I have never heard a leader say that discipling a child was not worth his or her time, investment and energy. In fact, I quite often hear the opposite. This even holds true for leaders working in summer camps.

There is something special about taking the kids in your ministry to a place designed just for them, where they can encounter God with no distractions. Summer camp is an effective tool for guiding kids to a Christ-centered life.

There are three reasons summer camp is so valuable.

It’s designed to help children experience God every day. Every week in our churches, we design a space and atmosphere to maximize the potential for people to encounter and experience God. Between those experiences, life happens. For many kids, church can seem like a “reset” for the week ahead, preparing them for what is coming Monday through Saturday.

At camp, it is different. Children get to experience God’s power every morning, every night and all the hours in between. There is a unique opportunity for continual growth with no distractions or exhaustive experiences between services.

Children can then take home the experiences from camp and continue to build on them in their daily lives. It is at camp that many are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Why? Because their minds are focused on one point the entire week: God!

This may be the best week of that child’s life. Not every child has an easy home life. Many children live in broken households — homes without love, homes with addictions, abuse, neglect and more.

Camp experiences have had a profound impact on my life — both as a child and a pastor.

Sometimes, parents may wait to share bad news with a child until right before they go to camp, hoping it softens the shock and impact of a life-shattering decision that is out of their control.

At camp, children get to experience love and encouragement from counselors, chaperones and peers who are there to share God and grow in God. This may be the first time in a long time that a child has had enough to eat or encountered a caring, affirming adult who prays over him or her. It may be the first time this child feels safe when going to sleep.

The tragic scenarios are endless, but so is the love of Christ that kids experience at camp.

It allows you to pastor and grow your relationship with the kids. Part of being a leader is building relationships with your church’s kids. It is easy to become so busy that we don’t find time to sit down and talk with the kids in our ministries.

At summer camp, we don’t have to worry about finding that time because we can sit in a service with our kids. We can hear their prayers, pray with them, laugh with them, play games with them, cry with them and simply do life with them.

These simple gestures greatly increase your ability to minister to those kids, today and in the days ahead, because now they have a stronger relationship with you as their pastor or leader.

There are many more reasons I could give for why you should support and participate in kids’ camps.

Camp experiences have had a profound impact on my life — both as a child and a pastor. What’s more important than investing in future leaders in the body of Christ?

This article originally appeared on the Healthy Church KIDS blog.