This is great!

Hey everyone! This blog is great! I am totally blessed that you set something like this up, Brian. What a cool way to communicate and brainstorm :)

I love the ideas of the fly-by and the water activities. Our lesson for Day 4 is called "Water Wonder" (It's about Jesus walking on water) --so maybe we could turn Thursday into Water Wonder Day, and have all kinds of water activities that day. Or we could go with Water Wednesday if we wanted to make the mid-week point really exciting

Did you all get postcards for the kick-off meeting next Wednesday, July 2nd, at 7 p.m. in the Genesis Room? Hopefully you all can make it...I am excited to worship, pray, & brainstorm with all of you! Also, hopefully you guys heard that we recently decided to open the camp up to kids who are entering 1st grade in the fall :)

Have a blessed day everyone! Thanks so much for your hearts for the kids and the Lord and Day Camp...I'm looking forward to what God has in store for the week!

Lots of Love in Him,
Kelly

Coast Guard Fly-By - 7/22 @ 1:30pm

Hi Folks!

One of our church members, Liuetenant Bruce Kimmell of the United States Coast Guard, has assisted with securing a fly-by on the 22nd of July at 1:30 pm. Pastor Bob and I thought it might be good to have something related to the fly-by on the ground to complete this activity. Perhaps something related to emergency preparedness, life-saving, other???

Please let me know your thoughts. This blog is designed for brainstorming so please dont be afraid to comment.

Brian

Planning a Daily Activity for Beacon Day Camp

Hi Folks,

Our team to date includes Stacey Brown, Penny and Bob Orme, Erik Nelson, Lou Donnarumma, Pastor Bob, my wife Amy and myself. We are being asked to plan an activity each day of the Beacon Day Camp being held this summer, July 21 through July 25.

Pastor Bob had asked that I research summer camp activities at three churches, information I've gathered so far is summarized below...

Saddleback Church - Lake Forest, CA
http://www.saddlebackfamily.com/allstars/index.html
The Saddleback Church sublink above will take you to some of the children's programming the church conducts. Saddleback's program for their 2008 summer camp is not yet available online. I've emailed the church and asked if they could forward last years program if available. Other content at the link above contains interesting programming we might borrow ideas from.

Orchard Hill Church - Wexford, PA
http://www.orchardhillchurch.com/files/admin/videos/promo-kidsfest.mov
Orchard Hill Church has a promotional video on their summer kidsfest linked above; the video is worth the five minute watch. They describe briefly in the video a water day, complete with a fire truck. Pastor Bob would love to see one of our activities include water, hopefully with a fire truck and water slides. They have photos available of their water day at
http://www.orchardhillchurch.com/photoskf07wk3b.asp
http://www.orchardhillchurch.com/photoskf07wk2b.asp
http://www.orchardhillchurch.com/photoskf07wk1b.asp.

I also liked Orchard Hill's idea of breaking the kids into smaller groups with volunteers assigned to the groups throughout the week. They use a ratio of 12 students to 2 volunteers. Their team celebration at the end of the week is also a good idea. All of Orchard Hill's activities appear to be scheduled for right after lunch. I could not find a specific program guide on their website either but have emailed a member of Orchard Hill's staff with a request.

North Point Community Church - Alpharetta, GA
http://www.upstreetkids.org/
North Point Community Church and North Point Ministries has a very organized weekly ministry for kids called UpStreet. They base their children's ministry on Luke 2:52, the curriculum is built around 1. Wisdom: I need to make the wise choice.2. Faith: I can trust God no matter what.3. Friendship: I should treat others the way I want to be treated.

http://www.xtremestudents.org/uploaded/files_northpoint/NPCC_schedule.pdf
North Point Community Church also has a boot camp with some interesting activities, albeit perhaps a bit messy. They apparently have a mud pit, prompting their note to parents to send their children with clothes they should not expect will return home. Hmmmm....

I have some other thoughts I will post separately. For now if you could explore some of the above links for ideas it would be much appreciated.

Brian

New! Beacon Day Camp...

Posted on behalf of the staff at Beacon Evangelical Free Church.

"Lord, how can we reach out and bless our community this summer?" That's been our prayer as a staff for the last month. Last week, the idea of hosting an inexpensive week of Day Camp started to fill us with excitement. We could truly bless both parents--especially working parents--and kids in our community! Please be praying with us as we seek the Lord's leading on this, and also about what role He might be calling you to play. Mark your calendars now for July 21 through 25--more details to come!