One of the events I look forward to each year is the Lake Region Camp Meeting out at Camp Wagner. It's great to see some of the old friends I grew up with. It also provides an opportunity to catch up on the education, careers, and families of some of my kids I served as chaplain at Andrews Academy. It's like a big family reunion.

Camp meeting is also a time for a spiritual feast. It's like the Feast of Tabernacles of old, when God's people would come together and camp under makeshift shelters to remind themselves of their dependence upon God during their spiritual journey.

It's a time when we hear familiar voices, like Bradford, Brooks, and Cleveland, who continue to preach the simple gospel as they have from generation to generation. Last year, Walter Pearson was there to announce the Experience the Power satellite evangelistic series that was so successful last fall.

Camp meeting is a special time for youth. They get to network with new friends from all over the conference and attend great events and meetings planned just for them. There's something good about seeing two, three, and four generations sitting around a tent, RV, or under a tree, enjoying good food and telling old stories of God's faithfulness.

I guess one of the things that lifts me the most is the music. It's the one time out of the year I get to hear a camp meeting mass gospel choir. And there's something about singing familiar songs, that have meant so much to our faith, with a congregation of so many people.

That's why I was so disappointed, as I know you are, to learn the Lake Region Conference will not have a camp meeting this summer. But, fortunately, there are some good alternatives.

I plan to attend the General Conference Session in St. Louis, where I know I will see many of you, hear some of my favorite preachers, and sing some of my favorite songs with possibly 70,000 people. There will be gospel choirs, as well as groups and artists, from dozens of cultures around the world. What a camp meeting!

In addition, I will visit some of the other camp meetings in the Lake Union. You may want to do the same. Each one is unique, and carries a rich heritage of faith.

Illinois is a bit innovative with a Super Sabbath at Broadview Academy, followed by a family camp meeting at Camp Akita. Indiana has theirs at the academy in Cicero, and includes outreach opportunities to their community. Michigan has the largest gathering in Cedar Lake, but also provides one for members in the Upper Peninsula at Camp Sagola. If you like the old-time feel of sitting under a big tent, visit the Wisconsin Camp Meeting at Camp Wakonda. You can read about each one in this issue.

On the campus of Andrews University there are a number of international camp meetings that draw people from all over the world. You can experience a variety of camp meeting cultures, from Korea, Africa, or Latin America. Andrews University guest services has a schedule of these events.

Now, I would like to encourage you to unite with God and lend your support so we can plan the best camp meeting ever at Camp Wagner next year! See you there.

Gary Burns is the Lake Union Herald editor.

The Lake Region Conference will not be holding its annual camp meeting in 2005. Budget constraints have led the conference administration to curtail all but the most essential services for the year. We fully expect to resume camp meeting in 2006.

Lake Region Conference administration