Hi Campers, Theologians, Critics and Fans,

I thought I would take a minute and tell you what’s been on my mind lately. Normally most of you might not care what’s on my mind, but since it may have to do with you, your kids, camp, God, life and life-change…hey…maybe it will be worth a few minutes to mull over. I like the word mull. As many of you know BigStuf has been evolving and watching God as He does some of His most incredible stuff in the lives of students and adults at camp during the summers. Panama City Beach seems like such an unlikely place for people to really discover an intimate relationship with their Creator…yet…if you have been to BigStuf lately you know the undeniable. We never can really put it into words. Everyone who comes says the same thing. It’s just a God thing. Can’t explain it.

I get very anxious sometimes because I want to make sure we do not do anything to mess up this thing God has put together. We put a lot of time into the art and science of the whole environment at camp and sometimes because of all of that time, we start thinking it’s working well. I am sure God wants us to use our heads and think wisely about environments, programming, timing and transitions, as well as video, sound and people…but the bottom line is that if God’s not in the center of it all, it will fail.

Ok…you know all that. So, we decided in order to accommodate the numbers of people who wanted to come to BigStuf, we would have to move somewhere else. Panama City Beach was full. Last year, we did our first camp/conference in Daytona Beach, FL. I was afraid that in the bigger arena, it might not feel as intimate and maybe we wouldn’t have as intense of a worship time. I was afraid that without providing every single meal, people might be dissatisfied. I thought that since the beaches were a bit browner or because there was more than one resort/hotel, people might not come. I didn’t know how people would respond to a four star Hilton as opposed to…well…our “resort” in Panama City Beach!

BigStuf Daytona 2007 has come and gone. Turns out God actually can do what He wants when He wants and where He wants. 4300 people came. The worship time was beyond anything any of us have ever seen. The messages spoke truth that literally transformed churches as well as individuals. The energy in that huge building was over the top. If I were cool or hip I would even say it was “off the chain”.

 

God’s been up to something new and has given us some pretty good indications that we should keep evolving. We get to offer you something even more different this year. (Quick history…every year we have worked hard to make each camp of the summer the same. Much of the same musicians and music…same content, same speakers…because if we created one week that was great, all we had to do was duplicate it for the rest of the summer). But, there is now a New Day! BigStuf Daytona Beach will be different this year than the rest of the camps. We’ll tell you about theme for all the camps in Panama City in our next newsletter, but we’ll tell you about Daytona now. This is the exciting part.

I have been asking a number of people…people you know…the big time pastor speaker guys or writers this one question.
 
If you had only one more time to talk to a group…what would you feel like is the most important thing you could say? Or maybe you have two times, what is it that is so important you couldn’t leave without giving this message?

 
That is what Daytona is gonna be. Francis Chan is gonna talk. Andy Stanley is gonna talk. Jared Herd too. Heck…I even have one thing I want to say.
 

Yes in some ways it is more like a conference than a camp. We have a few other surprises we are working on, so stand by and watch what else is happening at The Daytona Beach Student Conference.

It really doesn’t matter whether it is a camp or a conference. What matters is God putting this thing together to change lives and glorify Him. We believe this will be one of the most life changing times any church groups have ever experienced. There is no doubt that Panama City is still gonna be the BigStuf you know and love, but if you are looking for a fresh change with something totally different from BigStuf…get on line and sign up. Honestly I can’t wait to see what happens in Daytona in July of 2008.

Lanny Donoho