Description: The concept of day camping offers churches an opportunity to connect to their communities in an amazing way. It can be more valuable and beneficial than a simple child care program, while being just as easy to pull-off.
Outline:
Day Camping vs Day Care (Pheaney)
What we do (Brad)
A. Brief description of COCUSA summer program
How we meet camper needs
Intellectual
Physical
Spiritual
Social
Benefits: What could it mean for your church
How to do it (Pheaney)
A. Do-it-yourself
Modify current program
Start from scratch
Call for help
Other camps!
COCUSA ‘church model’
*free to leave/your time is valuable plug*
PRAYER
I. Day Camping vs Day Care
Get to know you: How many of you are from churches in the Peoria area? How many of your churches run some form of day care? Does anyone have a program labeled a ‘day camp?’
It would be easy to merely change the name of a program, but there is more to it than that. I want to talk briefly about our perspective: (I’m not knocking day cares, just challenging our thinking.) Day care, self-defined, is concerned with meeting the needs of the parents: mom and dad need a place for junior while they are at work. (Obviously there is nothing wrong with meeting this need.)
Day camps keep that need in mind, but are focused on meeting the needs of the child. I’m not talking about being child centered - we should be Christ-centered - But what needs do children have? *Ask audience.*
Luke 2:52- a guide to these needs
Wisdom, intellectual- need to think and learn, to grow in knowledge, be challenged
Stature, physical- need for activity, to play, and to have fun
Favor with God, spiritual- need for salvation first, then growth & discipleship
Favor with man, social- need for friends, positive relationships, social skills, stability
Now I’m definitely not an expert in the needs of human beings. (We missed the basics- food, water, shelter- and needs psychologists may tell us.) This is a basic, easily seeable list. A day camp ministry should seek to meet these needs. Note: You can have a day care that meets the needs of children, and you can have a day camp that doesn’t… but… that’s just how I’ve chosen to define terms.
Where I work is a day camping ministry that provides childcare for the parents: Camp of Champions USA. Our real goal is to win those children to Christ and help them grow in their faith, meeting other needs along the way. (Again, just a perspective, our goal is not to provide exceptional childcare, although we hope we do.)
I’ve asked Brad, my boss, camp’s executive director, to give an explanation of what we do. We’re not trying to hold Camp of Champions up as the greatest ministry. We admit we sometimes have frustrated parents and kids who scrape their knees. However, as you’ll hear, it is a ministry that’s working. If you have child care programs (even VBS)…, if you’re thinking of starting ones… We wanted to share briefly about our ministry and hope you can take something from it. Be thinking: how can I better meet the needs of children.
II. What we do
Brief Description of COCUSA (Brad)
B. How we meet needs
Intellectual- skill classes, craft times, scripture memory
Physical- games: all camp, gym, field; swimming, assemblies
Spiritual- time to present the gospel, devotions & Bible lessons for growth
Social- groups, encourage friendship, respect, staff involvement, awards
III. Benefits: What it could mean for your church
Outreach to Families in Community – Brad share story of father who became believer. Meeting a childcare need is a service that families need.
Place for HS/College to Serve – lots of growth happens
Year Round Discipleship of Children and Families – Parents saying ‘hey, I can send my child to church here’ or ‘we can go to church here’
IV. How it can work for you – (Pheaney) I’m going to cover a few different ways that these thoughts can be implanted at your church/facility. They probably won’t all be for you, but I encourage you to make notes on the one that seems like the best fit.
A. Do-it-yourself
Modify current format
I’m speaking now to those of you who already have a child-care program: It shouldn’t be that hard to give it a ‘day camping’ focus. Do some critical thinking: What needs are we meeting now? What needs are we not meeting? How can we meet them? Review above list for ideas.
On top of meeting specific needs, you can also give it a camping ‘feel’ (which is really beneficial to kids who have been in school for the past 9 months). Our day camps are not on 40 acres of land with a lake, but we do try to give it an overnight camp atmosphere: silly songs, funny games, outdoor activities! Our past director, Nate, challenged our staff: What did you do and enjoy at summer camp as a kid? Bring it here! Kids will love it. What can you do to bring that atmosphere to your program?
ii. Start from scratch
This is for you who have no child care currently at your church. This is not for the faint of heart. But I already have your sign: *Show “your name here” sticker.* With the Lord’s help, it is possible. Camp of Champions had its first summer (25 kids/wk) with less than 6 months of planning. This might not be recommended, but one of our founders, Paula K said: “ministry happened that summer of 1995 that we would have missed if we had waited a summer.” It is possible to do in a short amount of time.
COCUSA struggled to find a location that first summer. Our biggest struggle can be your biggest asset. Churches, you have the facilities! Use your building. The facility is a great place to start in planning a camp. It can tell you how many campers you can take (and how many staff you need), and what activities you can do. We will talk more about facilities later.
Start with your building. If it something you are really serious about, come talk to Brad or I at the end. There is a lot that goes into it, and it would take a whole seminar by itself. We would love to help you, resource you, and make it happen. We truly would be happy to work ourselves out of a job. (Why? Churches can follow up with campers so much better and easier than we can.) If you’re serious, also remember that kids are precious in the sight of Got but also loud, dirty, and rambunctious.
B. Call for help
i. Other Camps!
Maybe you want someone else to do most of the work… you just want to offer your facility. Is there a camp in your area? If you are within an hour of here, there is probably a camp 15 minutes away from you. Many of them are in our CCCA corner in the exhibit hall. But wherever, maybe there is a camp near you that has wanted to start a day camp ministry in town, but didn’t have a facility. It’s worth asking. Camps know kids… and many of them already run a day camp on their property, perhaps they would be willing to plant that same program in your facility. It might take a little initiative, it will take a lot of prayer, but it is a good possibility.
ii. COCUSA church model
I’ll admit from the beginning that this is self-serving. But I also believe that it is kingdom serving. We have done it before and we would love to do it again. Our EP and Eureka camp locations came about because the churches approached us. They saw our ministry, looked at their facility, and took a step of faith. If that’s you, please keep us in mind. If a church is eager to have us, we are open to possibilities. No matter the facility and no matter the location, we will at least consider it.
Also, for the first time in camp’s history, we are seeking out additional facilities: At least one in Peoria (turned away 100 children in 06) and also one in Pekin. As part of this ‘seeking out’, we have been putting together a “church model.” Something we can take to churches as we look to expand the ministry. I wanted to share that model with you now, just as another way to get you thinking… whether it be your church starting your own camp, or partnering with an overnight camp or partnering with COCUSA.
What we look for in a facility-
Priorities: Yard space, big room (games, assemblies), 2 breakout rooms, summer office space, kitchen, accessible bathrooms, available parking.
Preference: Playground, gym, as many breakout rooms as possible, staff room, refrigerator nearby, multiple stall bathrooms, outdoor basketball court
Besides facilities, we are also looking for churches with established weekly children’s programs (Awana, boys brigade, etc.). That type of program will more easily keep the ministry to kids continuing throughout the year. More than that, we are looking for a willing church partner, the last thing we want to do is force a relationship.
If you are at all interested, please come talk to us: just get us contact information. The goal of our model, the goal of this seminar, is not so Camp of Champions can grow, but so more children can be introduced to Christ. I hope that these thoughts and ideas can cause that to happen at your camp.
Q&A
WORKSHOP EVALUATIONS
PRAYER
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