Trại Lavang History

Lavang XXIII

“With great power comes great responsibilities.” After many life-changing events, we put on our masks and swung into Trại Lavang XXIII with the theme of “Across the Bible-Verse”, which focused on the “canon events” of several characters in the Bible combined with elements of, you guessed it, Spider-Man! The very experimental camp saw the first new campsite in more than a decade or two and for the first time in our Đoàn history, we spent our August 11-13, 2023 weekend at Paliza Group Campground in Jemez Springs, NM. Our villains this year was not rain nor cold, instead we battled Albuquerque Public Schools and their wretched schedule change on top of traveling farther away for this new campsite. But just like Spider-Man, we made the most of our shortcomings and were able to bring as many smiles as we could to the friendly neighborhood known as our Lavang family! Each character in the Bible experienced their canon event upon meeting Jesus, who was the catalyst that changed all of their lives for the better. Photini - Chân Thật, also known as the Samaritan Woman, Giakêu - Khao Khát, Zacchaeus, the tax collector that climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus, Dismas - Biến Đổi, also known as the Good of Penitent Thief that repented on the cross, and Batimê - Chiếu Sáng, the blind man who acknowledged Jesus. All four characters’ lives were changed upon meeting Jesus. Jesus was their bitten by a radioactive spider, losing Uncle Ben, meeting Gwen/Mary Jane. Jesus was their canon event. And though the camp was full of smiles and tears, we can web this one up as another historic camp!

Lavang XXII

Here ye! Here ya! Take up your scepters and sit upon your thrones, the time has come for our kings and queens to accept their crowns and rule the kingdom! It is hereby decreed that Trại Lavang XXII shall have the theme of “Royalty” focusing on the kings and queens of the Bible combined with the elements of “Rich and Poor” as we journey together to grow richer in faith and love. By law, the camp will take place from August 19-21, 2022 at Cedro Peak Group Campgrounds in Tijeras, NM. Our kingdom was set, ready for our kings and queens to prove themselves, but Our King upstairs had other plans because from Friday night to Saturday afternoon, we we blessed with a constant downpour. Yet again, we made history with this camp being one of the few to have been cut short in the mountains. Our activities were moved back to church where we spent the rest of Saturday with Lửa Thiêng Thánh Thể and Hành Trình Đức Tin. Though our clothes were dampened, nothing could diminish our spirit! And our royal monarchs rose to the occasion despite all the setbacks! The four groups represented four different kings in the Bible: Menkixêđê (Melchizedek) - Công Bằng, Hezekiah - Vinh Quang, Josiah - Lãnh Đạo, and Solomôn - Khôn Ngoan. Whether golden crowns or crowns of thorns, các em prove time and time again why they are worthy of the mantle of kings and queens.

Lavang XXI

“REDEEM YOURSELF!” Lavang XXI had the theme of “Redemption” which combined elements of the resurrection of Christ redeeming our sins, with the minor theme of arcade - redeeming tickets or points for prizes. The camp took place from October 15-17, 2021 at Cedro Peak Group Campgrounds in Tijeras, NM. This camp was the first camp following the peak of the pandemic and in so, set many records and made history. The lowest temperature on Friday night measured 28 degrees and các em slept with many heaters in their tents. There were only 3 groups this year, missing the presence of ngành Ấu Nhi. The three groups represented three stories in the Bible in which individuals redeemed themselves: Phaolô (St. Paul) - Hiến Thân, Đavít (King David) - Hùng Mạnh, and Mađalêna (Mary Magdelene) - Mến Chúa. “Our setbacks set up our comebacks,” and this camp truly embodied the spirit and eagerness các em craved coming back from our lost year.

Lavang XX

“Your mic is muted! Your screen is frozen! Our 40-minute free Zoom call has ended, we’re going to make a new call so we’ll see you there!” Lavang XX will go down in history as the year of camp we couldn’t have due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lavang XX also made history as the year we had the most kids registered in the Đoàn ever, and we were expecting a very big turnout for camp that year. There were talks of six groups for camp instead of the usual four to accommodate the greater number of participants. Alas, the plans never went through and a few Huynh Trưởng came together to create a mock winning camp group picture with the group name being Côrôna (St. Corona) and the response being “Chiến Thắng”, or victory, in hopes of victory through the pandemic with the intercession of St. Corona. Rather than reserving Lavang XX for 2021, BTV had decided to forever immortalize Lavang XX as a gap year to keep the title of the camp consistent with the current year, therefore Lavang XX will be known as the camp that never happened.

