Summer is almost over and many of my friends have either gone to summer camp or sent their kids there.

Of course, I got to hear all about how uncomfortable the beds were, how hard it was to sleep with the air conditioner running all night in the cabin, or how dirty it was.

Tonight we take a look at what Bible Camp was like when my Mom was in High School.

Can you imagine sleeping in this tent on a hot humid Iowa summer night? If you look closely you can see the cots.

This picture is from a different camp, but you can see that the conditions are the same. Look at the long line of cots. If you look closely you can see a flashlight on the first cot. What is really neat here is the long line of dresses hanging the full length of the tent. The girls wanted to look nice for the guys. Contrast that with what kids wear to camp today.

After a good night 🙂 of sleep and a good breakfast it was time for Bible classes. All the campers have their Bibles out ready to study and learn.

Here we have some of the younger campers. They have found a nice shady place for their class.

After Bible classes and chapel in the morning it was time for a nice lunch prepared by the camp cooks.

Of course after lunch it was time to do the dishes. A typical camp would divide up into four tribes. The tribes would rotate through kitchen duty to spread out the work. The tribes would also compete against each other in Bible drills, sports and other activities.

Afternoon was usually time for sports. Baseball/Softball and Volleyball were common afternoon sports. When I went to camp 20 years later, we would play Softball and Volleyball each afternoon. It didn’t change much 🙂

In the evening it was time for more activities and another message from the Bible. Then off to bed to rest up for another exciting day of camp.

What was camp like when you were a kid?

Steven