Camp 2024 Recap

The 2024 Royal Family Kids' camp has come to a close. Here's a recap of our week for the buddies and staff. 

 

Day Five- Beautiful Life

Captain Smiley 

 Today Act Four was presented to the campers. The sea is calm now, with the storm over. The ship has taken on some damage with broken sails and debris strewn around the deck. The crew appears and disheartened to see the condition of the ship.  Without the anchor, they are continuing to drift and in fact drift into the rocky beach of an island.  This is a special island, the one Captain Smiley knows has the buried treasure. The crew is excited when they learn this is what they have been working towards, the pinnacle of their journey.  With the help of Captain Smiley, the crew digs up the treasure chest ad brings it to Captain Hookinbak.  When the chest is open, there are no jewels, silver, or gold. There is a Bible, a true treasure. Captain Smiley convinces Captain Hookinbak and the crew that wealth will not bring happiness, but God can.  Jesus is our true anchor in life’s storms.  Speaking of anchors, the Drifter is still in need of one, and the crew prays they will find one, and find one they do. Buried in the sand is the anchor of the Drifter. They return to the ship, reinstall the anchor and sail for home, knowing their hope is in God. 

Mid-morning was set aside for packing up and getting ready to head home. Campers are leaving with a lot more than they started with. During their time at camp they have built bug boxes, dollhouses, ceramic art, paint spin art, as well as many other keepsakes. 

After lunch the campers were on the bus and heading back to town to meet their caregivers. The campers prepare two songs to share with their caregivers as a part of the Welcome Home program. The songs we sang for this program this year were Beautiful Life and Boom Shaka Laka.

Trees are speaking for You

They show Your feelings

Through the Seasons

Spring - a new day dawning

Watch the flowers grow

And feel the soft winds blow

And all the while

We see Your smile

Beaming in the sunshine

Singing through the summertime

It's a beautiful life

A beautiful life

It's a beautiful life

That we live

Colors are slowly turning

They end up on the ground

We throw those leaves around

The snow is gently falling

Frosty window pane

It's there I write my name

And all the while

You're by our side

Ready to embrace us

In the coldest places

It's a beautiful life

A beautiful life

It's a beautiful life

That we live

It's a beautiful life

A beautiful life

It's a beautiful life

That You give

The Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord

The goodness of the Lord is all around

The Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord

The goodness of the Lord is all around

 It's a beautiful life

It's a beautiful life

A beautiful life

A beautiful life

It's a beautiful life

That we live

The Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord

The goodness of the Lord is all around

The Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord

The goodness of the Lord is all around

It's a beautiful life

A beautiful life

It's a beautiful life

That You give

 

I said a boom-chaka-laka-laka, boom-chaka-laka-laka.

Boom-chaka-laka-laka, boom!

I said a boom-chaka-laka-laka, boom-chaka-laka-laka.

Boom-chaka-laka-laka, boom!

I said Lord, Lord Jesus

won't You come and fill me up

'cause without You, I'd be

feeling so empty.

I said Lord, Lord Jesus

won't You come and fill me up

'cause without You, I'd be

feeling so empty.

Fill me up 'til I overflow,

fill me up 'til I overflow,

fill me up 'til I overflow, yeah!,

fill me up 'til I'm overflowing.

Oh oh oh I'm overflowing,

oh oh oh I'm overflowing,

oh oh oh I'm overflowing,

oh oh oh I'm overflowing, yeah!

Break it down.

I said love, joy, peace, patience,

gentleness, kindness, faith and self-control.

I said love, joy, peace, patience,

gentleness, kindness, faith and self-control.

I said love, joy, peace, patience,

gentleness, kindness, faith and self-control.

I said love, joy, peace, patience,

gentleness, kindness, faith and self-control.

Fill me up 'til I overflow,

fill me up 'til I overflow,

fill me up 'til I overflow - come on! -

fill me up 'til I'm overflowing.

Oh oh oh I'm overflowing,

oh oh oh I'm overflowing,

oh oh oh I'm overflowing,

oh oh oh I'm overflowing, yeah!

Once the program is complete, the campers rejoin their caregivers and say their goodbyes to their buddies and staff. We appreciate the opportunity to spend time with our campers.  

