Camp GC "Block Party" Combines Fun with Ministry
Jen Whalen, the director of Camp GC, says the response to Camp GC has been highly positive.
“Kids don’t want to leave,” she said. “Parents come to pick them up and many times they come back out, saying, ‘We’ll be coming back later.’”
Whalen explained that Camp GC offers kids four rotation stations of 40 minutes each, including game, craft, edible craft, and prayer/response stations. Camp GC also includes “Chillville,” a sensory room staffed by trained volunteers for kids who have special needs and/or who become overstimulated by the activities of the day.
This year’s special speaker, Victor Oliva, a former long-time children’s pastor at Church of All Nations in Boca Raton, Florida, and now associate pastor, was highly popular with the kids.
“I’ve really enjoyed the experience of hanging out with PKs and MKs, fellowshipping with them, and pouring into them,” Oliva said. “And the kids — just walking by, giving me high-fives, hugging on me, and pin-trading with me.”
Of course, different kids enjoy different things.
“I really like all the activities they have,” said 9-year-old Karis who calls Philadelphia her home. “The services are good. I like how pastor Victor sometimes is really funny and sometimes he’s really serious.”
“I really enjoy crafts — I like how we get to make things because I really enjoy art and making things,” says Emelyn, 10, who hails from Millbrook, Alabama. “I enjoy the second service (with pastor Victor) the most. I like how he can be really funny.”
Karstyn, age 9, from Conaga Park, California, says he likes the edible crafts the most. “I just did the Rice Krispy™ craft,” he said with a quick smile, and added that he liked Little Junior, a digital puppet, and the songs in the worship service times.
Although Camp GC is about serving the kids, Lynna Mooney, children’s pastor at Lima (Ohio) First Church and a member of the Camp GC lead team, says that she was inspired by seeing all the children’s leaders from all over the nation coming together to pour into the kids and how quickly they connected with each other and the children.
“I’ve had the opportunity to lead the missions chapels,” she said. “To see the kids spend time in prayer, praying for others and their neighborhood has really been inspiring. All week I’ve been challenging them that God can use them right where they are.”
Volunteer Hannah Cruz, who co-leads children’s ministries at Prairie Temple in Virden, Illinois, says she has enjoyed seeing the heart of the kids and their willingness to learn more about God, especially in the prayer stations.
“We’re all here to serve them as much as their families (as ministers and missionaries) have served us,” Cruz said, explaining that this is a time for the kids to be kids with other PKs and MKs just like them, and who live with certain expectations as part of a ministry family.
Cruz said she also appreciated how Olivia was honest with the kids’ spiritual lives as he made altar opportunities for them— expressing how their parents might believe, but they might not be believers yet themselves.
“The kids here deserve Jesus just as much as kids who don’t have parents in ministry,” Cruz said.
One, it would seem, would be safe to say that Camp GC is some of the most fun a kid could have as they experience the love of the Church body and the presence of Jesus.
