Daily Faith with Philip Cameron: Special Guest Pastor David Camp
About this episode
Pastor David Camp of West Cobb Church in Marietta, Georgia joins Philip Cameron for a compelling conversation on why the modern church must move beyond event-driven ministry and embrace intentional, one-on-one discipleship. David opens with a deeply personal testimony — the loss of his wife Angela after 32 years of marriage, and how God answered his family's specific, journaled prayers by bringing Beverly, a widow herself, into his life just months later. The conversation quickly turns to the discipleship crisis facing the church today. David warns that "75 to 80% of our kids that graduated high school and go into college will not return to the church," pointing to entertainment-focused ministry as a root cause. At West Cobb Church, David and his team — including outreach pastor Terry Airwood, who served nine years under Francis Chan — have launched a nine-month radical mentoring program targeting men and women under 40. The program requires full family commitment and is built on the New Testament model of life-on-life discipleship. David challenges pastors and church leaders to stop delegating ministry to professional staff and instead become personal change agents. "We have to get one-on-one in the lives of the families within our body," he says. To learn more or connect with West Cobb Church's mentoring program, visit westcobbchurch.com.
Part of our Mentorship collection of conversations.
Quotes worth sharing
“75% of kids that go to college never come back to the church. Never come back.”
“We know what's wrong with the culture, but it's easy to point that out. The difficult thing is choosing to be a change agent, which requires the involvement not just of professional staff. The problem with the church is that we've practiced ministry to professional staff. That's the preacher's job. It's not biblical.”
“If we don't respect each other, we lose each other. What you don't respect, you lose.”
What's Discussed
Pastor David Camp of West Cobb Church (Marietta, Georgia) shares how personal grief — losing his wife Angela after 32 years — deepened his conviction that the church must prioritize relational discipleship over event-based ministry. He and outreach pastor Terry Airwood, a Francis Chan alumnus, launched a nine-month radical mentoring program targeting adults under 40, requiring full spousal commitment. David cites a sobering statistic: 75–80% of students who graduate high school and enter college never return to church. His solution is life-on-life, one-on-one discipleship modeled on the New Testament, with staff held accountable for personal mentoring relationships. Pastors can connect at westcobbchurch.com.
- David Camp's Personal Testimony of Loss and Remarriage
- Journaling and Praying for a Future Spouse
- Meeting Beverly and God's Providential Connections
- Ministry to Widows and Widowers
- The Church's Discipleship Crisis Explained
- The Nine-Month Radical Mentoring Program
- Life-on-Life vs. Event-Driven Church Culture
- Holding Church Staff Accountable for Mentoring
Episode Transcript
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Intro
Philip:Hey, my friend. Welcome to Daily Faith. My name is Philip Cameron, and I am delighted to have you with us. We've got a very important guest today, and we're gonna be talking about something that I think is really needed in the church. We have become an entertainment-based church.
Philip:We go from event to event, but what's gonna grow the church is discipleship. And my friend David Camp, he was with us before with his wife — the most amazing story. I may get him to just recap briefly as to how we met him and through his testimony.
Philip:And he pastors a great church in Marietta, Georgia. So he's gonna be talking to you today, I believe, something that's really important. I was raised by a dad, I was mentored by a godly man that spent hours and months and years pouring into me. I was telling David, I never went to Bible school, but I sat next to a Bible school for years, driving a Winnebago motor home all over America. And he gave me perspective and he gave me how to talk and how to respect those in authority.
Philip:I'd be with him as a young person in a pastor's house, and I would offer a suggestion in the conversation, and he would say to me, Philip, another novice. In other words, don't talk until you know what you're talking about. And that's my background.
Philip:And I see today a whole generation of young folk that have no respect for their elders, have no depth in their heart, and we're gonna be talking about that today, and I believe that you need to hear it. If you love your pastor, get in contact with him today because David's church has a mentoring ministry.
