Church/Faith Summer Camps/VBS

[MaxPC]

This is a two parter.

1. Does your faith group hold summer camps? VBS? Both?

2. Do you or did you send your children to camps or VBS run by other faith groups?

[Neto]

Young people (Pre-teens through JR High, I think) from our congregation often go to a camp program in Indiana, operated by a similar type church group. We also have VBS every Summer, open to any children who want to come. There are always a number of Amish children who attend as well.

When I was growing up in the MB church, VBS was 2 weeks long, and went up through HS. Each MB district also had their own summer Bible camps. I attended several times, starting in around 6th grade, then Jr High, and HS. I also was a teacher/counselor during two different Summers, once for a "junior age" camp, and then later for the HS camp. This was one week long. The camps for the younger children were held in Oklahoma, and the HS camps in Colorado. The HS camps sometimes drew in unchurched kids as well - I had a pretty rough guy in my cabin the year I was counselor, or at least that is the image he wanted to project. These times, both as a camper and as a counselor-teacher, were beneficial times for me, and I believe also for the campers. (I was also a VBS teacher for Junior age boys one year while I was either still in HS, or just out, and the person impacted that time was the HS girl who was my teaching assistant. I didn't know that her faith was not solid, but she later told me that participating in that class as an assistant teacher was a turning point in her faith walk. One never knows.)