It’s summer! This series of children’s messages will connect you with families through conversations about camping and the great outdoors. Perhaps you have experienced summer camp and the memories of family adventures that connect kids to nature and God. For more information regarding camping and resources used in the creation of this series, visit umcrm.camp, The United Methodist Camp and Retreat Ministries Association (UMCRM). Another excellent resource is Climate Hero Handbook: How Kids Can Defend, Protect, and Restore the Planet by Jennifer Manley Rogers and Jessica Gamache.

Use this series throughout the summer months to reinforce biblical learnings and faith formation, combined with imagery that represents memorable summertime adventures. Each week, provide imagery of a camping “object” or dress the part and bring props to reinforce the camping illustrations.

If you have ever been to summer camp, you may remember one of the most powerful moments found in a day at camp is watching the sunrise. Part II of this summer series will include a morning poem/prayer that the children can recite each morning as they begin a new day throughout the summer. Each week, for the closing prayer, teach the children (and their parents) this simple poem to use as their family’s morning prayer.

Matthew 10:26-27, NIRV

²⁶“So don’t be afraid of your enemies. Everything that is secret will be brought out into the open. Everything that is hidden will be uncovered. ²⁷What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight. What is whispered in your ear, shout from the rooftops.

Supplies

Camping object – carabiner used for belaying (rappelling down a wall)
Bible

Message

Have you ever seen one of these? (Hold up the carabiner to show the children.) Do any of you know what this is used for at summer camp? (Allow children to respond.)

Have you ever been rappelling? This carabiner attaches to the climber’s harness, and then the other end of the rope is attached to a person on the ground who helps control the climber’s journey down the wall and protects the person from free falling.

When climbing or rappelling, it’s important for the person on the rock to communicate well with his belayer. To do this, they use “calls.”

Let me teach you some of the signals for belaying climbers and rappelers.

If I am climbing, the first thing I must do is call out loud enough for the person on the ground belaying me to hear; “On Belay?” That means, “Is the belay ready?”

The person on the ground responds with calling out, “Belay on.” That means your belay is ready.

The climber then calls out, “Climbing.” — Here I come.

The response from the person on the ground is “Climb” or “Climb on.” — Come ahead.

If the climber loses footing and begins to fall, what do you think that person might call out? (Allow children to answer,) That’s right, the climber would call out, “Falling!” That means, “I’m falling! Brake the rope!”

Once the climber regains footing, he/she may hear from the person on the ground, “Lowering,” which means, “I’m letting you down now”.

When the climber reaches the ground and both feet are on the ground, the climber will call out, “Off belay.” That means the climber is in a safe place and no longer needs a belay.

The person belaying responds with, “Off belay,” meaning, “I’m no longer belaying you.”

The final call, when the climber is ready to take off the rappel rope, is, “Off rappel” or “Off rope.” This means that the rope is free from the harness and is ready for the next rappeler and that the climber is in a safe place out of the fall area and away from other climbers.

Today’s scripture passage from Matthew’s Gospel instructs us to not be afraid of our enemies and trust in those who follow the Lord. It says that everything in life that is secret will be revealed and that everything in life that is hidden will be uncovered. Mathew tells us that what is told to us in the dark, we must speak in the daylight, and what is whispered must be shouted from the rooftops.

Think about that last phrase—"What is whispered must be shouted from the rooftops”—in relation to our story of rappelling. What do you think might happen in rappelling if the climber can’t hear the person who is belaying? (Allow children to respond.) It could become very scary and dangerous. To belay safely, the climber and belayer must trust each other. The same is true for our relationship with God.

One of the easiest things we can do to know that there is trust in God is to find the most amazing things that God provides. If you have ever been to summer camp, maybe you woke up early enough to see the sunrise. It is such a beautiful, magnificent sight.

I would like to teach you a poem that will be our prayer this morning, but I encourage you to say this prayer each morning with your family as each new day begins this summer.

Will you repeat after me?

Good morning, Sun!
I can feel the warmth of your rays.
As this new day begins, I will shout God’s praise.
Use me today to share God’s story,
as I celebrate the morning sun and all its glory.
Amen