Philip:In fact, one of the things when I teach on church growth, one of the things I talk about is RAMP Ministries. RAMP — reaching and mentoring people. And the whole point of RAMP Ministries in the church is how to mature the church. Because most people today, if the pastor were to go up and speak a good message on the Jehovah's Witness doctrine or the Mormon doctrine, most people in the church would sit and shout amen, because they don't know the difference.
Philip:And unless we get that fixed, we aren't gonna be salt and light. We can't be salt and light unless we have built this culture of godliness and what serving means.
Philip:So I'm excited to have him with us. Are you watching the news? Are you watching what's going on? Have you ever been in a season like this morning? The stock market's down a thousand, and suddenly there is panic in the markets because they're looking maybe at a continuation of the administration that's in, that have told you, we are going to raise your taxes. And let me tell you something, people don't like the government taking the money from them. And suddenly this consolidation, pulling out of the markets to get cash.
Philip:I can see some great, unsettled days ahead of us. And the Bible says in Matthew that — let me do this to you — and except those days be shortened, there should be no flesh to be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. And then we're living in shortened days. Can you believe we are into August? It was Christmas yesterday, and now we're into August already.
Philip:So when you see these things come to pass, lift up your head because your redemption draws nigh. Don't get discouraged. Don't hit panic buttons. Just know that we're literally in this movement towards Jesus coming back. And I can say even so, Lord Jesus.
Philip:So we're delighted to have you share this program. If you could, on your social media, where we're available, you can hit that when we come on the air and you'll be notified. And we love hearing from you. We're just amazed how many folk are being touched and reached by our little program called Daily Faith. We're delighted you're with us. Welcome to Daily Faith.
Philip:Hey, my friend, welcome to Daily Faith today. My name is Philip Cameron and I am absolutely delighted to have you with us. Sometimes a program comes along that really is important, that speaks into your heart and into your spirit. And I believe today is going to be one of those days.
Philip:We have Pastor David Camp with us, and he was sharing with me how the Lord's been using him in his church to begin a mentoring program. And I think you're gonna be blessed and encouraged. If you love your pastor, contact him right now because I believe he may learn something.
Philip:Those that are watching in Tampa, we're glad you're joining us on CTN, every Thursday at 6:30 PM. West Palm Beach, every Monday at 7:00 PM. Fort Myers, every Wednesday at 1:00 PM — we love Fort Myers. Dan Bitzer is a dear friend of mine. I love him so much, him and his lovely wife Darlene. And also in Tulsa, we are on two days back to back, Saturdays and Sundays at two o'clock in the afternoon. We'd love to welcome you and we'd love to hear from you.
Philip:And also, if you're watching on Integrity Network, my dear friend Dale Hill — he put together Victory, Ken Copeland's network, and he has a network of his own called Integrity Network. If ever you see it, it's the app. You can download the app. It's just a big eye on a white background. And you can get that, and Journey Network, WGGS, a whole bunch of other places. So whatever you're watching on, we're just delighted you're here.
Philip:For those that don't know, we have mission work in Moldova and Ukraine. We were in Ukraine six years before the war broke out. We have a house there. Our ministry in Eastern Europe is rescuing and helping girls avoid being trafficked. Why build a hospital at the top? We want to build a hospital at the top of the cliff rather than a morgue at the bottom of the cliff. And we encourage these young folk.
Philip:I just heard literally just as this program was starting, we were getting 25 new kids coming into our village in Vatra. We've got a village in the country of Moldova — a gorgeous place. It was built originally for rich people, and it's right beside the largest lake in Moldova. And they poisoned the lake with chlorine trying to kill algae. And that village of homes was unfinished, so it sat unfinished for nine years.
Philip:And one day my son and I walked through that Village Green, and the Lord challenged us to buy the place. And we have seen miracle after miracle, and these homes are now full. We just had a graduation and some of our kids graduated and left us to go into work. And it was always a bittersweet season.
Philip:But we were getting 25 new kids coming into our village in the next few days. So we were just so excited. And they sent us a video of their graduation, and I think this will really bless you. Watch this.
