Tag Archives: Camp
Camp Texas: #9 – Sunblock
Posted on 12. Jul, 2011 by Kenny.
You know you’re at a camp in Texas when applying and reapplying sunblock is an actual camp rotation.
Continue Reading
Camp Texas: #10 – Water Temperature
Posted on 12. Jul, 2011 by Kenny.
You know you’re at a camp in Texas when the water comes out of the tap in two temperatures: hot and less hot.
Continue Reading
Top ten ways you know you’re at summer camp in Texas!
Posted on 12. Jul, 2011 by Kenny.
For the past 7 days, I’ve been speaking at a summer camp in South/Central Texas. It’s been an incredible week. I love this camp. But it’s Texas and this place is hot.
I’ve been going to camp for well over 20 years. I have all kinds of experience at camps all over the United States, but I must tell you, there’s nothing like camp in Texas. So, I want to share with you my top ten list of how you know you’re at camp in the state of Texas. I’ll post 3 a day and wrap up this top ten on Friday!
Continue Reading
Kids Camp: Day 2
Posted on 11. Jul, 2011 by Kenny.
Okay, I’m about 4 days late publishing this post. Camp is already over, but you know how it is at camp. I was busy. I’m still at camp, but the Gateway kids are long gone. Day two was incredible. The kids began to gel can truly connect with each other and their leaders.. plus they had a blast, even in the 104 degree summer heat. Wow!
So, on day two of our Chase the Light camp series, the kids learned about the disciples and they misfits that they were. One starts to wonder about the choices Jesus was making in his selection of followers. Fishermen, quarreling brothers, a tax collector (slime ball), a man who would deny Christ and a man who would betray him. Doesn’t sound like my idea of a dream team. However, we know that Jesus was successful. We know that he must have known what he was doing. Looking back in history, we see that the disciples, this rag-tag group of misfits totally did it. Within a few days of Christ’s return to heaven, Peter led 3,000 people to faith in Christ from one sermon. By the end of the 1st century there were more than 10,000 believers. A couple of hundred years later, more than 15 million. These disciples did the job that Jesus had chosen them for.
We learned that this should give us great hope because we’re not really that different from the disciples. When we read about them messing up, it’s not too much different from how I mess up at times. Maybe, just maybe, if I was around when Jesus was picking his disciples, maybe he would have picked a misfit like me. That’s amazing to think about.
That’s the message these kids heard in the morning, but I’ll save my next post for what the kids got in the evening of day two. One word… POWERFUL!
Continue Reading
Kids Camp: Day 1
Posted on 06. Jul, 2011 by Kenny.
Day 1 of Kids Camp went exceptionally well. It was a bit of a busy day for me. Actually, the end of a very buys few weeks. Yesterday morning we processed almost 100 kids and got them on the bus and headed to camp, but at the very same time, I was getting 91 Middle School and High School kids off to their own separate camp. I was bummed that both camps are at the same time, but I’m glad to finally get to Kids Camp where I could focus on just one camp, not two.
I’ve written this before, but we’re using Chase the Light camp curriculum by the folks at Orange. I must say, this is some good stuff. I totally recommend it if you need to do your own camp, VBS or summer program of sorts.
I spoke twice, once before dinner and once after. In the following days, I’ll speak in the morning and evening.
The first talk introduced the idea of what a misfit is. Generally speaking, we tend to think of a character like Fregly or Steve Urkle. However, what a misfit is always depends on ones perspective. I challenged the kids to think that maybe God is calling them to be set apart and be different… maybe even become a misfit.
In the evening talk we learned how the Wise Men were misfits. If you put yourself in their context, it seems a little absurd that they did what they did. They followed a star on a dangerous journey to give treasures to a king they didn’t really know for sure would be at the end of the journey. Others may have considered them misfits by taking such a journey. However, we know them as “Wise” men. Just as they followed and chased a star, Jesus claimed “I am the light of the world, anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness.” Jesus challenged us to follow him, to chase the light.
So, that’s day one. I’ll give you an update tomorrow about day 2. Enjoy the video of what our kids are experiencing.
Continue Reading
Camp Illustrations I’m Using
Posted on 30. Jun, 2011 by Kenny.
So many of you were very kind to give me lot’s of great ideas for camp. The ideas you all send me help spark my imagination and bring me different ideas… and sometimes the idea you bring to the table is exactly what I need.
So, here’s what I’ve settled on using.
Initially, I asked for three wise men. I got a couple of offers and several fell through. When I began to see that I might not get my hands on one, I realized that I better come up with a plan B. Actually, the plan B is turning out to be a really good solution. I’m doing a live nativity… kids always love seeing their leaders act stuff out. I might have access to a non-illuminated set that is close to the camp… so I might use that along with the live nativity.
