Summer Camp

Camp Activities

As of this time, there are activities at the camp fulltime, that is, five days a week. The camp is not available for rent by the general public; all activities are planned and coordinated by and through the camp administration or by a sponsoring Church of Christ congregation. An explanation and comments on the daily activities first:
The camp has been opened to children of our neighbors. In this daily activity (Tuesday through Saturday) the camp provides an environment of supervised learning and play, modeled on biblical principles. Currently, there is an average daily attendance of approximately 40-44 children, Saturday’s attendance averages 70. During the afternoons Tuesday through Friday we help the children with their homework after a devotional and lecture (these 2 activities are mandatory). The 15 minute lecture from various classical books is to instill a desire for reading. For those who finish their homework early, they have to attend classes either in computer instruction, geography, or simply to improve themselves in arithmetic, grammar, English, etc. We also provide a refreshment and one day a week we show a 30 minute Bible movie. The Saturday program is different: it starts at 10am until 4pm. There are Bible classes, English classes, craft classes and games, with children divided into different age groups. Every second Saturday we prepare a full lunch for all children. This program is very appreciated by the parents and a couple of times a year we have an open house.

Of course during the summer months we have traditional camp activities. There are several weekly scheduled youth summer camps for children and young adults from ages 11 to 20. These camps have at their center to instill biblical principles while also providing opportunities to grow in other areas necessary for a successful life. One camp is especially for youth from congregations from all of Ecuador; then there are 2 or 3 weeks of summer camp geared towards youth from outside of the church. Both of these are very successful and popular. In either category the cost is very minimal because we subsidize it.

Another category of activity, not very traditional for camps in the States, is providing a base of operation for groups of young people (and adults) from the States. The purpose is to instill love for mission work in our youth and adults. This past summer we had 5 different groups from various parts of the States. Most of them plan on helping with the ongoing construction of the camp or adjacent children’s home. They also may plan special activities (i.e. VBS, etc.) for our neighborhood children, or even may go on trips for helping other congregations, for instance. We think this is as an important aspect as reaching out directly to the population here.

Lastly the camp is open for seminars and/or workshops which are scheduled throughout the year, usually of durations from 2 to 4 days. There have been groups of over 200 to as small as 15. These seminars and workshops too, have as their main objective growth in life application and spiritual knowledge for the participants.