Had the great opportunity to speak at the NC West district youth lock-in on Friday night. Yahoo maps let me down yet again and we arrived late. The worship was rockin when we arrived(11 from Denton attended). It was a great night and probably the most fun I’ve ever had a lock-in because I wasn’t in charge and worried about who was doing what and where. I say it was the most fun because I got to play just enough basketball and hang out with our group. It was the first time the kids from Denton got to meet “Camp Heath.” “Camp Heath” shows up when the clock gets past 2 am and he is alot of fun. He has no inhibitions and is all about inclusive entertainment. “Camp Heath” eats boxes of ice cream sandwiches on a challenge, creates the top 10 hit “Try the Chi Lattes”, free style raps with the best of them, and has a cheer list to rival them all. He adapts to the moment and brings out the humor in the moment or puts some there if needed. I think he knows that sometimes he’s being laughed at and not with, but frankly, I don’t think he cares as long as people are laughing. “Camp Heath” lives by the Bible, but doesn’t come to Bible study. He seems to so up when he’s needed, and I don’t think he’s ever been anywhere he wasn’t wanted. One young lady was a bit scared by the appearance of “Camp Heath” at the lock-in, but I think she was just concerned for my health. I asked her if she liked “Camp Heath” and she said yes, but she just wasn’t expecting him. I say all of this to say that “Camp Heath” is not a mask. Batman has to wake up every morning and pretend he’s Bruce Wayne while Clark Kent is Superman. Maybe it’s just that I go to extremes and when it’s time to be serious I’m all in and when someone says I can’t finish a box of ice cream sandwiches in 2 hours then it’s on like Donkey Kong. We all have different layers and aspects to our personalities, but not all of us have to name them. Sometimes, the “Camp Heath” in me wants to be fronting for a rock band on tour while “Daddy Heath” is content to hang around the house and family. I get just as much joy out of leading an altar call at camp as I do stage diving during the closing song of the service. Will I wake up one day and “Camp Heath” be gone? Will he ever be replaced by “Senior Pastor Heath?” Hopefully, there will always be a place for transformational entertainment and as long as there are ice cream sandwiches to be eaten, lives that need hope, camps that need rappers, and faces that need smiles then all of me is all in.
“Camp Heath” was very well known at Corinth #2 Baptist in the youth group there! He’s definitely still part of the real Heath Mullikin it sounds like! My favorite memory of “Camp Heath?” Was it rappin’ in “Puttin’ on the Gospel Hits” or maybe listening to him entertain everyone during a long drive to White Oak Baptist Youth Camp in the middle of nowhere? Or during a lock-in where we bowled, skated and drove around all night? Either way, I don’t think “Camp Heath” will ever disappear!