I also asked about an illustration of misfits and brokeness. I actually fell in love with the idea of getting actual car parts… like some doors. I think that with a little more time, I probably would have gone after that. This one was still really tough. Eventually, I found myself in Hobby Lobby and came across some colorful and decorative metal buckets. It’s not perfect, but I feel that they will get the point across well.
Lastly, I asked about symbols of “defining” God and friendship. Many of you had some great ideas… but one came to me while searching the web and the other while I was just sitting around. For defining God, I ordered this off Amazon. Pretty cool huh? Friendship was tough. many of you suggested friendship bracelets or jewelry and I just didn’t think that was big enough for the setting. I spent a lot of time thinking about friendship and finally the though came to mind. Food. At least from my perspective, food is closely associated with friendship. As kids, we trade and share our food with our friends. As adults, we connect with friends by having them over to dinner or going out. I have a box of Mike and Ike’s that I’ll share with many kids on the front row. It’s not perfect, but it will get the point across as well.
So, again thanks for all the help. It really was helpful and I’ll lean on this community again for this kind of stuff.
Continue Reading
Illustrating God and Friendship
Posted on 20. Jun, 2011 by Kenny.
Okay, I feel really needy right now. I’m finalizing the last few messages for camp which is coming up in July. One of the messages that I’m really looking forward to is answering the question: Who is Jesus? In the morning we’re looking at Nicodemus who sought out to understand who Jesus really was, so that evening I’m comprehensively explaining who Jesus is. It should be a lot of fun. This is an important message because so many kids follow Jesus early because it’s all they know. Parents, Church, Sunday School and all the other GREAT influences point them to Jesus, so they do. However, at some point a child who comes to faith really early has to transition to where their faith truly becomes their own. They have to understand how Jesus was the plan for redemption. Many 7 year olds can tell you that Jesus died for their sins because they’re repeating back something they’ve heard for years. It’s important that kids truly understand why Jesus HAD to die for their sins.
So, I do have a part of my talk that is very information heavy. Alone, it could be too much. So, I thought I’d pace it using a technique I learned form Aaron Reynold’s “Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School.” I plan to have 5 podiums on stage with an object on each one… covered by a cloth. Each object will represent a point. They can identify the points to the objects, but it also creates anticipation as they’re anxious to see what I uncover next. This way a 7-10 minute narrative will be more engaging and possibly memorable. So, this is where I need help. I need help coming up with two or three objects. Let me show you what I’ve got and what I’m looking for:
Defining God: (Dictionary) I would begin by defining God as 3 in 1. How Jesus has existed eternally as the son, but was sent to the world to be born as a baby boy. We picked a dictionary because we’re “defining” God and I think it works, but I’d love to find an object that would maybe illustrate the trinity… but that’s probably the age old question, isn’t it. Don’t anyone say “and egg.” Ha!
Friendship: (_______) God created mankind for a relationship. A relationship with God is what drives everything. At this point I don’t know what object would best describe “friendship” or a “relationship.” Initially I thought that a ring might do that, but that’s not something that kids will identify with as much.
The Fall: (Apple) This one is easy. The apple clearly represents mankind’s choice to disobey and fall from grace. Most kids easily identify with this.
Forgiveness: (a lamb) I would introduce God’s plan for substitution, allowing the sacrifice of an animal to cover our sins. I’ll introduce that it’s a temporary system and one that isn’t complete. I’ll use plenty of foreshadowing that points to Christ as the perfect lamb.
Christ’s Sacrifice: (a spike) I’d wrap up with the explanation that Jesus was God’s perfect solution to the problem with sin. That Christ’s perfect sacrifice would restore the relationship with the God of the universe.
So, those are my 5 illustrations to pace my talk. So, do you have any suggestions for the first one, defining God? Anything better than a dictionary? Is a dictionary relevant? Is there something that would represent God better? Lastly, I need a good object that represents friendship. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Continue Reading
An illustration on misfits and brokeness
Posted on 16. Jun, 2011 by Kenny.
So, here’s a huge illustration I’m working on and I’m still not 100% sure on what direction I should go. So, please send me some of your ideas. Let me give you the premise.
One of the major themes for camp is about being a misfit. When we “Chase the Light” and follow Jesus, we’re going to be seen as a misfit. The world around us isn’t going to understand or see why we’re doing the things we do. So, we’re playing with the different perspectives of being a misfit.
