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A Christian music festival heal annually at Manidokan Camp & Retreat Center.  Designed for youth and young adult groups this weekend is packed full of workshops, amazing music and experiential worship experiences. 

2011 Dates to be determined

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Encountering Christ

BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

Adventure met evangelism as more than 50 youth and their leaders encountered Christ in new ways when they gathered at Camp Manidokan the weekend of July 17.

Encounter, the first music festival for youth sponsored by the Baltimore-Washington Conference, included opportunities for youth to sleep under the stars, go white water rafting in the nearby river, dance to Christian rock bands, sit under the trees and listen to the preaching of Justin Coleman from Gethsemane UMC in Texas, and play many games, enjoying the camp’s 425 wooded acres in the mountains of West Virginia.

Attendance was smaller than hoped. The event's planners expected more than 200 youth. But this year, the foundations were laid for a tradition that could match the ROCK event, which draws 5,000 youth to an annual retreat in Ocean City each January.

“It’s been a great experience and we intend to build on it,” said Chris Schlieckert, the director of Manidokan.

According to the youth, the bands were the highpoint of the Encounter festival.

Chasen, from South Carolina, known for their 2008 best-selling Christian recording, “Crazy Beautiful,” and their current album, “That was Then, This is Now,” played Saturday night. Willet, from Westminster, played Friday. They have been together for four years and have sold more than 10,000 records, adopted three villages in Africa, funded a missionary to Haiti and performed more than 1,000 concerts around the world.

Also taking the stage was the band Amped, the youth praise band from Mt. Oak UMC in Mitchellville. Amped led the Encounter participants in worship with some of their best known works, like “Shout it Out” and “My Purpose,” both written by Mt. Oak member and worship team leader J.D. Fahr.

Information about Amped is available on the church’s youth website at http://ampedministries.com. You can hear their music at www.myspace.com/amped04 and they’re on Facebook at www.facebook.com/people/Amped-Worship-Band/1636127891.

Amped set the stage for Coleman’s preaching, which encouraged the youth to “set their hearts on amazing tasks.”

“If you want the power to change the world, you need to allow God to work through you,” Coleman said. He urged the youth to encounter the Holy Spirit, so that they can “do more amazing things than they could ever ask or imagine.”

“God is living and dwelling and working in you,” he said. “You have the power to change the world.”