Lavang XIX

“Lavangers! Assemble!” Lavang XIX had the theme of “Champions of Christ” which combined elements of pop culture superheroes and saints, our holy role models, our real-life superheroes. The camp took place from August 23-25, 2019 at Cedro Peak Group Campground in Tijeras, NM. The four groups represented four different “powers” that different saints exhibited throughout history. The powers of faith, hope, courage, and wisdom, with Huynh Trưởng representing love. The four group names were Augustinô (St. Augustine of Hippo) - Vững Tin, Batôlômêô (Bartholomew) - Hy Vọng, Katêria (St. Kateri Tekakwitha) - Can Đảm, and Antôn (St. Anthony of Padua) - Khôn Ngoan. Games, activities, and Hành Trình Đức Tin this year were all centered around the making of real-life superheroes striving to spread heaven to those around them, real-life saints.

Lavang XVIII

“We love Mary, yes we do! We love Mary, how about you?” Mother’s Day turned into Mother’s Weekend this year and was moved about 4 months down. Lavang XVIII had the theme of “Mary” which focused on the Mother of God and her valuable role in our lives as TNTT. The camp took place from September 21-23, 2018 at Cedro Peak Group Campground in Tijeras, NM. The four groups represented four different Marian apparitions in history - Akita (Our Lady of Akita) - Vâng Lời, Lộ Đức (Our Lady of Lourdes) - Truyền Tin, Guadalupê (Our Lady of Guadalupe) - Vững Tin, and Fatima (Our Lady of Fatima) - Mến Chúa. Having Đức Mẹ La Vang as our Đoàn’s patron, this year was particularly special for us, and having our Blessed Mother journeying with us throughout camp was an absolute joy. Mary, did you know … how much we enjoyed camp?

Lavang XVII

“You’re going to Đoàn camp, Harry.” Insert the Harry Potter theme here. Lavang XVII had the theme “Miracles” which focused on the various miracles Jesus had performed throughout the Bible combined with the pop culture theme of Harry Potter. The camp took place from September 1-3, 2017 at Cedro Peak Group Campground in Tijeras, NM. The four groups were assigned with four different miracles Jesus performed in the Bible - multiplying the fish, the wedding at Cana, the healing of the blind, and the As the stories were focused on in the Gospels, the four groups were named after the four Gospel writers - Luca (St. Luke) - Hăng Hái, Gioan (St. John) - Yêu Thương, Máccô (St. Mark) - Vững Tin, and Matthêu (St. Matthew) - Hiên Ngang. This year was especially magical as Huynh Trưởng and các em were able to incorporate the deep lore that existed in the Harry Potter universe including golden snitches, quidditch matches, and even Severus Snape. “They call it magic, we call it miracles.”

Lavang XVI

I feel so alive! We are living our best life and part of that was thanks to Lavang XVI with the theme of “Resurrection” which focused on stories in which the miracle of resurrection was seen in the Bible, including the story of Elijah, the raising of Jairus’ daughter, Lazarus’ resurrection, and the story of Elisha. The camp took place from August 26-28, 2016 at Cedro Peak Group Campground in Tijeras, NM. The four groups brought their spirits “alive” by focusing on their Biblical stories in which life was brought back into someone, and were named after their respective stories - Eli (Elijah) - Có Chúa, Giaru (Jairus) - Vững Tin, Lazarô (Lazarus) - Vinh Quang, and Elisê (Elisha) - Công Chính. Following the theme of “life”, the four groups were given goldfishes at the start of camp and their goal was to keep the fishes alive until the end of camp - a task in which only one group successfully completed.

Lavang XV

Feeling sleepy? Like camp was all a dream? Well, wake up and smell the mudpit because it was anything but a dream. You know what wasn’t a dream? Lavang XV which had the theme of “Dreams”. The camp took place from August 21-23, 2015 at Cedro Peak Group Campground in Tijeras, NM. The four groups focused on those in the Bible whose heads were always counting sheep, which is another way of saying God revealed Himself to them through dreams - Giuse (Joseph) - Thánh Thiện, Đanien (Daniel) - Vững Tin, Giacóp (Jacob) - Tạ Ơn, and Solomôn (Solomon) - Khôn Ngoan. From dream catchers to fluffy clouds and counting cows, did your dreams come true this year? We hope you were able to catch some z’s with all that excitement!

