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Family Camp Meeting Invites Members to Experience Hope in Jesus
- Matthew Lucio
- Aug 3
- 3 min read
Matthew J. Lucio
Assistant to the President
for Communication
Over 100 people gathered at Camp Akita, July 22–25, for the 2026 Illinois Conference Family Camp Meeting. Through worship, preaching, music, recreation, and time together, campers explored the Conference theme, “Experiencing the Lord of Hope.”
Illinois Conference President John Grys opened the weekend Friday evening by inviting campers to consider the unfinished stories in their own lives—the circumstances whose outcomes they cannot yet see. Drawing from the women’s encounter with the empty tomb in Luke 24, Grys observed that uncertainty can become the setting in which people encounter God in unexpected ways.
“The presence of darkness does not deny the existence of light,” Grys said. Because Christ is alive, he reminded listeners, hope remains even when the ending is still hidden.
On Sabbath morning, Adrian Murray, director of mission and ministries at AdventHealth North Pinellas, turned to Jeremiah 17 and its contrasting images of a stunted shrub in the wilderness and a tree planted beside water.
Murray began with the story of his mother, who lost money to an elaborate scam just days before an important payment was due. Her experience became a window into the fear and uncertainty of a world marked by financial pressures, illness, violence, conflict, and loss.
Jeremiah did not ignore the brokenness around him, Murray explained. Yet his message was not without hope: those who trust in the Lord are like trees whose roots reach the water and continue producing fruit even during drought.
“Our trust has to be in the Lord. Our hope has to be in God,” Murray said. The question, he suggested, is whether believers are becoming deeply rooted trees or stunted shrubs—and where they have placed their confidence.
Family Camp Meeting kicked off with presentations by Dr. Glenn Russell and morning devotionals from Pastor Ira Bartolome. Russell’s first seminar, “God, Why Don’t You Do Something?” addressed faith amid difficult circumstances, while Bartolome’s devotionals, including “Journaling His Lead” and “Trusting His Lead,” encouraged campers to recognize and follow God’s direction.
Singer-songwriters Matt and Josie Minikus led worship throughout the weekend, using music to reinforce the invitation to rest in God, release fear, and place confidence in His care.
Families also enjoyed Camp Akita’s natural setting and activities, with time to renew friendships and make new memories together.
Murray returned Sabbath evening to the woman who had suffered for 12 years before reaching through the crowd to touch Jesus’ garment. Before she touched Jesus, Murray emphasized, “she heard about Jesus.” The testimonies of what Christ had done for others gave her courage to believe that He could help her, too.
That detail transformed the Conference theme from something to receive into something to share. Those who experience the Lord of hope, Murray said, can “package hope and give it to someone else” through their own testimonies.
In what has become something of a tradition, Family Camp Meeting concluded on Saturday night with those gathered forming a large circle and singing “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” It was a fitting picture of the weekend’s message: a Conference family gathered around Christ, rooted in His faithfulness and prepared to carry His hope home.
NEXT STEPS:
You can watch Family Camp Meeting 2026 here.
Please send any news items of what God is doing around the Illinois Conference to communication@ilcsda.org.
