Across the continent, Seventh-day Adventist churches and schools are proclaiming the gospel through events and Bible studies—many made possible by Pentecost 2025, a North American Division initiative intended to mobilize church members for evangelism this year through start-up funds, resources and training. But pastors, elders, principals and teachers are not the only local church leaders involved in this widespread evangelistic push.
Numerous summer camp directors and counselors have also plunged into Pentecost 2025, utilizing nearly 5,700 sets of sleekly designed, highly relevant kids’ lessons: the Discovery Mountain Expedition Bible Guides. Created by the Voice of Prophecy, these studies feature a compelling continuous story set in Discovery Mountain Camp, a fictional summer camp familiar to fans of VOP’s popular Bible-based audio drama, Discovery Mountain.
The Pentecost 2025 planning committee did not originally intend to include summer camps in their initiative, says Rick Remmers, assistant to the president at the NAD. Plans shifted when camps expressed interest in joining. Leadership chose to supply them with Bible studies.
The NAD’s Youth and Young Adult Ministries Department already had Momentum, a Bible study series for teens. But the NAD didn’t have a resource geared toward the majority of summer camp attendees: junior-aged kids. That changed when Remmers spoke with Alex Rodriguez, an associate speaker and the evangelism director for VOP. (The media ministry is one of Pentecost 2025’s official partners.)
Rodriguez recommended the Expedition Bible Guides—14 lessons that not only introduce readers to key doctrines of the Adventist Church but also immerse them in the world of Discovery Mountain, which releases fresh spiritual content each week and reaches hundreds of thousands of young listeners around the globe.
“The Expedition Bible Guides are more than just lessons,” Rodriguez says. “They’re supported by the Discovery Mountain holistic universe, and with them, we have the opportunity to provide a support system especially for campers who are not Adventist and will not be returning home to Adventist churches or schools.
“Discovery Mountain could become their ‘family,’” he continues, “and we hope that the things they learn in these guides and through Discovery Mountain programming will continue sparking a flame in their hearts until the day that the Lord gives them an opportunity to take their place in the army of God. These Bible guides are the only guides I know of that can offer this larger system of belonging.”
When the NAD announced their offer to supply camps with kids’ Bible studies, orders poured in. Thirty camps requested Expedition Bible Guide sets, often by the hundreds. Six of those camps came from the Mid-America Union: Broken Arrow Ranch, Camp Heritage, Flag Mountain Camp, Glacier View Ranch, Mills Spring Ranch, and Northern Lights Camp.
With their appealing graphics and solid biblical context, these guides will enable camps to easily infuse their activities with spiritual content, Remmers says. He’s also excited to see how these guides will equip counselors.
“A really neat aspect of this camp Bible study initiative is that the people who will be doing most of the teaching will be Adventist young adults, collegiates, and older high school students,” he says. “Being a camp counselor already challenges them in a lot of ways; giving Bible studies will keep nudging them forward spiritually—and it becomes easy when you have a guide like Expedition, which walks you through the process.”
Jean Boonstra, Discovery Mountain’s executive director and a VOP associate speaker, further described how these guides perfectly fit the camp environment.
“The Expedition Bible Guides are a wonderful resource for small group study or one-on-one baptismal studies, and the boxed set comes with clear instructions for leaders and students,” she explains. “Each guide begins with a summer camp story—so the context will be meaningful for campers—and that story ends with a cliffhanger so the student will want to read more. I hope campers grow with God this summer by using these studies.”
Tracy Woods, NAD director of youth and young adult ministries, expects each camp to utilize the Expedition Bible Guides in a way that blends with their unique operations. Some will use the guides during cabin devotional times, others in Bible study sessions, and still others during rest periods and before bedtime.
“There is one thing that all of our 60-plus Adventist camps do well with,” Woods affirms, “and that is sending campers home with rich spiritual experiences and lifelong memories.”
Brandon Westgate, youth director for the Rocky Mountain Conference, is excited to witness how the guides will impact campers at both Glacier View Ranch and Mills Spring Ranch. “These colorful Bible lessons are easy to follow, and we’re certain our campers will like them,” he says. “Our hope is that many of our campers will enjoy the guides at camp and then continue to study them at home after their camp experience.”
Westgate is one of many leaders planning to send the guides home with campers. That way, any kid who wants to continue studying the Bible will have a resource to read while waiting for additional study arrangements to be made with their local Adventist church.
Nick Snell, youth and young adult director for the Kansas-Nebraska Conference, says their team are very excited to send these studies home with every camper at Broken Arrow Ranch so that they can build on the inspiration received at camp all week. “That’s a big deal,” he notes, “because many leave camp highly motivated, but they don’t have the same support at home—role models and peers who are interested in Bible study. Hopefully, these guides will help the campers develop their own personal relationship with Jesus when they’re away from camp. That relationship with Jesus is why we’re here. That’s why I’m so excited about these guides.”
Amanda Blake is an editorial assistant at the Voice of Prophecy.