Hi everybody. My name is Nyia and I grew up in this village, and now me and the team of the Orphan's Hands, we came here to spend time with kids and we have now a summer camp. And this is the fifth day of our camp, the last day. So we are so happy to be here to invest in these kids. Thank you for helping us organize this summer camp. When I am looking at the kids' eyes, I see myself and I'm back to the days when I've been here in their place. I played here and someone studied the Bible with me. And I'm so happy — this is such an honor to be back here, to invest in them as someone did it for me.
Dear Orphan's Hands friends and family, we are so grateful to be here today in Vatra Village. It's the village where we have been doing mission trips for an entire year with the young people from the Vatra Village. And this week we have done the camp, and now we're visiting the children who have been with us in the camp this week. We are so grateful to be able to do this, and thank you for giving us the opportunity to be able to do this. Without you, this wouldn't have been possible. Thank you.
Philip:I introduced the wrong video, but I'm glad you got to see that one. Every girl you saw in a blue T-shirt — every one of those is one of our kids. Every one of those, if caught by a trafficker, if a trafficker gets them, offers them a fake job, deceives them somehow, and they end up going into a car to get a job, that girl will make $300,000 a year for her captor.
Philip:And instead of that, they come to us in Vatra Village. We put them back in school. That young lady was speaking English — it's a miracle. That alone is a miracle. And we are about to take 25 more kids in and we need your help to sponsor them. Will you make a way? Can you help me make a way for one of those kids? If they can't come to us, where do they go?
Philip:They come to Vatra Village and we put them back in school and tell them, if you are born, God has a plan. And the results — we are witnessing those camps. All through the summertime, these young folk went up to the border of Ukraine and Moldova when the war was raging in Ukraine. 800,000 refugees came to Moldova. And a bunch of orphans went up and stood in blizzards, howling gales, and no man's land between the two countries, and fed and prayed and cared for women running with their kids.
Philip:Their husbands had to stay home. No man over 18 or under 65 was allowed to leave. And these women were getting off buses in total, just distraught. And a bunch of orphan kids went up and wrapped their arms around them and told them, Jesus loves you. He helped us. He can help you also.
Philip:And we need you. All that you're seeing being done in Vatra Village — the camps, all the stuff we do in Ukraine — has all come from someone just like you giving a dollar a day. I just think that Nyia, the girl that spoke to you, and the second woman that spoke — she is on an emergency council run by the government, and whenever there's a crisis, this is the council that works it. And so we get firsthand information as to how to help. And we're always there first to care and love and give, and all of it's being done by someone like you giving a dollar a day.
Philip:And I'm gonna ask you to pray today, if you would — what can I do to help someone else? I know we're living in terrible times. I know America's going through all kinds of earthquakes, but if we lose the vision outward, we destroy our present inward. It's only as you cast your bread upon the water that it returns back to you into your life. The Bible says when you give to the poor, you lend to the Lord. You giving to the poor — God is taking that. That's a better reward than a stock market. That's more than your bank will give you in your savings, I promise you.
Philip:So I'm asking you today, please pray about helping us a dollar a day. And I believe that our businessmen and women that could really help us — with these new kids coming in, we've just given the okay to start a church, and we are gonna have to fund a church. That will cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars. We've just bought two houses and a farm all together right on the border of Romania. And we haven't even talked about that yet.
Philip:We have the video, but we haven't released that information yet. So we are challenging ourselves to believe God for crazy things. You can help us by giving a dollar a day. That's what I'm asking you to pray about. You can contact us very simply. PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. You can go to DailyFaith.tv, which is like the base of this program. There's a whole bunch of archived shows there, and there's a giving page. And also you can call right now, live — 833-DAILY-FAITH. Just dial Daily Faith on your pad or your phone and a real-life person will pick up the phone and talk to you. Help us be God's hand extended. Thank you so much.
