Off-Site Ministry 24 www.ccca.org April/May 2017
by Deborah Christensen BRINGING CAMP TO THE CAMPERS HOW DAY CAMPS AND MOBILE CAMPS ARE IMPACTING LIVES A couple of summers ago, Cindy Rogness of Inspiration Point Christian Camp & Retreat Center (Clitherall, Minnesota) received a call from one of her coordinators to tell her about two little girls who attended one of their day camps. These girls had never heard the Gospel or even been inside a church. But for some reason, their parents allowed them to come to the day camp. As a result, both girls decided to follow Jesus and wanted Bibles. The church Inspiration Point partnered with got the Photo courtesy of Eagle Lake Camps opportunity to do the follow-up with them. Rogness said, Those two little girls lives were impacted eternally. April/May 2017 www.ccca.org 25
KIDS START A CONNECTION AND GET TO KNOW CHRIST, AND THE LOCAL CHURCH IS RIGHT THERE TO FOLLOW UP. DOMINIC BROWN Photos courtesy of Eagle Lake Camps Not only do day camps and mobile camps have an opportunity to change lives, but they can also provide busy parents with viable options during the summer. For many families with two working parents, finding meaningful and quality ways for their children to spend the summer has become quite a dilemma. A day camp can provide kids with a memorable summer experience while also introducing them to new friends and new concepts and helping them grow spiritually. To a lot of parents, day camps are a form of child care. And when a day camp can offer depth and meaning beyond fun and games, it s a win for everyone. What These Camps Look Like Many camps run day camps, either on their property, or they go mobile by partnering with churches and taking camp to a partner church s site or community. Some day camp teams travel several states from their home base. Most of them minister to elementary-age kids, usually first grade to sixth grade. The camps provide games, activities, small-group times and introduce kids, many for the first time, to a God who loves them and has a plan for their lives. Most of these camps run for several hours a day, Monday through Friday, although some, such as Inspiration Point, run four-day programs. Mobile day camps typically partner with churches to build relationships with kids and minister to families, and day camps use their own property to reach kids and families in their community. Partnering with Churches or Serving at Home Mobile day camps primarily function through partnerships with churches. While the camp staff provides activities, Bible studies and programming, the churches do the ongoing work of nurturing those relationships after the day camp leaves. Our goal is to be a catalyst for churches to reach their community, said Shane Klackner of Eagle Lake Camp (Colorado Springs, Colorado), to help their outreach program, to get those people involved in the church and forming one-on-one 26 www.ccca.org April/May 2017
relationships. That s our heart. According to Klackner, day camp provides the opportunity for the local church to build those relationships with members of the community in a fun and nonthreatening way. Dominic Brown of SpringHill Camps (Evart, Michigan) added, We can take our climbing wall to a park and kids will show up. But if you re not using that to introduce kids to Christ, then what s the point? Kids start a connection and get to know Christ, and the local church is right there to follow up. SpringHill identifies churches that are mission-minded, able to mobilize their people and can offer facilities for the camp to operate. But the camp also continues their relationship with the churches throughout the entire year. In the fall, they bring the church partners together to share ideas. Also, their camp directors live in their particular region. This allows them to support the partner churches on a continuing basis. Rogness believes that the day camp breathes new life and excitement into the church because many church volunteers are spread so thin. When we come in, it brings energy and encouragement to those who are running things. The Inspiration Point program includes a one-hour service project. It can be anything from putting on a program at a local senior center to packing backpacks for children in need. The children are learning what it looks like to serve others and to give back to the church and community. Not all day camps are mobile. Some operate right at home on camp property. Even though Fircreek Day Camp (Bellingham, Washington) runs its program at The Firs, it is on a distinctly different site (six miles from the resident Camp Firwood) and provides separate experiences. While Camp Firwood is EXTRA INFO CHEERING FOR CHAMPIONS A special-needs camp that s always on the go When campers arrive in the morning to a Champions Day Camp (Overland Park, Kansas), they receive a Red Carpet Welcome. The camp staff, dressed in funny clothes, greets each camper while music is playing. Someone welcomes them by name over the microphone. And they walk the red carpet as everyone cheers. Champions is a unique day camp. All of our campers have some kind of special need, either an intellectual, cognitive or physical disability, said Alison Gromer, the founder and director of Champions Special Ministries, Inc. There are resident camps and secular camps that minister to people with special needs, but she said, We are one of a very few Christian mobile day