Day Four - Celebration

 Today’s object lesson was about the Jonah, who had divinely position by God to speak to the people in the city of Ninevah.  His mission was letting them know that God was not pleased with how they were living their lives.  But because of Jonah’s bias against those people, he chose to head in the opposite direction and not warn them of God’s displeasure.  God uses nature, a storm at sea to bring Jonah to his senses and return to God’s plan, but Jonah prefers to be thrown in the sea than speak to the people of Nineveh.  

Camper plays Jonah with Pastor Sue 

The story doesn’t end there, God provides a large fish to scoop up Jonah, keep him safe, and returns him to land. Once back on land Jonah relents and decides to obey God by taking God’s message to the people of Nineveh.  Jonah preaches God’s message of repentance to the city state of Nineveh and the people heed his warning by repenting of their sinful ways.  Starting with the king of Nineveh, the 120,000 people of Nineveh heard God’s warning, turn towards God and are saved. 

We learn from this event that God loves us and wants us to turn towards him, no matter how much we don’t deserve his love and grace. 

Cast from left to right Cracker, Ma, Bilge, Riffraff, Scum, Captain Hookinbak, Captain Smiley

In Act Three, we find the crew of the Drifter and Captain Smiley at sea, continuing to sail in the direction of W or as Ma stated, Write. An easterly wind has picked up and Ma’s decided it is a good day to do laundry.  Captain Smiley appears topside and points out, it looks like a storm is brewing.  The crew let it slip that they don’t know how to sail in a storm, and in fact, they’ve not left the dock before.  Captain Hookinbak sweeps these comments aside and states he’s experience in sailing in storms. Captain Hookinbak is still intent on finding the treasure, at all cost. The storm increases and the wave are throwing the ship’s occupants around the deck. Captain Smiley yells lighten the load, look for something heavy, and Captain Hookinbak panics, at one point suggesting they throw Scum overboard, but he settles for grabbing the anchor and tossing it over.  Without that anchor, they are lost, without anything to hold them while they ride out the storm. Captain Hookinbak’s panic increases, not know where to turn. Captain Smiley tells him Jesus can help us find peace in the storm, but Captain Smiley does not understand, mocking him for his trust in Jesus. The scene ends with the ship and the crew lost at sea.

Today’ waterfront activities included swimming Kayaking, sandcastle building and ski boat rides. Campers and staff took turns flying cross the waves of the lake, all with excited smiles on their faces. After their time on the water, it was off to dinner. 

Our Day Four evening was reserved for award night. This year’s theme was “Celebrating You.”  Each camper got an award and some of their titles were very creative. Some of the titles were, Sandcastle Builder, Ping Pong Champion, High Heel Runner, Spin Art Master, Specialist in Dragon Drawing, and Best Pushups in the Water, to name a few.

Our camp is target for children between the ages of
6 through 11. During the awards night campers who are 11 are acknowledge and given a medal, certificate, and a new Bible. At our camp it’s never good-bye, rather it’s until we see you again.  

Day Three- Birthday Bash

 Day Three was filled with a lot of activities. This afternoon the campers were able to tour the lake on a pontoon boat. There’s something peaceful about floating along the waves, viewing the beautiful scenery and have a good chat with the buddies and other campers. 

 

Cracker the Parrott narrates the end of the Act Two 

Act Two of our play opens with the crew cleaning the ship.  Captain Hookinbak is trying to make sense of the treasure map without much luck.  He calls Ma out to see if she can help, being she has been to school once.  They are confused by the letters on the map, N,E,S,W.  Ma concluded that N =No and W= Write, so the pirates need to sale to W or Write. Having survived his first walking of the plank, Captain Smiley has been relegated to the galley to help Ma with the cooking.  After another unsuccessful try at getting Captain Smiley to walk the plank, the crew sets sail in search of the treasure. 

The zipline opened up today and the campers took advantage of it, flying down the line and enjoying the speed. 

Buddy and camper fishing

On Day Three, we have a large all camper Birthday Party.  We like to celebrate everyone’s Birthday in style.  Gift bags are carefully filled and once everyone was handed a gift bag, had  a picture taken, and the Happy Birthday song sung, they tear into the bags to see their gifts.  The second part of the party is pizza for dinner and a Birthday treat. 

