Summer Camp 2008 - Lodge Hill
This year, 50 children from years 5 and 6 of the local primary and junior schools spent the week together at Lodge Hill. Although the sun didn’t really shine that week, it didn’t rain either, which was a real answer to prayer.
Lodge Hill provided us with some great activities this year, which the children really enjoyed: grass sledging down a purpose built course, driving a sand kart on their own, again around a purpose built course, climbing up a 30ft pole to stand on the platform at the top, and team building activities, involving everyone.
Chris North joined us for a day and showed us lots of different circus skills, and percussion playing and the children were able to show off their skills at the end of the day.
The children also designed their own t-shirts with fabric pens, played games, took part in a scavenger hunt, and ran around in the woods around the campsite. Throughout the week, the four different teams worked excellently together, and when it came to choosing a best team, the leaders couldn’t decide, as each team had just got on with what we had asked of them all week. Apart from one or two occasions the children were brilliant.
After breakfast each day we had a five minute story about what happened after Jesus had gone back to heaven, to the disciples and others, which were taken from the book of Acts and in the evening the children sat and watched a Storykeepers video, which they all enjoyed.
During the week each group spent an hour walking around the woods with Roger and other leaders talking about Jesus and the different things he did. Most of the children who attended had been to the Life Exhibition held at the United Church during the summer term, and so this was a follow on to what they had seen there. At the end 30 children took Bibles along with daily reading notes, to use at home.
On the last night together, we had a talent show, and then each child received a glow stick and walked up to the campfire site to toast marshmallows. It was a great way to spend our last night together.
There were many laughs over the week, provided mainly by some of the leaders, and this year’s camp had a really good feel to it, as everyone enjoyed themselves. The children were quiet by 10.45pm each night in their tents, although we did have to remind them on the first morning that 6.00am was far too early to be getting up, especially as breakfast wasn’t till 8.30am!
Thank you to all who have supported us with your time or financially to make this camp happen. It will be something that the children will always remember as they grow up and it’s another opportunity for God to be brought into the lives of the children in our town.
As for next year, we won’t know the dates until the New Year, but as soon as we have them we will be asking for volunteers to join us, as we plan for Summer Camp 2009