Day Five – Saying Good-Bye

Counselors and staff pray for a safe journey back to Boise

It’s always hard to say good-bye to our campers.  Bonds and friendships are quickly made at camp. The final day of camp starts out with Breakfast Club and then chapel.  Campers, staff and counselors sign each other’s camp shirts in-between meeting times.  After lunch, it is time for us all to make our way back to Boise where we put on a Welcome Home presentation for the foster parents which included songs and a video that showed what life was like at camp.  With that, the our camp for 2010 has come to a close for this year.

2010 Counselors and Staff

Day Four – It Was A Crisp, Clear, Morning

It’s a camp tradition to hold the Polar Bear swim and the Penguin wade. At the early hour of 7:30 am, courageous campers, counselors and staff make their way to the lake for the swim and

wade.  The rules are simple, to officially be a polar bear, you must dive in over your head and swim for the beach. To be a penguin, you must wade into the lake up to your knees and then make your way back to the beach.  We had a record number of swimmers and waders this year.

During Breakfast Club, we had another installment of the puppet skit.  In this morning’s skit, Hannah, LeeRoy and their friends encouraged us to take our problems to God and ask for his help in solving them.

We were back on the lake this afternoon.  In addition to the swimming and beach activities campers, counselors, and staff had

the opportunity to going sailing. The excited campers came back from the sail and informed me it was really cool and scary.

 

Throughout the week, the RFKC Boise players have been putting on a production of Esther.  Our campers can relate to Esther since she grew up in similar circumstances to those of our campers.  Esther’s mother and father had died and she grew up in her cousin Mordecai’s house, which made her a foster child of sorts.  As I am sure you know Esther is later chosen to be the queen of Persia.  In her role as queen, she prevents the genocide of her fellow countrymen.  Her part in the plan to save her nation could have cost her life, but she had the courage to undertake it none the less.

This story can be an inspiration to our campers.  The knowledge that a woman of similar circumstances to theirs garnered such great achievements can be a great encouragement.  The story also tells us that we should do the right thing despite the cost.

Day Three – Boats, Birthdays And Assorted Other Activities

As promised in the previous day’s post, I wanted to give you an update on the story of Hannah and Ricco.  The plot took a sidetrack and  We heard from a new character today, LeeRoy.  LeeRoy finds it difficult to make decisions.  At the end, we learned that it is best  to use God’s values when making decisions rather than leaving the decision making up to chance.

The campers have continued to enjoy the good weather we’ve been having at camp. As is typical most afternoons, the campers went for a swim.  We have many water toys, with which  the

children can play.  The ring pictured here was a big hit today. Some of the campers and counselors were having a contest to see who could make it into the center of the ring by jumping into it from the dock.

 

Of course for those who didn’t feel like competing,

a casual swim was just the ticket for a relaxing time in the water.   If being in the water is not the campers’ thing, there’s always the option of sitting on the sandy beach and building a sandcastle.

Today had several special events for our campers. One of the host camp staff member took each of the campers for a speed boat ride.  It was quite a sight seeing the campers skimming across the smooth water in the boat and I noticed that each camper exited the boat with a huge smile on their faces.

Every year, we have a Birthday Party to celebrate each child birthday. Organizations from around the valley have  donated small toys and other items to fill the Birthday Boxes . At the Birthday party, we group the children by the month of their birth, call the children for that month up to the front of the gathering, and sing Happy Birthday to them.  They’re also given their Birthday Box and then the campers are asked to go back to their tables to wait (sometimes a little impatiently although who could blame them)  until everyone has received their Birthday Box. On cue, each camper excitedly opens their boxes to see what they’ve been given.  The party is topped off with dinner and cupcakes.

The final event of the evening was the Give It A Go Show. This is similar to a talent show, but we would rather say “Give it a go”

and pretty much anything goes at this show.  We had a Field Goal Kicker, which was on video since we’re indoors, pianist, puppeteers, singers, dancers, joker tellers, karate demonstrations….. the list goes on.  The Give It A Go Show is a safe environment to test out your skills and a place where you know you will always been cheered and receive a standing ovation.

It’s been another great day and we’re looking forward to what tomorrow holds for us.

