1. Partnering with parents – We understand the challenges of being a parent today. It can be difficult to send your child away for the week, especially for the first time. In order to ease anxiety and allow parents to see how their kids are doing, we post a daily blog and share hundreds of pictures through social media highlighting what the kids did each day. At the end of the week, parents and kids have the chance to watch a video showcasing their week at camp. In order to accommodate busy family schedules, we run summer camp from Sunday afternoon to Friday afternoon. This allows families the opportunity to get a head start on weekend activities or upcoming summer vacations. We also run a camp for every age group each week so parents can send all their children at one time, if they desire. Obviously, we want the kids to have an enjoyable and growing experience at camp. We also want parents to have a positive feeling about their child’s experience as well.
2. The Food! – In order for a child to have a wonderful experience, they need sufficient fuel to have enough energy to participate in the camp activities throughout the long day. We make sure to provide a kid-friendly, healthy menu to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters. We also recognize that some campers have special dietary restrictions that may cause parents to be a bit nervous about sending their child to an overnight summer camp. Our hospitable kitchen staff provide appropriate alternatives to the meal to ensure that any child with a dietary restriction is well fed and happy.
3. Our Staff – Our counselors are the lifeblood of our organization. They are the caretakers, spiritual leaders, activity instructors, and cheerleaders for their campers. Subsequently, we select the best college-aged young people to be a part of our staff community. We run full background checks and ask tough questions in interviews to ensure we have a good sense of the people who will be in charge of our most important people, the campers. In order to help prepare the great staff we have for their summer at Camp Wyoming, we run a 12 day training program. The staff will learn about the Camp Wyoming traditions, safety precautions, caretaking techniques, how to handle homesickness, how to lead Bible studies, and other important subjects to help them prepare for the summer.
4. Fantastic activities – Parents send their kids to camp for a variety of reasons. One of the main reasons is so their kids can have fun and participate in all kinds of camp activities. We make sure we have a variety of activities that are appropriate for a wide range of ages. We have traditional activities such as swimming, arts and crafts, camp games, archery, canoeing, a team building challenge course, and nature hikes. To broaden the experience and opportunities for the kids, we also have bubble soccer, a sling shot course, a human foosball court, caving, super soaker battles, and an all-camp paint wars program. No matter the age of the camper, there are always a ton of activities for them to enjoy during their time at camp.
5. Updates –Kids today want to see updates from year to year, whether it be on their cell phones, in their classrooms, or the things they do and experience. As an organization, we want to continually update our operation. We have done so by updating our facilities such as adding air-conditioning to our cabins, adding a new program/activity such as human foosball and bubble soccer, and integrating a new idea into our evening worships. In order to update each year, we value the input of our participants, specifically the summer staff, campers, and parents. We seek their feedback at the end of each summer to find out how we can continue to get better and grow as a ministry.
6. Intentional Spiritual Development – We understand that kids have different learning styles so we include physical activities, reading and discussion times, and opportunities for artistic expression during the daily Bible studies. We also integrate this philosophy into our worships. We have a traditional campfire/chapel worship, a dance party style worship, worship in the pool, and our infamous Christwalk service where the kids get to see and hear the story of God through characters they encounter on a journey throughout the camp. We know that through these experiences campers will grow in their understanding of and in their relationship with God.
7. The Camp Community – Each group is typically comprised of 12 campers and 2 counselors. They eat, play, worship, and live together. They develop a close bond within their group. This provides a comfortable setting for kids to share who they are and feel supported. As they gain confidence, they begin to participate in the larger camp community and get to know the other campers and groups. By the end of the week, a camper feels valued within the camp community for who they are. They have also built invaluable friendships that will last long after their years at camp are over.
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