Asian Camp

The United Methodist Church Asian American Summer Camp, in its 50 year history of empowering and inspirational ministry, has developed a reputation amongst its participants as a family-like community, yielding lifelong relationships and faithful servants of God.

Our Mission Statement

Asian American Summer Camp (AC) is a Christian youth camp sponsored by the National Japanese American United Methodist Caucus (NJAUMC) for all youth entering 10th grade to sophomores in college in the Fall of 2026. In its 51 year history of empowering and inspirational ministry, Asian Camp has developed a reputation amongst it’s participants as a family-like community, yielding lifelong relationships and faithful servants of God.

The mission of “Asian Camp” is to reach out to youth and young adults in our Asian American churches and communities, in effort to lead them toward a closer relationship with Christ. Through worship, fellowship, prayer, growth groups, community builders, and other outdoor activities, Asian Camp encourages campers, as well as staff, to explore their faiths, reflect on their personal identities, and use their spiritual gifts for God’s glory. With special focus on equipping for the future, Asian Camp seeks to instill pride in each camper’s spiritual, cultural, and ethnic identity.

A hallmark of Asian Camp that sets it apart from other Christian summer camps is a tradition of creating its own programming, with inclusion of activities that focus on our Asian heritages and social justice issues relevant to today’s youth. With every aspect of programming, Asian Camp aims to foster an atmosphere of love and acceptance, where youth feel secure in their personal identities, but are still challenged to be all that God has created them to be. Within this context, our intent is to create life-affirming experiences that will root Asian Camp participants in understanding of their relationships with God and their identity.

Future of Camp

We have been blessed to have experienced the sacred, accepting, heartfelt, and spirit-
filled space, we call Asian Camp. Whether it was for one summer or decades of our lives,
we hope you have been impacted in ways that inspired personal and spiritual growth, and friendships that will last a lifetime.

But as all seasons change, Asian Camp 2025 will once again change its structure
and format to merge the Jr. High Camp in the Asian Camp program to a one camp model.
We make this transition with much gratitude for the vision of our founders for the need of
an ethnic faith-based camp, rooted in social justice and identity, to journey forward with
excitement and hope to where God will continue to lead this ministry into the future.
We trust and believe something new and wonderful will be born. Through change, the
fellowship and friendships made can continue with the same spirit of God, working,
blessing, and growing our community in faith and love, forever.

Meet The Directors
2026

Greg Mizukami

Greg is a returning director for Asian Camp. Despite only being able to attend one Asian Camp as a camper, he has spent eleven years at camp as a counselor starting in 2012. As a member of Faith United Methodist Church, Greg works with the middle school and high school youth as a youth advisor.
Throughout the years, Greg has worked with many different individuals and personalities, collaborating with different teams and leadership styles to bring a meaningful experience to the youth both at camp and at his home church. He is excited continue using his experience and skills to help nurture the next generation of leaders along with contributing to the camp experience that has been a spiritual cornerstone to many youth.

Nako Thong

Nako is from Aurora, Colorado and attended Simpson UMC for a large part of his childhood. He has been attending camp since 2018, having been both a camper and counselor. Because his dad is a pastor and had to bounce around from church to church, camp found a special place in his heart because it was the first faith community where he truly felt a stable sense of belonging that he could come back to year after year. His faith is currently being nurtured at Denver Korean Zion Presbyterian Church, where he serves as the English service youth director. He is also in the process of earning his bachelor’s degree at the University of Denver, double majoring in Psychology and Philosophy. Through his studies and faith, he has found a passion in helping people discover a sense of community, morality, and love for God. And this is what he believes is most special about camp. It is a place where you can grow in faith, while also finding life-long brothers and sisters who are willing to walk on this faith journey with you. Nako is overjoyed to help make this meaningful experience possible for all campers, counselors, and fellow directors.

Alex Nii

Alex was born and raised in Fresno, California. He was blessed to attend the United Japanese Christian Church, where he was first introduced to the JHC and AC community. Alex has fond memories of every year of camp, dating back to his first JHC experience in 2014. He attended JHC and AC each year as a camper, and later a counselor, until 2023. He studied Data Science at UC Berkeley, and after graduating in 2025, he felt called to serve as an AC director for his first year. He looks forward to the opportunity in helping foster the spiritual growth for campers in the community that gave and continues to give so much to his life. He is deeply grateful for the Asian Camp community, and how it has the ability to create a fun and safe space for campers, counselors, and staff to learn more about their loving God.