by Mark Snipes 

 

This past week, I was part of a group that traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to explore what it might look like to host Passport camp on the island. I was accompanied by David Burroughs, President and CEO of Passport Camp, and Ben Brown, Minister of Students at Second Baptist in Richmond. We spent our first day exploring the campus of the conference center that will host Passport, trying to figure out where students would sleep, where the rec party might happen, and where students would participate in Bible Study and worship.

The second day, we met with a group of Pastors to give them a small glimpse of what camp might look like. Five Puerto Rican students, who all worked at Passport this past summer, joined us to lead a condensed “morning celebration” for this group. We played games together, we awkwardly danced around doing energizers, and prayed together and we worshiped together. In a matter of an hour, these pastors were excited for what Passport might meet for the teenagers in their ministries.

We then sat around tables together to eat lunch and heard stories of what is happening in Puerto Rico. These conversations gave us a real glimpse of the value of bringing students to this campsite.

Often, when we go to camp we think about going and serving. While this is a part of what Passport Puerto Rico, there is so much more. At Passport Puerto Rico, the hope is to have a camp where half of the participants are from the Continental US and the other half are from Puerto Rico. This also applies to the staff working at the camp. Students will have the chance to both give and receive, to create relationships built on mutuality and the common experience of life through Christ, while seeing the similarities and differences in their faith experiences.

Not only this, students have the chance to become global citizens working for a God who is more diverse than they can imagine, in a world more complex and beautiful than what they see here in the Commonwealth.

Puerto Rico has so much to teach us, so much to show us, so much to model for us in terms of living faithfully for the gospel. This partnership is already in motion, and I cannot wait to see where it goes.

Last year, my son’s Bible Study leader at Passport in South Carolina was Rueben, from Puerto Rico. When I told Parker I was going to Puerto Rico to connect with our Passport friends, he said “Make sure to tell my Bible Study leader hello.” I hope that in the coming years, Parker and his youth group will be able to continue to build their relationship with Rueben in his home.