Philip:I'm excited to have David Camp with us. He was with us a few months ago and has lived through the most unbelievable circumstance of losing his wife, and the wife that God has now given him losing her husband. And they came to each other broken, and God has done amazing things. David, I am delighted to have you back on Daily Faith today. Give us a wee recap, if you would — the story of your testimony, how God has brought joy out of sorrow.
David Camp's Personal Testimony of Loss and Remarriage
David Camp:Beauty from the ashes. And so, Philip, first of all, thank you. I appreciate the opportunity. Very briefly, just to give an overview of the journey that I've walked over the past two years. In September of 2022, I lost my wife of 32 years. Angela and I had been married 32 years. Our very first date, she was 14 years old.
David Camp:So we had known each other most of our lives. And Angela was a type one diabetic, had a drowning accident in our pool due to low blood sugar. And I found her on that day. So it was traumatic in a variety of ways — the moment, the loss. And then, you know, our lives as a family, how do we move forward? Myself, my two daughters and their families, we were lost, but the resolve that we had was to trust in God.
David Camp:And I know that sounds cliche, but we didn't know what steps we were going to be taking next, but what we as a family chose to do was to believe in God, and the faith that we proclaim would actually be the faith that we would live. And in doing that, God just continued to reveal himself. I shared with you, Philip, that I journal quite a bit.
David Camp:And in my journaling, I can look back and I can just see the hand of God, the hand of God, the hand of God. And months after Angela had passed away, my girls and I intentionally began to pray. We all felt as a family that being alone is not what God had for me. Being alone and not having a mate in ministry that would serve alongside — we just really had it impressed upon us that he had something for me.
Philip:And your daughters were in on this. I mean, they were believing this, in on this.
David Camp:Absolutely. That's amazing. And in my journal, we wrote out the woman that God would bring into my life. And we prayed over, specifically, a widow. We prayed over someone who had a desire and a heart for ministry, to be a part of ministry. And lo and behold, as we began to pray over that, just less than two months after we started intentionally praying, I met Beverly at a grief event that I was speaking at.
David Camp:And what was unique about this is we had one mutual friend who had known myself and Angela from high school — had known us that long — and knew Beverly and her late husband Matt through a small group they were in together for some ten years.
David Camp:And we were at this group event and that mutual friend connected us. And from there, God did his thing, brought us together, and just amazing. And we now call what God has done — we saw the Lord, as the song says, he heard and he answered. And that was for both of us. And come to find out, Beverly had known my wife — she was my wife's Jazzercise instructor for eight years.
Philip:That's crazy connections.
David Camp:Yes. So it's an amazing, amazing story. And since then, we've continued to dedicate ourselves to pouring into the lives of widows and widowers. We're actively involved in two ministries — Refuge Widowers and Never Alone Widows. And God has used the struggle of our lives, the struggle of our faith, and in that process he's used us to impact the lives of other people.
Meeting Beverly and God's Providential Connections
Philip:He's continuing to do it. What a story. And you mentioned that you're mentoring people, and what I want you to talk about today for a few minutes, if you could, is that God has led you in a very unique thing. And I think it's important because I believe that the culture of the church is being lost. There are things about culture that are more important than we realize. We tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater. And what we've ended up with is a church that is cultureless. And God's been using you to mentor people in this situation. Tell us what God has led you into. I think it's really important that folk listen to this.
Ministry to Widows and Widowers
David Camp:So when coming to West Cobb Church, it was a church that had gone through some significant transition. And praying over what God would do at West Cobb Church, I was very blessed to have God bring to us who is now Terry Airwood, who is now our Pastor of Outreach and Family Ministries. And Terry served nine years under Francis Chan in California.
David Camp:And so we really felt impressed that the church had to be more — because Terry had lived this at Francis's ministry — it had to be more than just coming to an event, hearing a speaker, and going away. And how did we get ourselves in a position as a body where we were doing life on life? That's the goal of the ministry. Life on life, making disciples.
