Page 4 - The Channel Spring 2021 _FINAL_

“Win a Child...Win a Life”

The Purpose of CBM is: By Karen Williams

As a young person, Bobby’s only ambition was to live on the beach, swim, and surf.
His parents gave him two choices after high school, attend college or serve in the
military. While at Clearwater Christian College, a friend convinced him to be a
summer camp counselor at Camp Gilead in 1981. One night after his campers
were asleep, he slipped out to the ballfield bleachers to meet with God. That night,
Teaching the Bible | Evangelizing the unreached | he surrendered his plans to the Lord and committed to serving Him. Bobby and
I met at Camp Gilead the following summer and married on December 21, 1985.
Discipling believers of all ages | Encouraging and We served at camp for several summers before Bobby turned to me one Sunday
after the final hymn and said, “God has called me into full-time camp ministry.”
Equipping them for active service for Jesus Christ in their He truly loved camp ministry and we both loved seeing how God used it as a place
for meeting new people and changing lives.

community, local church and on to the world. Why CBM? At first, we hoped to find a camp that would pay us to be on staff,
but God quickly confirmed that part of His plan was for us to learn to be faith-
supported missionaries. We were invited to be childcare workers during a national
conference and there fell in love with the rich heritage of CBM.

You can read our complete Statement of Faith online. Why Camp Grace – how did God lead us there? In the summer of 1993, we visited each of the CBM camps to get to know CBM and to see
where God might want us. Without any specific direction we assumed that we would be at Camp Gilead until we were encouraged to visit Robeson
County, NC to consider the need for a new CBM camp in that area. There wasn’t any camp property but we attended a Released Time class where
public school children sang “Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah, Praise Ye the Lord” with such enthusiasm that the Rolling Chapel swayed back
The Need
and forth. We immediately fell in love with the area and knew that God was sending us there.
Why does CBM believe it’s so important to focus on children? The answer is simple – the younger a person comes to faith in
Christ, the more years they have to serve, follow, and share Him with others. In 1935, Walter Jensen founded CBM because of Bobby LOVED his family and friends! His wife and children were his pride and joy. He loved CBM, playing golf with friends, making new
a report that millions of U.S. children were receiving no religious training or instruction. He asked a young boy if he knew John contacts, making plans, dreaming of the future, etc. He struggled with clearly communicating but showed love for others with acts of service. He
3:16, and the boy’s response was, “No, I don’t know him, where does he live?” This was a sobering realization to Walter then, and lived life with passion, worked hard and pushed hard, often challenging us to do things we didn’t think we could do. He was committed to being a
is probably true to an even greater extent today. In a study by Lifeway, the biggest factor in the spiritual health of young adults is faithful servant of God. I wonder if God designed him to have such intensity because He had a mission for him to do and a short amount of time to
whether they read the Bible regularly as children. With Christianity being expelled from public schools, and the authority of God’s do it.
Word being continually challenged, the work of CBM to teach the Bible to children is growing increasingly more important.

CBM’s Solution - The Ministry of the Cs
Since 1935, CBM has held fast to our goal of reaching children with the gospel using the 3 Cs of ministry (see pp. 22-23). Every
aspect of CBM’s work, from Classes to Correspondence to Camps, is focused on immersing children in the Bible, knowing that it
will have a profound impact on their hearts, souls, and minds.

Support
CBM accomplishes the work God has given us through the faithful giving of churches and individuals, both to our missionaries
(who raise their own financial support) and to each Area of ministry itself. We are a non-denominational 501(c)(3) nonprofit. You
can support CBM and/or its missionaries at:
www.continuetogive.com/cbm

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