Bible Camp 2026: Here on Purpose
Some weekends change you. Bible Camp is one of them.
This year, 107 PAA students, along with chaperones and kitchen volunteers, joined more than 400 high school students from across Oregon and Washington for four days centered on the theme Here on Purpose, more than 600 people total, all gathered in one place to seek God together. The energy was something you had to experience to fully understand.
None of it happens without the village. Parents, PAA alumni, alumni parents, and returning volunteers who year after year choose to give their time and energy so our students can have this experience. We are so deeply grateful for every single one of them.
The spiritual heart of the weekend was powerful. Worship sessions were moving and meaningful, with an incredible praise band made up of mostly PAA alumni leading students into the presence of God again and again. After each session, student life group leaders, including 28 from PAA representing every grade level from freshman to senior, gathered their groups to dig deeper into the messages and help each other apply them to real life. We are so proud of these leaders for stepping up in such an important way.
Friday night's Margins time was one of those holy moments. PAA students shared openly and vulnerably about the impact Bible Camp was already having on them and the vision they had for what they wanted to bring back to PAA and to their everyday lives. The transparency and beauty in that room was breathtaking.
And then there was Sabbath morning. Students rose early and hiked to the top of the hill together, challenging themselves in the dark to arrive at something worth every step: a stunning sunrise and a worship experience that will stay with them for years.
Students were invited to dedicate their lives to God, and two PAA students were baptized, along with several students from other academies. There were tears and joy and the unmistakable sense that God was moving.
The annual Expression Session brought the house down, with student performers pouring their hearts out on the stage in one of the most celebrated traditions of the weekend.
In between it all, students played. Hard. The gym, the skate park, go karts, the giant swing, the climbing wall, pickleball, volleyball, basketball, swimming, diving, foosball, table tennis, and just being teenagers together from across two states. Those friendships and memories matter too.
Here on Purpose. What a theme for a generation of young people who need to hear it. You are not here by accident. God placed you exactly where you are, for exactly this time, with exactly the gifts He gave you.
Our students heard that message this weekend. We pray they carry it with them all year long.
