Camping Trip 2024

9.5 miles hiked, 1700 ft elevation gained, 25 gallons of water consumed! Our 2nd annual camping trip was a great success!! ⚡️

Drive, Arrival & Set-up

On Wednesday we loaded our bus with all kind of camping gear and 10 of our DG boys. Everybody felt excited for a new adventure together. We had boys of different groups joining for this event together. It was incredible to see how they were bonded after four days together. 🏕

We arrived at the campground in the middle of the forest far away from other campsites. We set up the kitchen, built our own outdoor bathroom station, and built two giant, king-sized tents for the boys. We did a walk-through of the campsite and went over all our safety rules, expectations, and our 3-day's itinerary. After the set up everyone was excited to get refreshed in the lake. 

Our 3 Adventures

We had three adventures to nearby lakes and trails. On the first trip, we went to Manzanita Lake and enjoyed the refreshing water with kayaks, tubes and water guns. 🛶 The boys had a lot of fun connecting with each other and exploring the scenery. 💦

The second day we did a hike to the Cinder Cone. W e conquered the heat and a climbed 1100 feet with a total round trip trek of 5.4 miles. ⛰ The big reward was an amazing view from the top of the volcano which probably erupted the last time in year 1650. At the end they got to swim in the beautiful big Butte Lake. 💧The boys enjoyed the fresh water and got exciting catch of two gardener snakes! 

On the third adventure we drove deeper into the Lassen Volcanic Park and went on an adventure to explore the Meadows of Hat Creek. We encountered some refreshing snow, climbed a big rock and some brave boys went into the ice cold fresh snow melted creek. Everybody loved this fun day. 

Back at the campsite, our nights were relaxed as the boys roasted their own meat and make s'mores 🍫 🍖

Campfire time 🔥

Our evening sessions were a powerful time of encounter and conversation where David spoke about the heart of God and getting to know the God more deeply. 

We talked and had conversations with them about body, soul and spirit, we talked about their hearts and how they are connecting to God. At the last day everybody share about everyone what God put into their hearts. Everyone participated and felt included. It was so powerful and everyone left feeling encouraged and stronger than before. The Holy Spirit showed up as you can see in one of the pictures like a lightning bolt. In our second night 6 people got healed from headache, neck pain, back pain and an ankle hurting. Thank you Jesus for moving so powerful in this time. 

Discipleship Bible Study

In the morning after breakfast before our trips we had on two days our Bible study. It was incredible to see the depths of some answers of the boys in this time. 

Just Hanging Out at the Campsite 

At the campground the boys helped every day with tasks from bringing cleaning water from the creek over collecting firewood, making fire to helping in the kitchen setting up and cleaning. We are so proud of them to help to make the trip a great success. They also had plenty of time exploring nature around the campground, making challenges, playing Kubb and ball games. They bonded very well, felt connected and had a fun time. 

Some of the best highlights again were the food and the clearly organized campsite created by Delfina. She made a beautiful space and atmosphere with attention and care to a lot of details so that everybody felt welcomed, safe and loved. 💐The variety and excellence of the plated food 🍽 drew out words of celebration from the hungry boys every time! 🥩🌭 🍔

Overall it was an amazing, powerful time for us and the boys. Everybody left changed by God with new revelations and beautiful memories and will never be the same. All of us will never forget this trip. We will do it again! ☀️