MS Night Owl - Week 9

Your Camper's BlogHeartland CampsJuly 22, 2020ACA Accredited, Accredited, Best Summer Ever, Building Relationships, COVID-19 Compliant, Camper, Camps, Character Building, Children, Christ, Christian, Christian Summer Camp, Community, Faith, Faith Building, Family Fun, God, Great Outdoors, Growth, Heartland Camps, Heartland Center, Immersive, Intentional, Invaluable Skills, Jesus, Jesus Christ, KC, Kansas, Kansas City, Kids, MO, Midwest, Missouri, Outdoors, Parkville, Safety, Serve, Service, Small Group Camping, Soft Skills, Summer camp, Night Owl, Middle School, overnight, overnight camp Comment

Double the Fun: STEM and Hydro Camp!—Week 9

Challenge Camp—Week 8

Secret Agent Camp—Week 8

Culinary Camp—Week 8

Highlander Hydro Camp—Week 7

Amazing Race Camp—Week 7

Creative Camp—Week 7

Edge Camp—Week 7

Horse Camp!

Horses are incredible creatures and having the chance to direct horse camp this week for the first time, I knew it would be rewarding.

So far we have done late afternoon horse rides, special swims and archery. Even though this was not planned, the mud pit would definitely be a highlight for the week! To see that many smiles on the campers faces - indeed that is a real blessing. Vespers every evening has been a time where we truly see God’s presence. With the fire, stars, and beautiful nature all around us, it is very difficult to not feel the love of God through His creation.

Friendship & Service Partnership

This summer marks 10 years of serving the Lord at Heartland Camp for myself. In those 10 years I have had a number of different roles, photographer, wrangler, pool cleaner, intern, kitchen cook, housekeeper, day camp counselor, summer staff alumni, visitor, volunteer, director. In those ten years I have seen so many lives changed in small ways and in big changes. But of all the weeks spent at camp, none of them made as big a mark on me and other summer staff as friendship camp.

For the last three years I have had the joy to direct friendship camp (and Service Partnership camp or Service P as it is usually called) with two amazing women, Brittany and Morgan. We’ve since traded in our counseling roles to run this show (so to speak), which allows us to see the impact this camp has on the high school service P and the summer staff. This year we have the joy to share this camp with volunteer staff members from Stronghold Presbyterian Camp in Chicago. We also have many other volunteers coming in to help out with crafts, transportation, nursing, and some just come to help for a few hours when they can.