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It has been an incredible summer!
Since our last newsletter, day camp has been our primary focus. We just wrapped up our last week of day camp on July 31st and now have an opportunity to breathe a little. We've spent the last few days sorting through all the miscellaneous "stuff" needed to run all our camps, and have most of it sorted and returned to its proper tote or box.
In July, we offered two day camp opportunities that we will detail below. We greatly appreciate the help we received this summer through four of our global ministry's interns (Brian, Dalton, Tye, and Mawi). Brian and Dalton served with us last month at our Adventure Camp, and then Brian returned with Tye and Mawi this month to provide help for our Elementary Day Camp. Each of them served through their various giftings and made our camps a memorable experience for everyone. In addition to our interns, we were blessed with 26 different volunteers who helped in one or more of our camps this summer.
Our theme this year for all our camps was "In the Garden". We began at the Garden of Eden looking at the entrance of sin into God's creation and the need that mankind has to restore a right relationship with his creator. We then looked at the garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed to his Father to "remove this cup" from him. The cup, we learned, was God's judgement on the sins of the world that Jesus was about to suffer. We also saw that, even though he made this request of his Father, Jesus remained obedient to the very end, taking the full punishment of sin in our place. We then looked at the garden tomb where Jesus defeated death and proved that he was indeed God in the flesh. We also studied the parable of the four soils, challenging campers to be the good soil, that exemplifies one who is obedient to the Word of God, Lastly, we covered Christian living, the importance of good friends, the necessity of sharing the good news, and the importance of maintaining a right relationship with God through prayer and reading His word. |
Adventure Camp
Our first camp of the summer was our Adventure Camp. We covered most of this in our last udpate, so feel free to skip ahead to the next section if you're already up to speed...
This is our third year doing Adventure Camp, and we had our largest group yet. Seventeen students joined us along with seven leaders. We were also blessed this year to have our first "junior leader", Braidyn, who was himself an adventure camper with us last year!
It was a HOT week of Adventure Camp, with temperatures reaching almost 90 degrees a few times. Fortunately, our campsite is well shaded and the open field next to us provides a lot of breeze. During our four days and three nights together, we enjoyed "rustic accommondations" such as sleeping in tents and hammocks, eating food prepared around the campfire, gravity-fed and solar-heated shower, and no electricity or running water.
On our final day together, we visited Allegan Adventure, an indoor high-ropes course. I think we enjoyed the A/C there almost as much as the experience itself!
Three of the campers this year, who are "aging out", have expressed interest in having an Adventure Camp for those beyond 8th grade. We are excited about this possibility, and plan to offer that next year .... stay tuned!! |
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Day Camps
Jr. High Camp
This year, we introduced our first Jr. High Day Camp. Instead of offering combined day camps for 1st-7th like we did last year, we divided students between Jr. High Camp (6th-9th) and Elementary (1st-5th). Fourteen campers joined us this year for a "leveled-up" day camp experience catered more towards an older group. Like Adventure Camp, it was a very hot week, even though we weren't outside the entire day. However, the smoke in the air from the Canadian wildfires kept us fully indoors on Thursday and Friday, so we had a bit of relief on those days!
These older campers experienced a more relaxed schedule, more challenging electives, more complex games (Kubb was a hit), and a deeper study in the word than we could have offered with a mixed group of younger and older campers. Water day was the highlight of our week, and a nice relief from the scorching temps. |
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Elementary Day Camp
Our biggest camp this summer was our Elementary group. Thirty-seven campers turned out for five days of games, activities, electives, teaching and our traditional hay-ride at the Peterson's (see group photo below). The weather was a little more moderate and less smokey than our Jr. High or Adventure Camp weeks, so they had a few more outdoor opportunities than the other groups did.
On Thursday of our camp week, as a nod to our theme, we visited Bisacky Blueberry Farm right next door to the church for blueberry picking. We gave each camper a ziploc baggie and 20 minutes to pick all that they wanted. Many of the blueberries never made it into the bag :)
Two of our volunteers with us this year are former day campers! Thanks Skye and Kenya for using your gifts to serve the Lord!
It was a blessing during this camp week to serve alongside two fellow-pastors whom I had served with at Jenison Bible Church years ago. Dan Johnson joined us from St. Louis as our worship leader, and Charlie Grimaldi helped as our bus driver for the visit to the farm. |
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Coming this Fall
During August and September, we will make preparations for our transition to after-school Bible clubs. Although its too early to know for sure, we have reached out to three different schools and are in the process of gathering interested families to get programs going in these pilot schools. Please pray for us as we follow the Lords direction and timing.
Also coming this fall is our fifth school-year of offering book clubs. After combining our clubs last year into a single location, we are hoping to have enough interest to again offer two clubs - one in Hudsonville, and one in Spring Lake.
Although not directly related to ministry work, we will be spending time over the next few months expanding into our new space here at the church. Our storage area is brimming right now with "stuff" that will need a home once we do a little cleaning and light redecorating of our new office and storage space. |
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