By: Jeff Brannan
The Fall at Hume Lake is an exciting and unique time of year. As soon as our Summer camp season comes to a close in mid-August, our Fall season begins. This Fall, in addition to running our Spiritual Emphasis and Outdoor Education programs (which are our Christian School youth camps), our Adult and Family Ministry Retreats, and hosting several Guest Groups, we also filmed our 2024 Winter Camp theme videos on site here at Hume Lake in the Meadow Ranch Chapel.
It was an awesome time where people on our Program and MarCom teams from all three of Hume’s campuses (Hume Lake, Hume SoCal, & Hume New England) came together to make this project possible. During week 10 of Summer, our Hume New England Program Director, Madie Brown, one of our Hume New England MarCom team, Christopher De La Rosa, and a handful of amazing volunteers came out here to Hume Lake to work alongside the other Winter Camp directors, Harrison Wise, Mikey Portis, and Analisa De Armas. They began building the film set in different areas around camp, all while summer camp was still going on during week 10.
We also called our previous Hume Film Director, Josh Fapp, to see if he would at all be able to help us film these videos. And we are so thankful to the Lord for His provision, and that the timing worked out for Josh to be able to take on this project. As the film set was mostly built, but still in a variety of pieces and places around camp, Josh arrived here at Hume Lake on a Sunday, along with William Hellmuth, the cinematographer.
As soon as Josh arrived, he began working with our actors, Jackson Cummings and Mark Zazzo, reading through the script and nailing down their dialogue. The rest of the crew worked tirelessly to assemble and set everything up in the Meadow Ranch Chapel; the film set, props, lighting, video, audio, and other production equipment, all in about 30 hours.
We began filming on a Tuesday, spent about four days filming, and wrapped up on a Friday. During those days, a few of the Hume Lake MarCom team (Tucker Horton, Brady Andrews, and Melanie Welch) along with our newly hired Hume Film Director, Rebecca Strauss, also jumped in to help Josh, William, and Christopher film this project. It was an incredible team effort by everyone to make this project possible.
These theme videos are set as a late-night talk show, where the host is interviewing the Solomon character, who is a wealthy, tech genius, near the end of his life. Throughout each weekend, we will show this series of short theme videos with the hope and purpose of pointing students back to God’s Word, as well as setting up each message that our speakers will be sharing at camp.
Every weekend this Winter, we will be walking through the book of Ecclesiastes to help students understand the necessity of truly knowing and fearing God in this fallen and confusing world. Our hope for students is that by the end of the weekend, they leave camp understanding that although many of us look for meaning and purpose in this world, it is only through Christ that we will find true meaning and purpose, as we understand what it means to fear God and obey His commands.
You can find more details about our Winter Camps, including promotional videos and other information about this Winter Camp’s theme on our website here:
We are so excited for what God is going to do in the hearts and lives of students this Winter. Please join us in praying for these students and counselors; that God would begin preparing their hearts now for what He has in store for them at camp, and that He would receive all glory, honor, and praise.
Jeff Brannan is currently serving as the Youth Ministry Director, where he oversees the camp director team for all of the youth camps throughout the year at Hume Lake. Jeff and his wife, Jenny, have been serving up at Hume Lake full time for the past 11 years, where Jenny is currently working as one of the teachers at the Hume Lake Charter School. They are blessed to have three boys; Samuel (12), Ethan (12), and Zachary (9), who are full of energy and definitely keep them on their toes.
