BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (ABP) — A youth ministry aligned with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has postponed the normal Nov. 1 registration for its popular Passport camps by one week in light of power outages in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast caused by downgraded Hurricane Sandy.
Passport has held summer youth camps on college campuses for 20 years. This summer’s sites include Averett University in Danville, Va., Wingate (N.C.) University and Mercer University in Macon, Ga.
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Historically, half of church groups that attend one of 35 sessions of Passport camp each summer sign up on the first day of registration, officials of the Birmingham, Ala., based ministry said Oct. 29. Many of the most popular dates sell out the first day, and returning campers have learned to register early.
“We understand that church calendars are planned months in advance, so having fair access to sign up for a specific session is critical,” Passport president David Burroughs said in a news release.
As a result, the ministry decided to move the first day of registration to Wednesday, Nov. 7, so people in affected areas don’t miss out on a chance to attend because they are shut out by the storm.
“Our prayers are with those in the path of this storm,” Burroughs said. “The student ministers who lose power in the affected areas will have more important priorities to manage then getting on-line and in the line for next summer’s camp.”
Spanning 900 miles, Sandy has cut power to about 8 million customers from South Carolina to Maine. Damage forecasts already exceed $20 billion, about half the economic impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the nation’s most costly natural disaster.
Bob Allen ([email protected]) is managing editor of Associated Baptist Press.