I’ve been eligible to vote for 30 years, but – like many in my generation – I’ve never felt like a politician or party truly represented me. They may win me at one point, but they’ll loose me in the next. When I have voted, it always seemed I was going to the polls holding my nose. Too often, politics involves motivating people by fear and half-truths, and I can’t abide that.
I am pleased to announce to you that in 2024, I have a candidate for government I can completely recommend, and I am putting the full endorsement of Camp Deerpark and our staff behind him: Jesus Christ. You may feel this is cliché to say, but really when you think about Jesus’ Gospel of the Kingdom of God, he is making a political claim in quiet competition to the noisy voices currently on social media and our televisions. He has policies and initiatives and more than a few operatives to carry out his mandate. Hopefully you consider yourself one of them.
According to the FEC, by July of 2024, Americans spent over $12 billion on this election. Regardless of who wins on Nov 5, it is unlikely the victor will be able to give us a world where we will feel that was money well spent. But Jesus can. He is. And he will. He has the power to unite us. He has the power to involve us in real solutions to our problems. And no candidate has ever given as much or cared as deeply for the people of our nation. Remember today and on election day, and always after: VOTE JESUS with your heart, time, energy, and treasure.
Camp has always been a place where community in diversity has been welcomed. We have people who participate here that are on almost every side or every issue, but still we hold Christ as common and each other as dear. While I’ll be the first to admit this only works because of God, I’m also daily reminded it only works because we work on it. Would you please support us in this work at least by prayer?
Pray that Camp will be a refuge providing serenity to those who need a break from the turmoil of our chaotic world. Pray that Jesus will lead us in continuing our work of peacebuilding among people, churches, and neighborhoods. Pray that we will boldly be a witness to unity in the Spirit even in a World demanding we take sides and threatening to punish us if we don’t. Pray that we will faithfully call and raise up a generation of peacebuilders to carry on this mission.
If this prayer resounds with you, I invite you to engage the Peacebuilding Initiative at Camp in one of the following ways:
- Join the upcoming Zoom webinar series Prince of Peace: Jesus and Peacebuilding from the Election to the Holidays. This series will NOT focus on issues and candidates, but WILL explore peace practices for your life, relationships, and sphere of influence.
- Contact Us to book a personal retreat at Camp to increase your own inward serenity. We can only give what we have. Camp has affordable, mid-week availability for those willing to provide their own meals while they build their own peace.
- Read the short 2020 Essays on Race and Diversity series written by Ken Bontrager and Kevin Smith around the time of the 2020 election and George Floyd/BLM reckoning. These essays offer simple yet powerful principles you can apply where your life crosses the diverse stories of others.
- Consider a special or recurring gift to support peace programming at Camp like the annual youth and young-adult Peace Camp run in partnership with MCC.
Share:
Come and Pray Lunch & Retreat
Come and PrayPrayer Day with Lunch March 14, 9am-3pm~$30~ Overnight Prayer RetreatMarch 13-14includes March 14 Lunch~$120~ Come seek the Lord’s face with your faith family from all over the Tristate region for a relaxing time of prayer and discussion. We know God is doing amazing things — and he will continue to do more as…
Time to Pray
As followers of Jesus, he is our example in everything. When Camp says in our mission statement that we are “a community of Christ” – this is what we’re saying: we’re a group of people dedicated to the purpose of following and being like Jesus. So the question is, how do we follow Jesus as…
A Place of Prayer
Prayer — especially “vertical prayer” for specific God-revealed mission set apart from the concerns of our life and ministry — is a major theme for Camp in 2026. Maybe you read about this in the Winter Newsletter article “Time to Pray“? We want to extend the invitation to the entire Camp community and beyond —…
Living Abundantly Retreat
Jesus promised his followers an abundant life. Is that just an abstract idea to distract us from earthly misery, or is there real power in Christ to live a full and rich life in the here and now? Young adults are navigating a challenging landscape as they start “adulting” and building a life, so we’ll…
Forgiving Debts: 2025 Woodcutting Season
When Jesus taught his disciples to pray (Mt 6:9-15), he described two big realities where “thy Kingdom Come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven” are realized in the human world: First, he said “give us this day our daily bread”, acknowledging that God’s provision for human need is a central…
“How Do I Donate?”
Recently, a thirteen-year-old guest at Camp asked Operations Director Kevin Smith, “how do I donate?” Kevin was honestly a little surprised, but was happy to see this young member – who was on retreat with one of our owning churches — taking some initiative. Kevin directed him to the website Donate page, and the young…
The Discipleship Down-Low
Defining Discipleship 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded…
The Virtuous Wife
This past weekend, Camp hosted three women’s retreats at Camp. Though the retreat groups were very diverse in background – one was from an urban church plant in Philadelphia, one was from a Garifuna Mennonite church in Brooklyn (an Afro-Caribbean Culture), and one was from a multi-ethnic faith community reaching out in North Jersey. Though…
A Life of Service
I believe the most important thing to God is not our personality, knowledge, or talents, but our availability. How willing and ready are we to respond when He calls, and how ready are we to do what He says? What use to the Lord are people who could do what he wants with excellence and…
Building Belonging
At our February NYC LMC District meeting, we’re discussing the Belonging phase of The Journey Map. In this first phase on the map, individuals and groups on a spiritual journey begin the process of connecting to each other and evaluating the place they may have in each other’s lives. Have you ever been an outsider…