How Outdoor Activities Positively Affect Kids
Written by Will Zinke
Hi! My name is Will Zinke, from Camp Gilead, and I was asked to do a blog on the importance of outdoor activities for children and being outside. Well, let’s see, where should I start? Camp ministry is all about getting kids outside! After a year of shutdowns and quarantines when kids binged on TV and video games, turning them into couch potatoes [ugh!], we can offer them real adventure! We were meant to be outdoors in God’s creation, with the wind in our hair and sun on our faces! Being outside is beneficial for kids to develop ...
How to Make Camp More Than Just Games
Written by Nate Smith
How do you make camp about more than just games? Develop and cultivate the right camp culture. Why do kids want to go to camp? Why do parents want to send their kids to camp? These are two great questions with drastically different answers. Camps are rightly asking these two questions and evaluating the answers to implement solutions and improve their programs. Before seeking the answers to those two questions, a better question to consider would be: Why camp? When you answer “Why camp?” you are forced to honestly evaluate what is importa...
Teens in Camping Ministry
by Jan Richoux
Teen ministry is an exciting, fast paced, drama filled experience. It is rewarding to see teens from Christian homes take the faith of their parents and make it their own through developing a quiet time, and through practical service, while sharing with other teens. There are a few times when young Christians from non-believing homes come and are nurtured in their faith. A Christian camp is an excellent venue to mentor and train high school students. There is something about living among other Christians in a camp setting, rather than just the one to ...
Top Things We Want to Teach in Staff Training
By Aaron Miller
When planning for staff training, it can be daunting to determine what to include, what to emphasize, and what can be taught along the way during summer camp. At New Life Camp we have developed a ladder of priorities that we not only want our full-time staff to understand, but we also want our summer staff to know. When everything goes wrong and I can only focus on one thing, what is that one thing? And if I can manage more, what comes next? This ladder helps our staff navigate such decisions and we plan our staff training to ...
The Impact of Service Programs on our Youth
By Katy Holmes
I love camp! I have for well over two decades. One of my favorite aspects of the camp I grew up attending and working at is the high school volunteer program. Here at Camp Victory, we call it our CIT Program, which stands for Camper-In-Training. This program is mainly a “behind the scenes” kind of job. As a CIT, there is a lot of time spent setting tables, washing dishes, sweeping floors, and cleaning bathrooms, to name just a few. Often times, these tasks go unnoticed and there are not a lot of accolades that come with performing these jobs.&n...
