I’m not sure how long Camp recovery is supposed to take. But I know it does not take long to realize that the kids of First Baptist Eastman had a great time at Centrikid. I am increasingly a fan of the Centrikid camps for the following three reason.
3 Reasons Centrikid Is Amazing:
1.
The camp is all about the gospel. I appreciate that Centrikid takes the teaching of the gospel seriously. They have pastors lead the main worship time. Our Norman Park camp pastor, Stephen Makcen, did an excellent job of discussing Ephesians and Romans with illustrations that the kids could relate to. I mean who hasn’t played playing football on their bed? And the small group times were built around practical application that links directly back to the main worship times. I am thankful that Centrikid calls our kids to follow Christ during all three days of the weekend camp.
2.
The camp fosters relationships. By scheduling hangout times, facilitating church group times, and encouraging quiet times, the kids and the chaperones get to build meaningful relationships. We have the chance to play basketball together, to spray each other with water bottles, and to tell jokes over breakfast. But more importantly, we get the opportunity to share our testimonies and to talk about the how the gospel shapes our lives. I greatly appreciate that Centrikid does not just whisk away our kids and pretend to be the church for a few days. I love the fact that the Centrikid Camp is designed to support the relationships already being fostered in our kids’ ministry and church family.
3.
Centrikid camp is just outright fun! Sure, we had one poor guy get stuck on his first OMC card for almost 10 minutes. We had another camper drink a Mellow Yellow at 10:30PM. And, I may have given more than one unintelligible instruction during the weekend. But despite all that and some home sick tears, our kids had a blast. They loved doing the Monkey Shuffle, sliding down the slip and slide, and getting covered in shaving cream! And by Sunday morning, even the previously home sick campers were all about coming back next year! As one guy said, “I wasn’t sure about it, but I did it. I survived!” Centrikid was amazing.
I am very thankful for all the staff that make Centrikid possible and for our three chaperones! We can’t wait for Centrikid 2017! Are you guys ready?
Another exciting month of Connect Camp has come to a close. With the help of over thirty committed adults and youth, First Baptist Eastman was able to put together an amazing day camp that featured everything from Baseball to praise band. During the months of June and July, we connected with forty-five different kids. Each day of camp, we averaged almost 35 kids. We peaked on the first day of camp when 41 arrived. Our lowest attendance occurred on the last day of camp -Thursday, July 14. We hosted 30 kids and 53 kids and adults for our family day luncheon.
Our numbers did trend down a little from last year’s Connect Camp. Last year we averaged 40 students. This year dipped down to about 35 per day. I am not sure why attendance dropped slightly. Perhaps our number were hurt by the Dodge County School schedule, perhaps Camp went down because it started two weeks after VBS, or perhaps we simply encountered a sophomore slump. Regardless, Connect Camp still reaches the largest number of kids of any camp run or attend by FBCE. Lord willing our numbers will rebound next year!
Witkowski Blog 