ABOUT ROSE CITY WORK CAMP

Rose City Work Camp was originally founded in 2020 in hopes of launching a full Work Camp experience for youth in the Portland Metro Area to serve their communities and bless their neighbors.  COVID changed those plans, resulting an extended period of church engagement as our staff worked with local area youth leaders on how best to launch our program.

Though new to the Portland area, Rose City Work Camp is an affiliate ministry of Flower City Work Camp which has been operating youth service events in Rochester, New York since 1985.  In Rochester – the Flower City – youth from 58 partner churches spend the week of Spring Break each year on mission by delivering upwards of 30,000 hours of service.  And the students are huge fans of their experience.  As the saying there goes, “the worst part of Camp is having to go home.”

“God instituted the Church to be His hands and feet here on earth.
There is no Plan B.”  – Matt Maher, Christian Music Artist

The Church has the primary responsibility to do good in our communities.  Service is our response in the living out of that duty.  Traditionally, mission trips were thought of as being out of the country or out of state, which are expensive and complicated to pull off. But,  in truth, there are enough needs – physical, emotional, spiritual – in our own community that can be met.  By mobilizing students into mission work locally they gain a greater appreciation for the needs right around them and make an impact locally that benefits their own community.  By making local service available, we can also include more students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to go away.

Our program focuses on youth as the servants because we want them to understand that even at their young age they are equipped and called to bless others.  And we want them to catch a vision for their future, to be people who are generous, who share the good news of Jesus and who look for where help can be given.  Whether it becomes their vocation in life, or just a flavor of their personality in some other professional pursuit or the families they raise, these life lessons taught early deliver amazing results.

Rose City Work Camp will begin with targeted, single-day service opportunities called “Weekend Edition”.  These sessions utilize teams made of up students and adult volunteers from multiple churches to work on homes, conduct service projects and meet needs where they are identified.  Our hope is that within a few years of launching this program and building this culture we can implement a full Work Camp where students live and work together over the course of a week.

The Church unified is a beautiful thing.  The Church living out its mission together is even more beautiful.  Join us as we mobilize the church into service so that the city might see Jesus!