lion's Pride, she learned to trust Jesus.