Week long daycamp for elementary age students
Hilltop
Grub with Grayson
The weeks leading up to camp are both exciting and exhausting. The team and I are making last minute preparations and making sure that we have completed everything on the task list. All knowing that it will be a week where campers have tons fun, make new friends and be exposed to Jesus in a way so that their journey with Him will begin or deepen.
That is the ultimate goal but along the way some other pretty exciting things happened, like Grub with Grayson. We had been encouraging campers to consider what superpower they had received from God. What gifts had they been given that they could use to reach others with the Good News of Jesus’s love and forgiveness.
This year I had the joy of connecting with Grayson through English Muffin pizza discussions. Yes, English Muffin Pizza! Little did I know that Grayson had discovered his joy of cooking. Over the week Grayson shared with me the recipe, brought me a sample to taste and then wanted to share his gift of cooking with the camp. The best way to maximize his exposure was through media. So, Grayson brought the toaster oven, all the ingredients and we set out to create a video where Grayson’s talent could be highlighted . Thanks to Josh, our tech guru, the final video was shared with campers, their families and friends at Friday afternoon’s celebration service.
Grayson was my inspiration for the week and I trust this will inspire you to discover your gifts and superpower or help someone else discover theirs.
Superpower Revealed
If you could have one superpower, what would it be? Telekinesis? Invisibility? Shape shifting? Flight? Strength? Mind reading?
1 Peter 4:10-11 says, “God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you. 11Are you called to be a speaker? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Are you called to help others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then God will be given glory in everything through Jesus Christ. All glory and power belong to him forever and ever. Amen.”
Peter 4:10 elicits the onomatopoeia “BOOM”, or metaphoric ‘drop the mic. ‘ Yes, I learned a new word during camp. Onomatopoeia is a noun and means the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named. WOW! WHAM! BOOM! SHAZAM! BAZINGA!
Throughout the week our Bible lessons highlighted Elisha, the powerful prophet. WOW! At the end of each message you could just feel the power of Holy Spirit working in the minds and hearts of the kids. BAM!
Each message was then followed up and reinforced in the War Room (Prayer room) where Pastors John and Melissa dug a little deeper and provided opportunity for the campers to receive the power that comes from God’s word and the working of Holy Spirt in their lives. BOOM!
The week brought many life changes including a number of first time salvations, rededications to follow Jesus and eight water baptisms. BAZINGA! Each powerful act was a personal win as each person made a decision to deepen their relationship with Jesus. When God is expected to show up, WHAM! He shows up in some extraordinary ways.
We can never underestimate the power of Jesus and the impact that He has on the lives of children. The same Holy Spirit that resides in an adult resides in a child. It’s our responsibility to pour into and raise up children that know and love Jesus.
Awaken Every Morning
After a disheartening year of COVID restrictions, Camp Wannahockalugie opened their doors and their hearts to campers for the 10th year. It was a year of new and fresh beginnings, a year that AWAKENED everyone to God’s possibilities. The camp staff was bubbling over with excitement as they made preparations, knowing they were going to bring a message of hope and love to a fresh group of campers.
From the staging to the live animals, everything was in place and as campers arrived the building was filled with fun, laughter and a longing to be in God’s presence. There is so much that I could share about what happened over the week but watching the Camp Wannahockalugie recap video will tell you more than I ever could.
I will follow up by saying that every camper received Bible instruction, given time to listen for God’s voice, and encouraged to share and soak up God’s word through everything that happened at camp.
“The War Room” (Prayer Room) is by far my favorite part of camp. Pastor John and Melissa, new to Hilltop Christian Fellowship, truly helped to usher in the presence of God as every camper had 30 minutes each day to focus on hearing God’s voice and pressing into knowing Him personally.
Over 12 campers asked Jesus to come into their life for the first time and there were 13 campers that took the next step and were baptized in water to show the world that they love and desire to follow Jesus.
Each year it seems as if camp gets better and I know it is because Holy Spirit is touching lives in deeper and deeper ways. Camp is one week out of the year. We must know and walk in the truth of the theme verse this year,
Many thanks to Hilltop Christian Fellowship and their incredible camp staff for sharing the gospel with the 900 plus students over the past 10 years and making Jesus a priority in their church and community.