Bursting with Joy

GENTRY, ARK. – On June 1, 2021, the North West Arkansas (NWA) Family Camp Meeting kicked off with Eric Flickinger, associate speaker for It Is Written, in the Gentry Seventh-day Adventist Church. On the weekend, John Bradshaw, main speaker for It Is Written, took his place. Over 1,000 people were packed into the Gentry church and children’s classrooms to enjoy fellowship, music and worship.

The young people’s class sounded like they were having fun and it seemed to get louder every night.

The primary classroom in the Pathfinder building behind the Gentry church was camouflaged and decorated with the Bible verse found in Ephesians 6:11, which says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes,” an anthem the kids sang in praise.

There were activities set up for the young people of all ages to enjoy. There was a knotted rope for the kids to climb, a balance beam rope they could walk across and slabs of wood resting over top of the cylinders to give the kids another balance challenge. Guest speakers shared with animated puppets, and service members from different branches of the military taught kids about their uniforms.

The kindergarten class had the farm theme of “Where God’s Fruit Grows.” The junior class focused on the Fruits of the Spirit. On the wall in the Earliteen Class were the words, “To Know Him is to Love Him.”

In the afternoon, outdoor activities for all the children’s divisions were held, including water balloons from a giant slingshot, and on Thursday there were blow-up slides and climbing areas. Friday was water day with slides and splash pools or a big blow-up slide to see how far you could slide.

The children’s division at NWA Family Camp Meeting went all out to make learning more about Jesus and the Bible fun, and they taught that serving God is a joy and a delight. If you missed out on this year’s Camp Meeting, check out the Gentry church website or Facebook page (@GentryAdventist) for pictures from this year’s Camp Meeting and upcoming information about next year’s meeting.

By Debbie Upson