There are a myriad of Christian summer camps for youth. Each has its own unique qualities, facilities, activities and programming. But no camp is quite as unique as Falls Creek. Falls Creek hosts more than 5,000 students and leaders a week—and in eight weeks of camp will total more than 50,000 visitors, making it one of the largest youth camps in the world.
The camp provides access to missionaries, global mission opportunities for students, recreational tournaments, incredible water venues, one of the largest ropes courses in North America, and plenty of scenic space to get alone and meet with Jesus like nowhere else on Earth.
One of the most unique features about Falls Creek is that within one large camp week, there are a little more than 100 individualized youth camps happening within it simultaneously. Churches rent cabins for their own group and bring sponsors, cooks, and small group leaders. Churches customize their own morning quiet time, in-cabin Bible study, meals, recreation elements, and evening cabin devotional to better meet the needs of their own group.
Although Falls Creek programming has prepared resources to conduct all of these particular camp activities in accordance with the 2016 theme of ONE, churches are free to use those materials or develop their own. Many churches actually use “spin-off themes.” Youth pastors and leaders creatively develop a similar theme to the one Falls Creek is using, and then these leaders use their in-cabin teaching time to uniquely support the overall camp learning experience. And though these smaller camp experiences are going on within the larger one, students get to enjoy a larger corporate teaching, fellowship, and worship with a vast number of teenagers from all over the country.
This uncommon concept—holding camp within a camp—has grown in notoriety and popularity for churches lying outside of Oklahoma. Falls Creek offers a unique large group experience that is customizable for churches and less expensive than virtually all other church camps. It also is a terrific tool for youth evangelism, as evening services are targeted at reaching students who are non-believers. Each week, approximately 1,000 lost students attend Falls Creek—which is about 20 percent of the population of camp during any particular week. Nearly 14 percent of full-time registrants in 2015 recorded a spiritual decision of some kind in the tabernacle.
Falls Creek’s consistent emphasis on evangelism, discipleship, and call to ministry has also necessitated the development of some unique follow-up tools for those responding to Christ’s leading at camp. Two of these tools, The Pursuit and The Discovery are online resources, each of which contain links to Scripture, quiet time guides, and assorted other specific helps in regard to decisions of salvation and a call to ministry.
Oklahoma is blessed beyond measure to have a place like Falls Creek. God has been so faithful throughout the years to speak to the hearts of students and leaders alike in this ONE of a kind place.