camps. They provide a high-energy, fun-filled day of activities, sports, arts and crafts, dance, Bible study and prayer. Everything we do focuses on Jesus, sharing His love and sharing the Gospel with them. Currently, they run seven different day camps. Their goal is to give an individual with special needs a Christ-filled summer camp experience. Their campers range in age from 6 through adult. Their oldest camper was 71. Gromer s education and background are in serving people with special needs. After transitioning out of a residential camp, she and her husband prayed about what to do next. The Lord said, Do it. Go out and start your own camp, she said. They founded Champions in 2013. It s been a journey of faith. God has been so faithful to meet every need. And they are clearly touching lives. One little girl doesn t sleep the night before camp because she is so excited to go. And a mother told Gromer her son made more progress in a week at camp than in an entire year of therapy. Deborah Christensen Photos courtesy of Champions Day Camp April/May 2017 www.ccca.org 27
IF KIDS TRUST YOU WITH THEIR PLAY, THEY'LL TRUST YOU WITH WHAT YOU SAY. DARELL SMITH activity-intensive, Fircreek is programintensive, including a weekly theme. Kids can come for more than one week. Some campers come to Fircreek for all nine weeks, according to Darell Smith. Our community mission is that we are partnering with parents raising kids in our community. Smith described a family of five children who lived in four different foster homes. The four foster families decided to send the children to Fircreek for the whole summer so they could see each other on a daily basis. They were together as a family. It was the only time they had with the family they were born into, said Smith. Sharing Jesus with Kids If kids trust you with their play, they ll trust you with what you say, said Smith. The goal of Fircreek is to whisper Jesus through everything they do. We want them to recognize that name based on the experiences they had at camp, [and know] they were loved and served and cared for. Day camps do this often using the same high-energy and high-adventure activities CCCA members use at summer camp. As campers climb rock walls, go through a ropes course and learn Bible verses and songs, they also meet Jesus. It s not merely a summer day-care solution for parents. It s a day camp experience that s exposing children to who Jesus is and to the Bible, said Klackner. Klackner shared the story of a 10- year-old girl who attended one of their camps. She had moved to the area about a year before. She attended the church but never talked to anyone. On Monday, the first day of camp, a volunteer from the church tried to ask her questions, but she didn t respond. By the end of Tuesday, Klackner said, It was like a switch flipped. She had completely changed. Transforming Families When a kid goes to a resident camp, the staff may meet their parents when they drop off the child and then again when they pick up the child at the end of the week. But at a day camp, the staff builds relationships with the family. They see them every morning and every evening. Smith said, We re able to interact with Mom and Dad and say, You know, Bobby had a tough day today. Is there anything going on at home that can help us understand his behavior today? They have a resource, through day camp, to help them parent their children. Brown said they get parents involved by offering to give them tours of the camp and encouraging them to invite friends and family to the closing rally on Friday night. In addition, the counselors identify biblical traits in the kids. They hold mini-rallies, where they publicly acknowledge those traits. We pray over them. It s cool to have the parents involved in that. When they go home at night, they Photos courtesy of Inspiration Point and Fircreek Day Camp 28 www.ccca.org April/May 2017
practice the Bible verses they learned that day. Or, they sing the songs they learned in the car on the way home. They re doing things that expose the rest of the family to what they re learning, said Rogness. At one of the closing rallies last summer, a father approached Brown. It was the second year his daughter had attended camp. I had to come see this place because my daughter kept telling me that I need to know Jesus, the dad said. He then shared his story of drug abuse, an overdose and hospitalizations. To her, camp was the place where she connected and started her relationship with Christ. I was able to use a simple concept like a day camp to start a relationship [with Jesus] in a young child and now influence an entire family. l l l Day camps offer a unique way to minister while serving more than just the camper. For churches, they provide the opportunity to minister to their neighborhoods through a fun camp experience that impacts the entire family. For families, these camp experiences introduce them to a loving community and give them a caring place to send their children. And for kids, of course, they provide a fun camping experience and help them meet Jesus. l Deborah Christensen is a freelance writer from Streamwood, Illinois. She is the writer/editor for Lighthouse Christian Products and a mentor for the Christian Writer s Guild. Previously, she served as the editor for Christian Service Brigade (CSB Ministries). Email her at dcfacets@earthlink.net. April/May 2017 www.ccca.org 29