pacesetters_71403

Posted: 7/11/03

Pacesetters Camp offers
basic training in Christian service

DALLAS–Youth from as far away as Idaho camped out at Dallas Baptist University this summer for basic training in servanthood.

About 200 teenagers participated in DBU's Pacesetters Camp, where they learned about both faith and work.

Jamie Lash, DBU director of Student Development, teamed up with Loftin to create Pacesetters because he was interested in combining his teaching ministry with Glowing Heart's music ministry. He plays an integral role in the camp, teaching and preparing the students for their service projects around the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

“The camp is unique because it's a hybrid between a Christian camp and a mission trip,” explained Jamie Lash, DBU's director of student development. “This year the teaching centered around the concept of taking the focus off of yourself so that God can fully use your talents. … Students learn the importance of humbling yourself before the Lord and casting your cares on him.”

The camp is called Pacesetters “because that's what these kids are trained to be when they leave the DBU campus,” said Henry Loftin, director of Glowing Heart Ministries at DBU. “Our greatest desire is to prepare these teens to get out in the frontlines of their communities, churches and schools, and we want them to lead their peers to action by saying, 'Hey, let's go!'”

Glowing Heart is a student ministry team that works with youth in a variety of settings. Each summer for the past eight years, Glowing Heart members have staffed the Pacesetters Camp.

“Pacesetters started because the Glowing Heart students enjoyed spending time with teenagers in the DiscipleNow weekends, but a weekend didn't provide the time needed to mentor and cultivate relationships,” Loftin explained. “We decided a weeklong camp would have the deeper impact we desired and would provide the opportunity to mentor and teach the students about servant leadership.”

Youth came from Texas, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Ohio and Idaho.

Service projects concentrated on three areas–behind the scenes work; work with families, children and senior citizens; and one-on-one witnessing situations.

“Students involved in the behind-the-scenes work usually get dirty, hot and sweaty, and they rarely receive a thank you,” Loftin said. “These projects teach them about true servanthood. We've had service projects that involve students sifting through eighteen-wheelers loaded with potatoes that were donated to charity. The students' job was to go through those hundreds of pounds of potatoes and pick out the ones that were still edible and could be given to the homeless.”

At Pacesetters Camp, participants learn early on that being a leader is not always glamorous.

“Understanding that true leadership starts with serving others is a difficult concept to grasp because it goes against everything the world teaches,” said Lee Davis, a DBU sophomore who volunteered to assist Glowing Heart with the camps.

The most common service project involves working with low-income families and senior citizens. Students help out by painting homes, mowing yards and cleaning homes. They also work with underprivileged children, playing games with them, providing encouragement, and teaching them songs and Bible verses.

“I've heard about Pacesetters for three years,” said Lauren Pope, a high school sophomore from Amarillo. “I am finally old enough to come, and it's been an amazing experience for me. I have definitely been out of my comfort zone, but it's been fun to share Christ with the kids we've been ministering to this week.”