Comments on: Summer Camp

By: Brandon

Brandon — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 18:16:18 +0000

I to was at camp Ch-yo-ca in Louisiana that summer when a camper disturbed a swarm of yellowjackets, I was not stung, but my brother was SEVERAL TIMES.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 02:22:00 +0000

camp ne-o-tez is the best ever! it is so much fun! skit nights are hilariuos!

By: JD

JD — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 19:17:00 +0000

OK, I see that my first camp hasn’t gotten a mention, nor my second one!

My first camp experience was at Smiling Acres Christian Camp near Baton Rouge, LA. Ray Morris was an elder at South Baton Rouge Church and he was the director. He and his wife Sam, and their kids “became” my family in some unexplainable way for a week. I haven’t seen them in decades and I love them still.

Sardis Lake Christian Camp in North Mississippi is where I spent a decade doing camp stuff… directing, counseling. I first went with John Pigg, then graduated up until pal Danny Dodd (Gateway CoC, Pensacola now) and I were co-directors. Glory days.

Now I’ve been working at Gulf Coast Bible Camp (www.gcbc.us) with Uncle Bill (Hey bill!) for the past dozen years.

Christian Camping is mission work in our own back yard. I love what happens there … I love what has happened to me…and I love the brothers and sisters of an earlier generation who established those camps.

By: Heather A

Heather A — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 21:31:00 +0000

Kadesh 2002: Seeing Myself Through God’s Eyes

I had the best group leaders ever…three years later, we are still great friends.

I think that was the first time I truly saw myself through God’s eyes.

Praise the Lord for ACU Leadership Camps!! That’s my camp experience.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:04:00 +0000

Yes MarkS, I have also been to Short Mountain. Gayle and Pat Raines are great people! For those of you who are interested, there is a great organization made up of primarily cofc camps. It is the National Association of Christian Camps. http://4dw.net/naccamps/ This group meets once a year in the spring at a different camp each year. If you are into Christian Camping, you owe it to yourself to check out their camping workshop. The next workshop will be April 2-6, 2006 at Fort Hill Christian Youth Camp in Ohio. The 2007 workshop will be at Central Florida Bible Camp. Great people, Great workshop, Great sharing of ideas.

By: MichaelPolutta

MichaelPolutta — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 15:47:00 +0000

For me, Palmetto Bible Camp in Greenville, SC. I’m still repaying the debt to PBC. Since I was 6 years old (I’m 42 now) I’ve only missed 2 years that the camp was open for business. Great memories, lifelong friends, blessing after blessing. We just had another SuperWeek in June. I love that place - in fact, my wife’s instructions are to sprinkle my ashes at a waterfall at camp when that time comes!

By: kendanley

kendanley — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 03:15:00 +0000

Camp WaMaVa in Virginia! How can one place serve as the setting for one’s coming of age in so many dimensions? Mike’s post and the comments above prompted me to go back and post to my blog a piece I wrote after I learned of the death of my one time camp counselor and frequent father in the faith, Mac Jacobs, in 2003. Warning: long post at Coming of Age at Camp WaMaVa

By: MarkS

MarkS — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 21:43:00 +0000

Hey, has anyone heard of Short Mountain Camp in Woodbury, TN? That’s where I got my taste for Christian camping. It’s also where I had my first kiss (as a 9-year old! Yes, it was a girl!); my first cave experience, my first carbide lantern; my first opportunity to lead singing; my first really scarey ghost stories; my first summer “crush;” and more.

By: ss

ss — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 11:24:00 +0000

Now i’ve figured it out–we’re in the wrong generation’s blog. Kathy #1, that’s us in the wrong generation for camping. Camp Hunt was founded in the late 50’s, I believe, and it is the oldest Christian camp (CofC) in the U.S. It was the only one I’d heard of until I was too old to go, and it was too far away for me to go up to N.Y. alone when I was 10. This whole thing came too late for me.

sarah

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 18:57:00 +0000

When I was a kid my dad took me with him to Circle C camp in Colorado. I was only about 6 or 7, and it was the most amazing thing for me to be with all the “big kids” in the mountians praising God. I’ll never forget my first hike up Longs Peak with my dad during that week.
Last week I took my 5-yr-old daughter up her first hike in Colorado during a week of camp at Whitewater Ranch, a camp in Colorado that I now help direct each year. Kids meeting with God in the mountains—it just doesn’t get much better than that.

By: Amy Boone

Amy Boone — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 18:46:00 +0000

Yes, I went to Blue Haven a few times and at the time it was fun, but it solidified the fact that I’m not really a camper. SO, our family will head down south to New Braunfels area in a couple of weeks to TBarM Family Camp again. I say “camp” so loosely! Let me explain: each family stays in a nice hotel; two college students are assigned to each family to be your personal helpers/mentors for your stay; great Bible teaching in air conditioned conference rooms in the mornings for adults and Bible teaching for kids broken up by ages; food fit for a cruise liner (picture a big guy with a tall white hat and a carving knife!). Tons of free time for any imaginable outdoor activity in the afternoons and awesome praise time in the evenings! Oh, I forgot to mention the milk and cookies sitting out on picnic tables as you go back to the hotel to bed! NOW… THAT’S MY IDEA OF CAMP!!!!

By: Keith Brenton

Keith Brenton — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 15:33:00 +0000

Skit Night at Spring Mill Bible Camp near Bedford, Indiana.

Either the skit my first year where we donned towels and sheets and acted out the crossing of the Red Sea (with two guys in blue sleeping bags standing up like walls of water on either side, then crashing down on the “Egyptians”) … or the one in later years when I got to play the “Snake” and had only one line: “Hiss, hiss; rattle, rattle.”

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 14:52:00 +0000

Camp or camping? Surely you josh!!

I’m with Sarah. My idea of a perfect camp or camping experience is a 5-star hotel at Big Sur, with an afternoon walk through the glorious coastal conifers and then back to my own room, my own shower and 3-forks restaurants.
As a kid we never went to kids’ summer camp but the whole family, along with 3 or 4 other families, would drive up into the high Sierras, pitch our tents, cook over an outdoor fire. It was in this scenario that I met physical pain at the tender age of 8.

Boiling water spilled on young feet causes 2nd and 3rd degree burns, causing a very sedentary summer while the other kids ran and played. Grrrr! Show me the way to Big Sur anytime!!

By: Randy

Randy — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 14:39:00 +0000

I can’t explain the history of the burning of the cross - but I can tell you = when the chorus of counselors sang at the bottom of bottom of Bee Rock - when the fireball would come across and hit the cross - my life was changed. I’ll ask some and see if I can learn of its history and pass it on.

By: Paul W

Paul W — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 13:41:00 +0000

Illinois Christian Camp in Decatur, IL is where I spent 8 summers both as a camper and counselor. A unique thing about this camp from some of the others that have been mentioned is getting to dodge the occassional tornado that would come through central Illinois during camp. Nothing like sitting in a cabin while the rain, lighting, and wind get stirred up into a frenzy. I’m quite sure a number of us felt very close to God during these storms!!