Hume Lake‘s annual winter camp came to a close as pastor Jeff Gokee spoke at the last worship and chapel of the weekend.  Two days earlier, campers started an approximately two-hour drive up to Hume Lake and were greeted with snow and smiling staff members for the Jan. 11-13 camp. Over 15 as over 15 Fresno churches and 772 students joined together and participated under the theme, “Rich Young Rules.”

The following video created by Wesley Hinton shows his experience at Hume Lake winter camp, Jan. 11-13, 2019. Be sure to read the article and listen to the podcast below the video.

The Hume Winter United Fresno video is from The Feather Online on Vimeo. This and hundreds of other videos are available on The Feather channel.

Upon arrival, students explored the camp throughout the afternoon before heading to dinner, then to chapel at 7:30 p.m. The gathering opened with a high energy production, highlighting the theme of the week. Using the theme of a 90s television show, a story began that would progress through the remainder of the weekend.

The two-year camp director Jonny Ardavanis explains his favorite part of Hume Lake and how the theme comes about each year.

” I love getting to work with students and teaching Gods word,” Ardavanis said. “I love the lake in the summer. It is so fun to paddle board. In the winter I love the tube run. The theme is based around the story of the “Rich Young Ruler”. A man who ultimately is unwilling to follow Christ. We sit down as a team and discuss passages of scripture that we think would work well thematically and that is relevant with different conversations and discussions we are having with students/counselors.”

Ardavanis went on to say that roughly 250 churches and 8000 campers will participate in the 2019 winter camp at Hume Lake.

Each winter camp uses a specific Bible verse to base the theme on. This year’s was from Mark 10:17-27. The rich man in this story ran and fell at Jesus’ feet, showing off to gain His attention. The man asked Jesus’ what he needed to do in order to receive eternal life. He was not able to do what Jesus’ required, to give up all his belongings and follow him.

“Yes! I am so excited for the theme,” Ardavanis continues. “And to see what God does in the hearts of students and counselors. I love getting to work with my team as well, who work so hard to put on a great camp.”

The camp hosted a guest band, Temitope, that sang both original and other artist’s worship songs. The main singer Temitope, also known as Tobi Peter, utilized his musical ability to lead worhsip for the weekend.

Early Saturday morning campers ate breakfast in the Ponderosa Dining area, following with an optional early morning worship and chapel. Students then made their way to the ark where the broom hockey opening ceremony began.

Hume provides several activities to fill up the five hours of free time such as the broom hockey tournament, the giant swing, ice skating, tube run, snowboarding, indoor reball (indoor paintball without the paint), crafts, or getting away from the cold in the OK chalet.

First time Hume Lake counselor Darcy Lowder explains her experience at Hume winter camp.

“This was my first time to Hume,” Lowder said. “I heard everyone talk about how awesome Hume was so I was excited to go and experience it. I loved getting to watch all of our students participate in the activities there. The speaker brought up points in his sermons that I hadn’t thought of before, so it was cool to hear a different perspective on stories in the Bible that I’d heard many times before. I absolutely loved it.”

An activity many campers look forward to each winter camp is the broom hockey tournament. During breakfast, teams of six to eight signed up with a creative team name and then became placed in the bracket. The junior high teams went first to see who played in the Kurth Kup. The Kurth Kup determined who recieved their name on the golden cup. High school teams played next and fought for their name on the cup as well. Four campus high school girls played on their own team as well. “The Wildcats” consisted of juniors Annabelle Messer, Kayla Vanderlinden, Megan LeBlanc, and Avery Jones along with their teammates from other schools. 

Buchanan student Mikayla Pascual, ‘20, shared her favorite parts of Hume and what stood out to her in the sermons.

“My favorite part was playing broom hockey with the Fresno Christian girls,” Pascual said. “I came to Hume because I’ve never been and I thought it would be a great experience. One thing that stood out to me was that he said that you have to give everything away no matter what and even if you really don’t want to give it away, you have to in order to receive eternal life.”

The Box sled Blitz is another major event that took place Saturday night. This event consisted of the churches creating sleds only made out of cardboard and duct tape. To keep warm, Hume provided cookies and hot chocolate to enjoy and campfires to huddle around. The sleds were pushed down a slope with four to six people riding it down, each receiving a score and the winner given the golden mailbox. Whoever was given the golden mailbox is allowed to use their creativity and add anything to it but cannot take away anything. The mailbox then continues on to a new owner the next winter when a new church wins the box sled blitz.

Annabelle Messer interviewed junior higher Faith Wilkinson who attends Computech Middle School. They talked about her time at Hume Lake winter camp in the following podcast.

A constant Hume Lake camper, senior Anthony Lonardo, explains why he continues to attend winter camp.

“This was my fourth year going,” Lonardo said. “My favorite part was hanging out with friends. Personally, I went to Hume this weekend with hopes of a true awakening in my life. The main thing that stood out in the sermon for me, is how much I lie to myself about how “good” my relationship is with Jesus.”

While the Hume Lake campers could choose to ice skate, play in the snow, and indoor activities, four FC girls formed a broomball hockey team with girls from other schools, placing 2nd in the HS girls bracket. Check out the following Feather Twitter video post.

Do you know where broom hockey originated? Four FC girls make it to the @humelake winter camp finals, placing 2nd in the HS girls bracket. Head to the media page for more broom hockey info. #thefeather @fresnochristian #humelake pic.twitter.com/yJbaXag1XF

— The Feather Online (@thefeather) January 15, 2019

Sunday morning came and campers ate breakfast following with one last chapel. After everyone was packed up and buses filled, the students headed down the mountain back to the Valley.

Hume Lake not only hosts winter camp, but also summer youth camps and various retreats. For more information, please visit the Hume Lake website.

Annabelle Messer can be reached via email and Twitter.

For more articles about Hume Lake, please check out past Feather articles: Hume Lake Country Fair brings back family activities or Local churches, students prepare for winter camp.

Below is a slideshow of Hume Lake winter camp, Jan. 11-13.

Gallery • 1 Photos