The initial thought I had was to have a container of tennis balls and another container of ping pong balls… or something else that is even more different than the tennis balls. I was going to illustrate how to the tennis balls, another tennis ball seems normal and acceptable. To the ping pong balls, another ping pong ball seems normal and acceptable. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, if I were to put a ping pong ball in with the tennis ball, the ping pong ball becomes the misfit. It becomes the strange and different item in the batch. In a ways, that is what we are when we follow Christ. We don’t completely fit with the world around us and although media, peer pressure and other factors will push us to conform and become more like the “tennis balls” we have to remember that:
- God is calling us to be different. He knows that we’re a misfit and we’re to chase after him in a world of others that don’t always chase after him
- Being a misfit is only a matter of perspective. The ping pong ball isn’t a misfit with all the other ping pong balls. Even though the ping pong ball is a misfit with the tennis balls, it shouldn’t forget it’s identity as a ping pong ball. It has a home, it has a fit and has an identity and one day will no longer be a misfit.
So, I feel pretty okay about this illustration and that it would work; however, I feel I can illustrate the same thing but take it even a bit further. It’s undeveloped and needs some work. Here is what I’m thinking:
I take some common objects (maybe metal) that I haven’t determined yet and while I’m talking to the kids, I pull out a hammer and start denting, breaking, and deforming these objects. I can talk about how this is a picture of who we are. God created us good and perfect and whole… but our sin and fallen state has broken us. We’re very far from what God intended us to be. However, when we decide to Chase the Light, to run after Jesus, he actually makes us whole again. I can replace  one of the broken objects with an untouched and unbroken object. I’ll set the ridiculous scene of how in a huge batch of broken objects, being broken is considered normal and acceptable. The whole and perfect object is the misfit. It doesn’t fit. The other objects won’t understand the whole object. In our lives, when we chase after Jesus, we’ve people who have been made whole living in a world of broken people. Many of them will look at us with contempt. They may make fun of us because we’re different. They may label us as a misfit because we’re different… which is ridiculous because in reality, they are the ones that are broken.
I like this illustration because it’s not so randome as tennis balls and ping pong balls, but very much attached to the human condition. At the very end of the talk, I’m going to speak to the person who has made fun of other kids. I’m going to hold up the broken object and point out the ridiculousness of that situation, that what is truly happening is that something (or someone) who is broken and deformed is poking fun at something or someone else. All in all, it sets the stage of the messages we’ll be leading into during the week of being made whole and becoming a misfit.
So, I just don’t know what these objects should be? What would communicate well? Maybe it can be something that is common, it just needs to be easily broken, dented and deformed. Do you have any other thoughts or points I might need to draw some attention to?
Continue Reading
Do you know where I can get some wise men?
Posted on 16. Jun, 2011 by Kenny.
Okay, my first big request. For Summer Camp I’m using “Chase the Light” curriculum from Orange. Let me tell you, it’s incredible. If you’re looking for some good camp curriculum, some curriculum for the summer break or anything special like that, you can’t go wrong with Chase the Light. I’ve had so much for preparing my messages and I’m excited to speak on these issues in particular. I think it’s going to be a life-changing week for hundreds of kids.
So, the first message in the curriculum is about the wise men who traveled to see Jesus. I’m doing a bit of a fun intro at the beginning and I thought that it would be fun to have those light-up plastic wise men that people loved to put in their yards in the 80′s.. and some of them even now. I was going to set the scene and do it in a funny way explaining how there probably wasn’t just 3 wise men and how they didn’t arrive at the manger scene… just a little historical background information. I thought it would be fun to do with the plastic wise men.
However, what I’ve learned is that these these wise men have become vintage. What you used to be able to buy at KMart for 10-20 bucks will now set you back $40 or $50. So, I figured that I’d throw this out to the wider Kidmin community. Does anyone have some wise men. I could actually use Mary, Joseph and Jesus too… but I need at least 4… maybe 6 individual wise men plastic illuminated things. I’ll be glad to pay for shipping and I’d be glad to ship them back to you. I know that some of you have them in your attics… or your parents do. Let me know!
Continue Reading
Keep your Kidmin safe this summer!
Posted on 31. May, 2011 by Kenny.
My wife came across this and sent it to me. In all my years in Kidmin, I’ve never read an article as clear as this and something that I feel is absolutely necessary for every one of my volunteer to ready (specifically those who are coming to camp or lock-ins where there is swimming). Of course we use life guards, but I feel that everyone on the team needs to know this information.
I’ve heard stories of churches who have lost kids to a drowning at camp. I cannot even imagine facing that kind of tragedy. That’s why we need to be so careful and thorough in training.
Click here to read a great article on what drowning actually looks like. Most of us have a Hollywood vision of what drowning looks like that is very far from reality. I know that I did, and I even had lifeguard training (granted it was many years ago).
Continue Reading
