When the buses pull away and another camp season comes to an end, ministry leaders naturally begin looking ahead. There are follow-up conversations to have, lessons to reinforce and eventually another camp to plan.

But before you move on too quickly, there is one more opportunity sitting right in front of you: Ask your students what they learned. And record their answers!

Right now, camp is fresh in their minds. They still remember the nervous feeling before stepping off the zipline. They're still laughing about what happened in the cabin. They remember the worship song that hit differently on Wednesday night. They can still tell you what their counselor said or what they prayed about at the altar. Those memories are powerful and they can also become some of your best material for promoting camp next year. At your first youth service or gathering after camp, pull out a phone and ask each student to finish one simple sentence: “Church camp is where I learned...”

Don't worry about perfectly scripted answers. In fact, the unscripted ones may be better.

• One student might say, “Church camp is where I learned how to shoot a bow.”
• Another might say, “Church camp is where I learned that I can make friends.”
• And another may say, “Church camp is where I learned how to really pray.”

Together, those little clips tell the story of camp better than almost any promotional graphic can!

You can also ask a few additional questions:

• What was your favorite part of camp?
• What is your favorite memory from the week?
• What did God teach you at camp?
• What would you tell someone who has never been to camp?
• Why do you want to come back next year?

For students who experienced something significant spiritually, consider recording longer testimonies as well. Give them the opportunity to share what God did in their lives in their own words. Then save it all. When registration opens next year, you won't have to try to recreate the excitement of camp months after the fact. You'll already have photos, videos, quotes and testimonies captured when that excitement was genuine and fresh.

A 15-second video can become a social media post. A student's quote can become a registration graphic. Several “Church camp is where I learned…” clips can become a promotional video. A testimony can be shared with parents, your congregation or potential campers. And there is another benefit: students become the ones inviting other students to camp.

Instead of adults simply telling them, “Camp will be good for you,” prospective campers get to hear someone their own age say, “This is what camp meant to me.” That is a powerful invitation.

So while you're celebrating another incredible summer and everything your students experienced, take a few minutes to capture it while it's fresh. Ask the questions. Record the stories. Save the memories. Because next year, when another student is deciding whether to sign up, the best person to tell them why camp matters may be the student who just came home from it.

Check out a previous blog about the sentence "Church Camp is Where I Learned ______". Church camp is what so many students call the highlight of their summer, and somewhere in the middle of all the fun, students also learn!