HANNIBAL – Temperatures were in the 90s at Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU) here, June 17-21, during Super Summer, but it didn’t stop God’s Spirit from moving among teenagers gathered for the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) summer camp.
Some 425 campers between sixth and 12th grade, including church youth leaders, were at the first week of Super Summer at HLGU. Another week of Super Summer is being held at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, June 24-28.
“Between the two camps, our enrollment has almost doubled from just over 600 to just under 1,200,” Dan Gibson, MBC Next Gen Strategist and Super Summer leader, said on June 20. Gibson added that many students made decisions throughout the first week of Super Summer at HLGU.
Bob Caldwell, who has been involved in Super Summer leadership before, is the speaker for both camps, and the worship group from High Street Baptist, Springfield, is leading music for both camps.
“Super Summer offers a distinctive camp experience for students and adult leaders,” reports the event’s page on the MBC website (https://supersummer.mobaptist.org/). “Throughout this five-day event, participants are challenged by this year’s theme: God is “Greater” – a theme explored through small-group and age-based studies, Main Stage sessions, and personal reflection on God’s Word. Super Summer provides a comprehensive experience for everyone seeking a closer walk with the Lord.”
Super Summer includes morning and evening worship times, small group Bible studies led by summer missionaries funded through the Missouri Missions Offering and, of course, recreation. There were three dozen summer missionaries at the HLGU camp. Recreation included tournaments in e-sports, volleyball, flag football and other activities.
“We want to show the groups we care for them. We want to show individual students we care for them, and we want to show the youth leaders we care for them too and pour into them,” Gibson said.
Ashley Newton is HLGU’s director of campus life. “The 400-plus people we have is more than we’ve had in the past (at Super Summer),” she said. “It’s going well. The students are enjoying themselves and there are a lot of laughs. It’s nice to have the campus busy this summer.”
Newton praised the MBC for their support and promotion of Super Summer in their partnership with HLGU.
“It’s awesome to see the people together sharing the gospel and doing the kingdom work,” she said.
Sarah Schmitt, student missions consultant for Missouri WMU, also expressed praise for Super Summer. “The Missouri Baptist Convention should be proud of the leadership at Super Summer and the summer missionaries,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt’s husband, Tommy, is pastor as First Baptist Church, Gray Summit, which brought a couple students to the camp this year.
“They love the fact that they can make friends and unabashedly share their faith in Jesus,” Schmitt said. Her favorite part of the week was the worship service. “It’s been phenomenal. Bob Caldwell has a passion of sharing Jesus. He’s a great communicator.”
This week, after MBC Super Summer campers departed, HLGU is hosting about 250 people for a Super Summer camp organized by Illinois Baptists.