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YOU ARE NOW AT
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CHRISTIAN YOUTH CAMP MINISTRIES
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In 1974 while attending a religious conference, a group of men with a vision and serving
as representatives of many Slavic (Ukrainian, Russian, Polish, etc.)churches in the
eastern part of the United States and Canada met at the First Pentecostal Church in
Toronto, Ontario. At that meeting and after much debate and planning, an organization named Slavic Christian Youth Camp was born. A Constitution was drafted and approved by themembers present. The document was a simple blueprint for the organization, and consisted of two standard size 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of paper, one which briefly outlined the duties of officers and one which was an organizational flow chart.
At that time it should be noted that there was another Slavic Church organization
already operating a "Family Camp," however these men believed that there was a
greater need to establish a special camp program specifically dedicated and geared
toward the young people of those churches, since young people tend to be more open
and responsive when alone with their peers. Two individuals were selected to operate the Youth Camp program and they were called Camp Directors, one for the United States and one for Canada. Both were charged with setting up and running the Camps which were to be held once annually in the summer. The original plan mandated that camp locations would alternate between camp sites in both countries in order to make travel less of a burden to everyone every year.
The first camp took place in the summer of 1975 and was held at the facilities of the
New Jersey District Assemblies of God camp located on Schooleys Mountain, in New
Jersey. It was very successful, and at a wrap up meeting, the concept was officially
adopted and approved for future planning. By 1977, a younger group of people looked at the way the organization was being run, and they believed that the two Camp Directors were overburdened with work involving the camp, and a proposal for reorganization was brought forth and approved at another conference in Union, NJ.
A transitional committee was put in place to revamp the organization. That committee outlined and presented a more feasible operating plan and it was adopted
and incorporated. Changes involved setting up an Executive Board (Board of Directors)
and delegating various responsibilities to members of the Board rather than having one
person do everything.
The original "Camp Directors" would still be used as Camp Directors while at the
camp, however administrative functions were to be handled by an independently
elected board. The original Constitution was revisited, and a document containing
more specific and detailed attributes was drafted and accepted by the member churches. The revised document consisted of twenty one pages including a flow chart. The organization was renamed Christian Youth Camp Ministries of the Eastern United States and Canada.
All of the staff and Administrative Board and Directors were unpaid volunteers. They
worked with the organization because they wanted to serve others. No one was paid for
their work, as each staff member considered this a ministry or a labor of love.
As the years progressed, camps were held in the United States and Canada, and the
most successful years were in the mid 80’s. Many young people benefited from these
camps, however in the early 90’s, the number of young people interested in attending
decreased, not because of the program that was being offered, but because parents were
allowing their children and young teens more options in where they went on vacations
unsupervised. I cannot imagine my parents letting me go to Myrtle Beach, SC or to Florida
with a group of friends unsupervised, but this is life and things change.
Locating camp grounds became increasingly difficult, even after joining Christian Camping
International. Facilities were booked up solid, and purchasing our own facilities was
difficult at best, since those who we relied upon for financial assistance did not share a
larger vision and only offered excuses and reasons as to why purchasing our own property
was not feasible.
The last year that this organization held a youth camp was in 1993. At a meeting of the
Executive Board just prior to the 1993 camp, Mario Romualdo, Jr., who was active with the
organization for 16 years and went from a recreation staff member to Executive Administrative
Director Based declared to the board that the mission of Christian Youth Camp Ministries had
come to an end. The organization could no longer function as envisioned, nor with dwindling
numbers of campers.
Naming factors such as the inability to attract and hold on to staff members who were
no longer interested in working (even though camp fee for these people was covered) and
the sharply decreasing attendance numbers, and after much personal struggle in prayer, it
was apparent that the mission of the organization had come to an end.
Additionally, the Slavic Churches began to break away from their association primarily
due to an influx of immigrants who had different concepts and ideals in serving God. It’s a
shame that people no longer want to work for ministry anymore. Mario would always
respond people seeking paid jobs by saying that he volunteered his time for 16 years in
service for the Kingdom and Glory of God, and could not justify giving any worker payment
for their services. It should be noted though that by this time, staff members were attending
camp completely free of charge in exchange for their time for several years.
After the 1993 camp, the organization was dissolved, and operations were transferred to the
Youth Department of the Ukrainian Evangelical Assemblies of God Church in Union, NJ as
they were one of the founding churches, and provided the most financial support, along with
the most attendance from a group. Within several years, they also dropped the program and
instead opted to offer the Assemblies of God Youth Camp program instead.
Christian Youth Camp Ministries remained partially active in some ways up until the spring
of 2006 and Mario Romualdo remained the last official contact for the organization. Believe it
or not, CYCM continued to receive mail and inquiries ranging from perspective employees to
perspective campers requesting information on our camp program until 2004.
In the spring of 2006 which was thirteen years after the dissolution of CYCM, all of the
files and records of the organization was reviewed for historical purposes and with some
exceptions all of the files were purged (by shredding) and are no longer available. All that
remains are the memories and photos of good times with good friends.
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