Camp 2007

“Take The Plunge – Make a Splash with Jesus” was the theme for this year’s camp. Approximately 80 campers were at camp this year in Camalote village in the Cayo district. The camp committee experimented with some new things this year. The change of venue was one as camp had been held at the King’s College campus for the past few years. Also changed was the actual number of days the camp was held for. In the past campers would arrive at the site late Sunday afternoon and leave at midday of the following Friday. This year camp began early Wednesday morning and ended on Saturday afternoon. The biggest change came in the areas of classes, crafts, music, worship and sports. For each of these categories there were teams of people who taught a class, supervised the craft sessions, taught music and led the worship or organized and executed the sports and games. Each team had a team leader who ensured that things went smoothly. There was also a team of cooks with one of them being a head cook and a person who was in charge of the snack shop. We were a little nervous about how the campers would adjust to these changes but they adjusted quite well and things for the most flowed smoothly. It was four days packed with activities from morning to night and everyone had a great time either participating in or coordinating these activities. Especially popular were activities involving water.

After registration on Wednesday morning they were divided into four teams, Flash Flood, Tsunami, Tidal Wave and Typhoon whose members were able to garner or loose points for their teams in categories such as sports, cleaning of the various locations and overall Christ-like attitude. In the end Typhoon came out victorious. Awards were also offered and Carlos Jones was awarded MVP in Football, Lincoln MVP in Volleyball and Gilda Broaster received the award for the Best Overall Camper.

Each afternoon began with a different speaker who spoke on topics relevant to the youths. These speakers were members of a group called Legacy who were based in the Cayo district. The members of this group are Christian men and women whose mission is to reach the youths of Belize and share Christ with them. These sessions were very effective and on the final day’s session some of the campers committed their life to Christ. It was an amazing event to witness.

Different members of the same group were the speakers for the nightly services. Our worship team worked hard and at the end of the nightly worship sessions our hearts were well-prepared to receive the messages. Once again, God’s hand could be seen working among us as in addition to those who had made a commitment in the afternoon session others also gave their life to Christ on the final night. All the Christians gathered and prayed for the new converts as well as for all those involved in making the camp a success.

Camp 2007 would not have been a success without the assistance of the many helpers who sacrificed their time, money and families to be at camp. For many of them their sacrifices began way before July 4th. We had a total of 31 helpers who were instrumental in the planning of this camp. As the camp director I must especially thank those from our church as they went over and beyond what was requested of them to assist. We had a total of 23 helpers from our church alone. Thanks everyone. It could not have been done without your assistance. You all played a part in changing the lives of many of our youths.