Redevelopment of Youth and Children Ministries in Quebec

For more than eighty years Camp Lac I’Achigan has been the corner stone of youth and children’s ministry in the division. For many the camp has been the backdrop to many significant spiritual moments in their life. Times when God’s spirit moved, when hearts were stirred and commitments made. Collectively, we thank God for all that has been accomplished through our camping ministry.

In recent years the utilization of the camp has significantly declined. Originally built to support the ministry of a number of large corps and ministry units  in both eastern Ontario and Quebec, the utilization of the camp is now supported by only a few corps within our division. Times are changing and the world around us is moving away from residential camping for children and moving toward localised day camps where children return home to their family in the evenings. The division has experienced this first hand with the number of campers and number of days continuing to decline over the years.

You will appreciate that the camp is a large capital asset that requires costly annual maintenance although it only operates for a few months of the year due to the climate and its non-winterized design. Following a lengthy study and consultation with Territorial Headquarters, the division has decided that the time has come for us to reimagine and redevelop our ministry with youth and children.

Following the 2020 camping season Camp Lac I’Achigan will be sold and we will refocus our energy on developing and supporting local community expressions of youth and children’s ministry. We know first-hand  that the camp has impacted many lives for God’s kingdom over the years, so we acknowledge that the closure will be painful, however we believe that this refocusing on local community expressions of youth and children’s ministry will bring promise for the future within our division.

With the sale of the camp, the division will be creating a youth and children’s endowment fund for Divisional Youth Ministries. Let me stress that the division is not reducing its ministry to our young people but refocusing our energy and financial resources to promote and implement youth ministries all year round across all ministry units and potentially in other locations in Quebec.

For those of you who have worked and volunteered at Lac I’Achigan thank you for your ministry and for the countless lives that you have impacted for the kingdom. For all of the campers who have attended a music camp or summer residential camp we hope that the memories of your time at Lac I’Achigan will be among your most cherished.

We covet your prayers in these days as, together, we redefine and strengthen our ministry to youth and children in the Quebec division.

Keith Pike, Major  |  Divisional Commander