Camper Birthday Gift Bag

Tonight, we had the Give It a Go Show. It’s similar a talent show, but everyone is encouraged to Give It a Go.  The campers displayed many talents, such as back flips, art demonstrations, ping pong ball

Pastor Sue Co-host the Show

balancing, singing, dancing and piano.  Puppet shows seemed to be the main theme with the campers being entertain lamp chop, dog, and donkey. One of our campers was able to learn his favorite Kurtis Hoppy song and was able to sing as a duet with Kurtis.  Everyone was cheered as they were entertained by their fellow campers and buddies. As the show wrapped up, so did our day. 

Campers entertain the audience with a puppet show

Campers sing and play the piano

Day Two- Time to Build an Ark

 Interspersed between activity time, fishing and swimming are three sessions know as Breakfast Club, J-Zone and Chapel.  In Breakfast Club, campers have singing, object lessons, encouraging scriptures, and a video that relates to the camp theme.  This year the campers watched Nemo, a movie about a fish who is different than others that learns to overcome some of life’s challenges.    

In J-Zone the campers heard the story of Noah, who wanted to serve God by building an ark. Neighbors and friends couldn’t understand why Noah would take on such a task and saw him as being ridiculous. But God had a plan for the ark and Noah, and that plan ultimately saved humankind. 

Camper plays the part of Noah

Campers play the animals in our story of Noah

Each year the staff put on a play for the campers. This year’s play is The Pirates of Portsea. The crew is made up of Captain Hookinbak, Ma, Riffraff, Scum, and Bilge.

Captain Hookinbak and Ma 

Gull in the Crow's Nest 

This band of pirates is focused on a treasure of gold, silver and jewels, which they will seek at all costs.  And then there’s Captain Smiley, an always smiling, friendly, making the best of everything well-dressed sea going sailor who have a treasure that cannot be seen with the eye.  Captain Smiley has a treasure map to this treasure and the band of pirates found it and taken in from him.  In order to get rid of Captain Smiley, Captain Hookinbak orders him to walk the plank, thinking Captain Smiley will sink into the mirky depths.  But the ship is misaligned and Captain Smiley lands safely on the sand.

During Chapel, campers were treated to a concert by Kurtis Hoppie.  Kurtis shared through music and his life story how important is for us to forgive those who have brought trauma into our lives. It’s through forgiveness that we are set free.  

The campers enjoyed Kurtis’s music and had a lot of questions for Kurtis during his question-and-answer time.  You can find out more about Kurtis’s music at…

Spotify… 

Q&A with Kurtis

YouTube...

X...

Apple Music...

With that, it’s time to get some shuteye. 

Day One- Let the Fun Begin

Campers and buddies can experience many emotions that first day camp. The hours leading up to camp starting can be filled with excitement, anticipation, possibly a little anxiousness wondering how camp experience will be for the camper. The buddies are anxious to make that connection with their campers. A lot of work has gone into making their camper’s experience a good one. Rooms have been decorated and posters with the campers’ names on them have been created.  When the bus arrives, buddies wave the signs for their campers to see letting them know that they are going to be the camper’s buddy for the week. 

The first stop for the camper after departing the bus is the photo station where they get their first picture with their sign and their buddy. 

 After quickly unpacking and having lunch the campers are off to the Activity Center and the fishing pond. 

Fishing is a serous business at camp with the campers (and some of the buddies) competing to see how many fish that can pull out of the pond.  The record for number of fish caught on  Day One is five. 

The Activity Center has some of the usual favorite activities, woodworking, and face painting. This year there is a new activity, karaoke with DJ James.  The campers enjoyed learning and singing some of the popular songs included in the machine. 

 DJ James manages the Karaoke booth

 

The puppet booth shows are always a hit as well.  Campers and buddies use the puppets to put on some very creative shows. 

That evening, Pirate Riffraff gave the campers a teaser of the four act play that will be performed for the campers this week.

  It’s been a camp tradition every year to provide a quilt for the campers. The quilts have been generously provided by the Linus Project. Linus Project representatives 

Marylin and Barbara were on hand to distribute the beautiful quilts.

  These quilts are cherished by the campers and they immediately wrap themselves up in them to experience the warmth. 

  Besides the quilts the campers are given the opportunity to select a new plush toy. There’s a large variety of toys to choose from and the decision is a hard one. Now it’s off to bed to rest and get ready for another fun day.