All,

We hope you enjoy watching these clips of this year’s Warrior Week Sword Ceremony.  Each year, for the warrior campers who graduate out of the program, we perform this kind of ceremony – a mini rite of passage, if you will.  This year is the first year we have had good sound quality, so we wanted to make sure that we post these and allow all to enjoy them.

We stressed to the whole group that these were very important character traits – ones that you would want to be called as a man, but also ones that Jesus Christ Himself possesses – and therefore one that they already possess if they are in Christ.  If these traits are not ones that they display regularly, or on a consistent basis, we hope that this would help to be an encouragement for them to live in to these traits as they mature going forward.

After the ceremony, we sent the other warriors out and talked to the sword recipients as a group, reminding them that we were calling them up/calling them out from boyhood camper mode, into kingdom warrior status – a kingdom warrior whose mission is to advance the King’s Kingdom.  We reminded them that as men and followers of Jesus, they would need to be reminded of these character traits, because the battles they will fight as they grow up will require them all:  justice, mercy, bravery, generosity, being lionhearted, faith, loyalty, devotion, courage, compassion, being stalwart, being valiant, gallantry, being a conqueror, honor, righteousness, tenacity, having a stout heart, might, nobility, being magnanimous, living without fear, and valor.  We closed by praying together and were blown away by some of the boys prayers – absolutely awesome. What a powerful time and moving time!!

It has been our privilege and honor to serve such wonderful warriors this past week!  We look forward to watching how the Lord will use them in mighty ways.

Blessings,
Jason & Matt