The Church's Discipleship Crisis Explained
David Camp:And in order to do that, Philip, you have to challenge the body to do what the New Testament says. It is discipleship. It is one-on-one. It is getting involved in the messy things of life.
David Camp:And in fact, what I would say is even in my loss, the journey that I went through — the body of West Cobb Church so dove into the mess of that existence, and the benefit that I saw by those people pouring into my life is exactly now what the ministry has to convey one-on-one. And so at West Cobb Church, the leadership has 100% focused on ministry, on mentorship, and we've launched radical mentoring programs.
Philip:Tell us, how do these outwork? Give us an outline of what it is.
David Camp:So the details around this, Philip — number one, we're engaging young men and young women that are below the age of 40. One of the powerful pieces of information that will show you the ineffectiveness of the church today is that some 75 to 80% of our kids that graduated high school this year and go into college will not return to the church.
David Camp:And so we've spent all this time and money and energy on all of this entertainment toward our children, toward our youth events, et cetera. But when they graduate high school and when they enter into college life, it's likely that they will not return to the church. So what does that tell you about what we're doing?
The Nine-Month Radical Mentoring Program
Philip:What's that statistic again? How much percentage of the church kids — what is it?
David Camp:75% of kids that go to college never come back to the church. Never come back.
Philip:And so what it tells you is what we're doing is not working.
David Camp:Absolutely. And that hit me in such a way that we stepped back and we said, listen, we have to get one-on-one in the lives of the families within our body. We specifically started with a focus on men, challenging the men of our congregation. And so this particular program that we take both young men and young women through, below the age of 40, it's a nine-month program. If you're married, your spouse has to commit to the process.
David Camp:So the family as a whole has to understand that there's time gonna be taken out of your month, out of your days, and that you're going to get one-on-one in a relationship with someone who can help you grow as a believer, as a father, as a husband, as a mother, as a wife. And here's the thing, Philip, that I get concerned about — is that culturally within the church, we still are very event-oriented.
Life-on-Life vs. Event-Driven Church Culture
David Camp:But how are we going to really create change socially, culturally, if we're not willing to do the grassroots work? And the grassroots means that you have to choose to pour yourself into the lives of the next generation so that they in turn can carry on the work and the mission of the church. And I fear, are we really ready to do the hard work, the heavy lifting, and inconvenience ourselves in such a way that we're going to dive into the mess of the lives of those people that are in our communities and in need of our church?
Philip:When I was growing up in our church, we had mothers in Israel — that's what you call them. And these old women in the church, if you were acting up, they could just say to you, Philip Cameron, you better behave yourself and I'll talk to your father. Or they would sit with a girl that's just a wee bit shy to come to church. And where that comes from is in the structure of life. In ancient Israel, you had judges, but you had mothers of Israel that were like under the judges.
Philip:So a lot of the smaller discipline situations, the smaller issues in life, you would go to a mother in Israel and she could say, no, you are wrong. You are right. Stop that nonsense. Get back to work and get back to life. And we've lost all our grandmothers — they're now on jet skis. We can't find them because they're doing what 20-year-olds do.
Philip:Do you have a way that folk can contact you to get this kind of information?
David Camp:Yeah. If your listeners go to westcobbchurch.com — West Cobb Church dot com — it will allow them to connect with us and we can move them through that process and share with other pastors what we're doing. We would love to engage with other pastors about what we're doing that's working or not working. And look, Philip, I would say these final words — we know what's wrong with the culture, but it's easy to point that out. The difficult thing is choosing to be a change agent, which requires the involvement not just of professional staff.
David Camp:The problem with the church is that we've practiced ministry to professional staff. That's the preacher's job. It's not biblical. So what we're challenging our body to do is life on life, one-on-one, involved in mentoring. And we're trying to model that as leaders within the body, demonstrate it with the way that we live our lives. We actually keep tabs as a staff — how many people did we meet with that are in our community or seeking out our church from month to month? We're tracking it and we try to hold each other accountable. Who are we getting one-on-one with? And who are we pouring into?
