Munger Old Testament Parking Lot Campout
This is going to be fun: we are going to do a campout in the Munger parking lot inspired by an Old Testament holiday. Seriously.
Sukkot
The Festival of Tabernacles (also called the Festival of Booths) was “one of ancient Israel’s three giant annual feasts, celebrated in autumn” (from The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary). Every fall, the Israelites would build temporary shelters (or “booths” or “tabernacles”) and live in them for a week to remind them that when they came out of Egypt, they lived in tents on their way to the Promised Land. (See Leviticus 23:33-43.) In Hebrew, the word for a single shelter is a sukkah—plural sukkot—so the holiday was called Sukkot in Hebrew. (Pronounced “sue-COTE”.)
It’s such a cool holiday: every year you get to stay outdoors with your family in a shelter you build and be reminded that all of life is temporary, but that you are heading toward the Promised Land.
(Did you know that Jesus celebrated the Festival of Tabernacles? Read about it in John 7.)
Sukkot in Nehemiah
The Festival of Tabernacles is one of the holidays that Nehemiah and Ezra got the returned exiles to observe in 445 BC—you can read about it in Nehemiah 8:13-18.
(Sukkot observance in modern-day Jerusalem.)
The Munger Old Testament Campout
Since we’re reading through Nehemiah, and since 2020 has been such a downer, we though it would be fun to do a campout at Munger as a way to make the connection to what we’re reading. That’s the whole point: something fun.
When: 6 PM Friday, September 17 to 9 AM Saturday, September 18.
Where: The Munger main parking lot. Campsites are every other parking space around the perimeter of the lot. We’ll keep the center of the lot free for hanging out, fire pits, etc. Church bathrooms will be open, but the event will take place outside.
Cost: Free! And we’ll provide dinner Friday and breakfast Saturday.
What to Bring: Tent/sleeping bags/chairs, etc—basically whatever you want to bring to make yourself comfortable. Bring your own fire pit and wood, s’mores, games, etc. Because Sukkot was also about hospitality, bring stuff to share with another family. Who knows?
Who’s Invited: Anyone who wants to come! If you’re not a camper, so what? You’ll never have an easier camping experience. All ages.
What About Security? We’ll have a police officer on site all-night.
What’s the Program? Andrew teach a brief family-friendly Bible study lesson on Friday evening and lead a brief morning prayer time on Saturday morning. Otherwise, we hope folks just hangout and play games and have fun. Think of it as a giant tailgating experience. We’ll set up our Gaga pit, 9-Square-in-the-Air, and other outdoor games, but bring whatever you have that seems like fun.
Registration is now closed.
P.S. Watch this movie beforehand
Jake Porter on our staff recommended this movie to Andrew several years ago. It’s an Israeli movie called Ushpizin (“the Guests”) that’s about what happens to one family celebrating Sukkot in modern Jerusalem.
The movie is available to rent for $2.99 on Amazon Prime. It’s probably a bit over the heads of little kids, but is recommended for middle-school aged kids and up.