Day Two – Jumping, Catching Bugs, And A Reminder Of Why We Are Here

Day two marked the first full day of camp.  The campers have settled in and are now about the business of having fun. The bug boxes that the campers built yesterday and early today were put to good use.  The camper with the red shirt

(pictured left) had captured a caterpillar in his bug jar and was on the hunt for a prize dragonfly to add to the collection.  He was awfully proud of his caterpillar and was eager to show it off.  The capture gave him a great sense of achievement.
Today was also the first day we brought out

the jumping house for the campers to play in. It always brings some fun to the party.  The campers were very creative as they played in the house. They weren’t just content to jump but decided to make up games to play while they were in the house.

Camp runs on a schedule to make sure we can get to all of the activities during the

day.  First up on the schedule is Breakfast Club.  Breakfast Club helps us start the day out right with music, games,  and object lessons.  We had an introduction to a story with Hannah and Ricco, two friendly puppets who are facing many of the challenges our campers face.  Each day we have an installment in the story and in today’s installment Ricco talks with Hannah about wanting to try out for the baseball team.  Even with Hannah’s encouragement, Ricco is afraid to try out for the team because of his fear of not being chosen.  In fact Ricco feels that he would not be chosen by many of the people in his life.  Hannah ends the day’s skit with telling Ricco God demonstrates the he has chosen Ricco through the love God gives him. I’ll be sure to post each day’s installment so you can hear how the story progresses.
It was during Breakfast Club that I met one of our new campers.  All of the children had been allowed to chose a new stuffed toy the night before and this little camper, a boy, had chosen the bull pictured left.  I noticed that once he’d picked it out, he’d always had it in his possession as he went

about doing the camp activities.  I asked him, “What’s your bull’s name?” and he told me and pointed out a few other  things about his bull.  As I started to turn my attention back to the object lesson,  the camper continued on with more information.  Not looking at me and staring intently at his bull he told me that his bull’s mother had died and that he was going to be the bull’s father.  Whether this is his story or the story of someone who is close to him i don’t know, but his comment was a hard hitting reminder that while the Jump House and bug catching can be fun, we’re here for a deeper purpose which is to let’s these children who have been abuse, neglected or abandoned some time during their young lives, know that they are loved by God and of great value.  This is why we are here.

Day One - What's In A Name?

The sign read Tony, a fairly common name, but for us it’s a very special one. Tony is one of the many campers who arrived today to participate in our camp. One of the things we want to promote is the notion that each child who comes and spends the week with us is unique and special. Included on the children’s name tags is the meaning of their name. The exhaustive list of the names and their meaning for all of our campers would fill this post but to give you an idea, some names mean adventurous, others noble, joyous, strong, steadfast, to name a few. We use the meaning of their names to further reaffirms that they have the potential to live up to the positive attributes that are linked to their names. You maybe asking yourself, “Why is this counselor holding up a sign with Tony’s name on it?”

Upon arrival, each camper leaves the bus, and exits onto a red carpet while one of our staff members announces them. The counselors and staff cheer their arrival to make sure they know they are welcomed and that we are excited that they will be participating in our camp. The sign helps each camper more easily identify their counselor,

which speeds their way towards lunch and a fun afternoon of activities. Speaking of the camp activities, here’s a sampling of what some of our campers did today.

           

Building Bug Boxes in preparation for

 tomorrows bug hunting down at the pond.

Learning how to hold the bow and

 arrow while aiming for the target.

Looks like our campers are pretty quick studies.

There’s always opportunities to be creative either

 through painting plaster forms or face painting (below).

 

Counselors and campers kayaking on the lake.

Camp is off to a great start and we’re looking forward to a spectacular week.

It’s Almost Here

Final preparations are underway.  Royal Family Kids’ Camp 2010 is almost at hand.  Actors are rehearsing their parts, musicians are practicing the songs and the hand motions that go along with them, trailers are being carefully packed with crafts and games, and all involved are preparing their hearts and minds to serve the children who will be soon exiting the bus and heading  for fun and adventure in the forest of of central Idaho.

Each day’s activities will be chronicled here so be sure to check back with us to see what new and exciting things happened at camp as Kid Royale and his friends strike out for fun and adventure.