For the last few summers our Family Ministry team has been hosting an arts and music camp called Camp Rock. [Click here to see the highlight reel from this year’s camp.] Our team really does go above and beyond to make it great for our guests who participate. There is a lot that I’d love to celebrate that happens at Camp Rock … but I’d love to focus on what happened on the last afternoon of the camp this year.

This year our team decided to attempt to set a Guinness Book World Record for “Most Hunger Relief Packages Assembled Simultaneously”. The record was established by Walmart at a shareholders meeting but I’m proud to say that the kids at our camp more than doubled their record! But this might beg the question with you … why would we take time and resources during our camp to focus on doing this?

• Model Generosity // We’re trying to teach kids that generosity is a part of your lifestyle as a Christ follower. Our team asked kids to go home during the week and bring in their own money to donate towards the cause … kids brought back $1,900! Giving kids the thrill of being generous and then taking action on their donation will hopefully drive deep the generosity message!
• Great Press Opportunity // I believe the church needs to get more strategic about celebrating the amazing things happening within the body of Christ with the broader community. We need to be looking for stories to serve up to the press and invite them to cover it! Over two hundred kids banning together to pack relief packages to set a world record … and to beat Walmart? … It’s ready made for the press! We received great coverage from a bunch of media outlets … including the statewide  newspaper. [Some great coverage.] [Great photos too!]
• Community Loves It // People outside of the church love to see when the church is reaching out to help in the community. In fact, I believe community service is like “skits & great music” in the “seeker churches” of 20 years ago … it’s a door opener for conversation. We had the local fire department and police department get involved … local political folks sent us thank you notes for what our kids did. When was the last time the local community noticed something cool we did during a Sunday service … let alone send us a thank you note about it?
• It’s Pretty Straight Forward // The Guinness World Record people make it really easy to do. In fact, it’s demystifying straight forward!  They have a really simple to navigate web interface for learning about the records and how to set them. Find a record that fits the values of your church and they tell you exactly what you need to provide to proof that you broke it. Why not challenge us to this record and try to top it? (Note: It takes a while for Guinness to verify the record so it’s still listed as Walmart at the time of publication!)
• Memories That Last a Life Time // At the end of us packing up I looked up and saw 5 boys all “group-hugging” each other, jumping up and down while chanting “we did it! we did it!” We’ve had multiple parents tell us that their kids won’t stop talking about how cool it was to “set a world record”. I love the fact that our kids ministry hosted an event that has a real chance of being remembered for the rest of their lives!
• It’s Fun // Church is fun, right? It was a lot of fun to be a part of. Being a part of the kingdom of God should generate joy in people’s lives. This was an example of that.

So … when are you going to attempt a World Record? I’d love to hear about it!