Holding Church Staff Accountable for Mentoring
Philip:I can't tell you how grateful I am to hear you talk about this, because I think a whole segment of Christian life is being lost. I mean, they went from house to house and made disciples. When we were growing up in Scotland, you were always in your auntie's house, even though they weren't your auntie. I'm 70 years old almost, and there are people that I still call Uncle Robert and Uncle Jan and auntie from my youth, because of the respect that was put in us. That's all gone. And if we don't respect each other, we lose each other. What you don't respect, you lose.
Philip:David, thank you so much for being with me today. Let me put that address up again, because I really think this is important. West Cobb Church — Cobb with two b's — westcobbchurch.com. Get in contact. They have information that you can utilize and plug in, and I believe have the same impact in your church. Thank you so much for being with me today. I want you to come back again.
David Camp:Love to, anytime. Thank you so much.
Philip:Listen, thank you for watching Daily Faith. We love you being with us. Write us today, contact us. Help us with those kids in Moldova and Ukraine. We'll see you again. God bless. Bye-bye.
For over 25 years, the Cameron family has been changing the lives of orphans in Romania and Moldova — from providing running water, flushing toilets, and clean wells, to coal for heat, new windows, as well as food and clothing. They champion the physical needs of the orphans in these broken and desolate countries. Many of Moldova's orphans are saved from the horrors of trafficking through homes founded by the Camerons. And in the process, orphans become daughters and sons. They come to know their heavenly Father and are forever changed by the love of Jesus.
God helped the Camerons lift these amazing young men and women out of darkness, now no longer orphans. They want to return and invade that very same darkness with the light of Jesus Christ. The Orphan's Hands equips these daughters and sons to become missionaries. Your monthly gift of $31 will allow us to rescue and take in more girls and boys, saving them from the hell of human trafficking. Your monthly partnership will allow us to care for those in the Orphan's Hands homes in Moldova and Ukraine. If you want to join Philip and Chrissy in taking care of these precious young people, please contact us today by calling 833-DAILY-FAITH. You can also give by going online to www.dailyfaith.tv or by writing to PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. So many lives depend on what we do. Thank you for loving the lost.
Common questions
What happened to Pastor David Camp's first wife and how did he meet his current wife?
David lost his wife Angela in September 2022 after she had a drowning accident in their pool caused by low blood sugar — they had been married 32 years and he found her that day. After intentionally praying with his daughters for a new partner in ministry, he met Beverly less than two months later at a grief event where he was speaking. It turned out Beverly had been Angela's Jazzercise instructor for eight years, and the two were connected through one mutual friend who had known both families.
What is the statistic David Camp cites about young people leaving the church after high school?
David says that 75 to 80 percent of kids who graduate high school and go to college will never return to the church. He uses that figure as evidence that the church's current event- and entertainment-driven approach to youth ministry simply isn't working.
What does the mentoring program at West Cobb Church actually look like?
The program targets men and women under the age of 40 and runs for nine months. If a participant is married, their spouse must also commit to the process so the whole family is involved. The core idea is one-on-one, 'life on life' discipleship — getting personally involved in the messy realities of people's lives rather than relying on events or professional staff to do all the ministry.
Why does David Camp think the church has failed at discipleship?
David argues the church has wrongly treated ministry as the job of professional staff rather than every believer, and has leaned too heavily on events and entertainment. He believes real, lasting change requires ordinary church members to do the 'heavy lifting' of pouring themselves one-on-one into the next generation — something most congregations have been unwilling to do.
How can pastors or churches connect with West Cobb Church to learn about their mentoring model?
David invites pastors and church leaders to reach out through westcobbchurch.com. He says the team would love to share what is and isn't working in their program and engage with other churches that want to build a similar culture of mentorship and discipleship.
Topics
david campdiscipleshipchurch mentoringwest cobb churchnext generation faithlife on life ministry