More than 400 people from 19 churches attended the Southern District junior high camp May 28-June 1 at Sky Ranch Cave Springs in Quapaw, Okla., a record in recent memory according to director Cord Werth’s estimation.
“We had 402 total people attend junior high camp, including band, speakers, support staff, counselors and students,” says Werth, youth pastor at Parkview MB Church in Hillsboro, Kan. “I believe the max that camp holds is 404. That’s probably been the most we’ve had in the past 10 years.”
Organizers closed registration soon after the early bird deadline as registration numbers neared their max. Werth attributes the increase to a large eighth grade class and the popularity of the event.
“Students really enjoy the camp, the activities and what we’ve tried to create to help them grow,” he says.
Husband and wife duo, Kyle Goings and Katie Emberton-Goings, Ridgepoint Church, Wichita, Kan., were speakers on the theme “Anchored.”
An offering of $1,135.41 was collected for Kyla Isaac’s participation in a FOCUS internship with Multiply, the North American global mission agency.
The Axis worship team led in singing.
Free-time activity highlights included the popular zip line—the longest in the state, swimming, horseback riding, skeet shooting and battleship wars involving a cardboard ship, a race and water balloons.
“It was a fun event,” Werth says. “To me, ‘fun’ is a spiritual word. It’s fun to connect with Jesus, connect with others, do activities, do things you don’t normally get to do and be in an environment where you’re out of your normal routine and really focusing on Jesus and what he would like for you to learn about yourself and others that week.”
With this year’s camp, Werth concluded his service as director. Dustin Mulkey, youth pastor at North Oak Community Church in Hays, Kan., will take the reins next year as director.
Janae Rempel Shafer is the Christian Leader associate editor. She joined the CL staff in September 2017 with six years of experience as a professional journalist. Shafer is an award-winning writer, having received three 2016 Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence and two Evangelical Press Association Higher Goals awards in 2022 and 2025. Shafer graduated from Tabor College in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in Communications/Journalism and Biblical/Religious Studies. She and her husband, Austin, attend Ridgepoint Church in Wichita, Kansas.