Lavang XIV

From swords and shields to barbarians and archers, did your clan have enough gems to defend your base? We sure hope you did because Lavang XIV had the theme of “Clash of Lavang”. The camp took place from August 1-3, 2014 at Cedro Peak Group Campgrounds in Tijeras, NM. The four groups focused on Bible stories related to battles or wars, including: Đavid - Can Đảm, Gideon - Hào Hùng, Joshua - Chiến Thắng, and Samsơn - Vững Tin. The pop theme was centered around the popular mobile game at the time: Clash of Clans, in which every single person (Huynh Trưởng or Ấu Nhi) constantly had their eyes glued to their screens. Each group was tasked with building a shield to protect their territory (tents). The groups battled it out but in the end, only one won the war. And even though it was the Clash of Lavang, we are all the real winners because God will help us to win any fight.

Lavang XIII

"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Huynh Trưởng attacked.” Whether you were hot as fire, cool as air, tough as earth, or fresh as water, your spirit brought a different element to camp this year. Lavang XIII with the theme of “Elements of Faith” took place from July 26-28, 2013 at Cedro Peak Group Campgrounds in Tijeras, NM. The four groups were each assigned an element with a corresponding figure in the Bible. The coolest of the groups was Gioan (John) - Yêu Thương. The toughest of the groups was Abraham - Vững Tin. The freshest of the groups was Phêrô (Peter) - Trung Tín. And the hottest of the groups was Moisen (Moses) - Tận Hiến. From wet diaper relay games to cone of shame lè phè, what attributes did you take home from this camp?

Lavang XII

“I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it. I will survive, keep on survivin'.” Well, did you survive Lavang XII with the theme of, you guessed it, “Surviver”. The camp took placed from July 27-29, 2012 at Cedro Peak Campground in Tijeras, NM. Survival was the name of the game, and it was surely survival of the fittest. Groups had to dig cooking ingredients out of the ground. At one point, there was a rattlesnake slithering around. There was a sầu riêng eating competition with much gagging and tears. The four groups focused on figures in the Bible who know a thing or two about surviving: Jonah - Vững Tin, Misen (Moses) - Chiến Thắng, Iliah (Elijah) - Vâng Lời, and Gideon - Can Đảm. The Huynh Trưởng were brutal, but by the grace of God, we survived and will keep surviving.

Lavang XI

Halo there. Someone call God because heaven just lost an angel - or actually, quite a few angels, and they all seem to congregate at someplace known as Lavang XI with the holiest of themes - “Angels”. The camp took place from July 19-21, 2011 at Nambe Falls in Santa Fe, NM. The four group names, wouldn’t you know, were named after four angels in the Bible - Raphael - Yêu Người, Gabriel - Truyền Tin, Zadkiel - Công Chính, and Seraphim - Mến Chúa. Aside from “Hallelujah” constantly blasting 24/7, some would fondly remember a Barack Obama mask making its way through the camp. Some would remember the much-coveted umbrella hats that only the group currently in first place got to don. And some (a very scarred some) would remember a PTSD-inducing experience from just the words: “the year with the chickens”. Enough said. If you know, you know.

Lavang X

What camp was the most X-treme? Lavang X, of course! Lavang X took place from July 23-25, 2010 at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in La Joya, NM. The four group names followed four holy locations in the Bible - Betxaiđa - Truyền Giáo, Jerichô - Yêu Thương, Canaan - Có Chúa, and Bêtania - Vững Tin. Lavang X was known as a “combined” camp, combining Lavang IX and X so the camp number would match the year 2010. In doing so, Lavang IX will always be known as the “lost camp year”. Lavang X was also unique in that we camped at Cha Hùng’s parish, complete with its leaky roof and supposed mysterious noises in the middle of the night. As the campsite was a little farther away, ngành Ấu Nhi did not participate with us this year and had their own, separate mini-camp at home. Did Lavang X meet your X-pectations? Did your group X-ceed expectations? After this year, you must be an X-pert in faith.

Lavang VIII

Where is Jesus? Have you seen Jesus? Do you know where Jesus is? Well, let us tell you, Jesus is in all of us. Lavang VIII with the theme of “Jesus is in All of Us” took place from July 31 - August 2, 2009 at Cedro Peak Group Campgrounds in Tijeras, NM. The theme followed the resurrection of Christ, his appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and appearance to Thomas the Apostle. The four groups followed the four Gospel writers: Luca (Luke) - Hăng Hái, Matthêu (Matthew) - Theo Chúa, Marcô (Mark) - Vững Tin, and Gioan (John) - Yêu Thương.

Lavang I - VII

Information about Lavang I - VII have been lost in time. We will work hard on retrieving such vital Đoàn history and would appreciate any former Huynh Trưởng with any information to contact us. Thanks for the journey!