USA East Music BULLETIN - FALL 2019 - ISSUE 3 | Page 12

STAR LAKE MUSICAMP 2019
By Cheyenne Reed, Schenectady Citadel, NY
Appalachian Band.
AUGUST 10-18, 2019 — This was my fourth
year coming to Star Lake Territorial Music
Camp and I always enjoys coming back to
Star Lake because it’s a place where I feel
at home like when a person has their own
“ home away from home “ that’s what Star
Lake means to me. Also it’s a special place
where I can become even more closer to
God and a better musician each and every
day of camp through worship and our
rehearsals that we have 2-3 times a day
where we all work hard. Many Salvationists
from the age of 13 and above come from
all over the eastern territory to be better
musicians and also better christians in
the real difficult world in which we live in
today. Star Lake Music Camp has always
been a great week where everyone can see
old friends and meet new people, but then
also become closer to God by having their
own special times with God to renew their
minds and open their hearts to God.
The theme this week was The Days of
Hope where we all learned that God gave
everyone like Moses and the Israelites in
the book of Exodus, and even us a chance
for hope of a better day.... by giving Moses
and the Israelites a chance of a new home...
by giving us Jesus who died on the cross
to cleanse our sins and give us a new hope
to live for him. All campers would get
assigned to either one or two music staff
and meet in groups of four other campers
and have their own little bible groups. We
would all talk with our groups about things
like “ what is hope to you ? “, “ what hopes
do you have in life and how can God help
you? “ and “ who in our lives gives us hope
in our everyday lives? “. Thursday night was
a powerful night for the holy spirit - the
evening program was Praise and Worship
night... Lots of campers gave their own
personal testimonies which touched the
hearts of other campers. That night the
Holy Spirit came into the hearts of many
campers in many shapes and forms,
everyone was praying with each other - a
trusted friend or a trusted music camp staff
- there were some tears shed but that was
the work of the Holy Spirit.
On Thursday (after a morning of majors
and chorus rehearsals) the whole camp
traveled all the way to Allentown, PA to
Dorney Park - an amusement park with
high and windy rollercoasters and a big
water park... this was a great way to take a
break from all of our rehearsals. Everyone
would get in big groups and would head
to all different rides in the amusement park
or into the water park and had a grand
old time with wonderful sunny weather
through the entire day. Everyone came
back to camp exhausted knowing that
the next day would be the big day for
rehearsals - one last day to prepare for the
Grand Finale.
Wednesday evening was the Preview
Festival where each major ( band, voice
and timberals ) and each chorus would
perform some of the music that they all
worked hard to learn and play in front of
12 • USA EAST MUSIC BULLETIN | FA L L 2 0 1 9
the whole camp as well as friends and
families. We wrapped the end of camp with
our Grand Finale Concert with Bands like
Appalachian Band playing “My Lighthouse”,
“Power Source” and “​
Que Maravilla”​ and
Star Lake Band (conducted by special
guest Southern Territorial Music Secretary
Nick Simmons-Smith) playing his piece
“The Lost” (mid-week) and “Lt. Colonel Ray
Steadman Allen’s “The Holy War” (grand
finale). All choruses including Star Lake
Chorus and Voice Major (led by our other
special guest Assistant Territorial Music
Secretary from Canada Heather Osmond)
sang all different ranges and types of songs
for the Lord. Timberals did a drill to “Feel It”
and everyone was jamming along with the
timberalists.
My highlight of the week was going
to Dorney Park and going on rides and
enjoying a day off from rehearsals with my
friends. Also enjoying the nice cool water
park with wonderful weather. I really didn’t
have a low-point for the week... each day I
learned something new in my majors and
my small group devotions about God’s
love for us. This week at Star Lake helped
me become a better musician but also a
better Christian, learning more about how
God can help me get through this world
that we live in today with the challenges
that we face. I can’t wait for Star Lake next
year and to see what God has in store for
me every day of my life. ■
W W W. M U S I C . S A CO N N E C T S . O R G