Twenty-two campers ages 5 to 12 from 15 families served by 28 staff members (including 3 teenagers) made for a great time of loving God, loving others, having fun, and being safe at the Richardson Neighborhood Skills Camp. Organized by Grace Communion Richardson with help from our American Heritage Girls Troops TX1595 and TX0147 and Trail Life Troop 147, the young people were taught various life skills and the relational skills of kindness, truthfulness, forgiveness, and courage. It was our first neighborhood camp, and it went very smoothly, praise God, despite some initial trepidation in the planning phase.
The theme of camp was “Develop Your Superpowers.” The staff taught the campers that the skills and gifts that God has given all of us are meant to be developed and shared in love. Skills taught included cooking, gardening, auto care, first aid, graphic design, cartooning, cake decorating, sign language, chess, home repairs, ancient weapons, outdoor skills, sports fitness, and musical ear training. Classes were practical, hands-on, and fun. Role-playing interactions helped develop the relational skills mentioned above.
As Katherine, one of our staff members, shared, “watching Audrey* come out of her shell during the ‘Get to Know You’ games (when just a few minutes before that, she’d been sniffly and asking me to phone her mom), and seeing her really enjoying her first session of ‘Drawing Comics’, and then watching her beaming face skip into the room on the second morning with no hesitation or fear was one of my favorite memories!” Another staff member, Connor, said he loved that the kids got more and more confident during each relational skills session.
I was inspired by the hard work, graciousness, and love of the staff that permeated camp. And I felt it was all worth it when a number of the campers and parents requested that we hold camp again next year with more days added.
Gabriel Ojih, Pastor
Richardson, TX, US
*not her real name
Note: All the pictures were taken by our 14-year-old photographer, Naia Moya.
Awesome job, everyone!
We got to do this again!