Every year this time as the temperatures begin to climb, it’s on our minds. Summer. Students are counting the days until the school year ends. Adults are longing for a much-needed break from the everyday grind. Families begin to look at the summer calendar and block out time for a much-needed getaway. We long to relax and rejuvenate.
 |
Yet rejuvenation for many each summer includes camps, community service and mission opportunities. Instead of a week in the sun at the beach, hundreds will spend vacation renovating inner-city homes or conducting mission Vacation Bible schools.
Rather than traveling to popular tourist attractions, parents have many choices of camps and mission experiences that will provide hard work, spiritual growth and adventurous fun for their children and teens.
The summer months are filled with rewarding opportunities that can impact us and others for a lifetime. While the options are too many to cover here, these are a few to consider.
Camp Piankatank
Camp Piankatank in Hartfield offers a diverse range of activities for 7- to 17-year-olds that encourage physical, spiritual and emotional growth. It offers weeks for girls only, boys only and coed with options like Extreme Escape, Amazing Adventure and Saddle Sisters. Its Outdoor Outburst track is for boys and girls who enjoy sports. Campers compete in games while learning about how God expects them to treat one another on and off the playing field.
Located on the Piankatank river, the camp has had many requests for a fishing camp, says Niki Gourley who with her husband Todd are camp directors. So for the first time there’s a new track for kids to learn a variety of types of fishing and spend a half-day fishing on a professional charter boat. Canoeing, sailing, kayaking and campouts on its own island makes Piankatank is a great opportunity for boys and girls to enjoy the fun of camp in a Christian environment.
CentriKid Camps
LifeWay’s CentriKid Camps is a five-day camp that offers those who have finished 3rd-6th grade the opportunity to learn more about the message of Jesus Christ. Held at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center in Lynchburg, this camp has expanded to three weeks and a weekend camp experience. “Eagle Eyrie is a fantastic location,” says Mary Carlisle, camps specialist for CentriKid. “We love partnering with them for ministry during the summers.”
CrossRoads Camp and Conference Center
Lifelong relationships with new friends and God are developed each summer by campers at CrossRoads Camp in Lowesville. The weeks of June 20-August 6 offer camps for all girls and coeds in grades 4-12 and two weeks for families. One of the most popular tracks is mountaineering. The Blue Ridge mountains are ideal for rock climbing and rappelling. A horsepower track teaches campers spiritual lessons through horsemanship. The backpacking track includes a hike on trails through the George Washington National forest.
Family camp is for families with children too young for regular camp. Families stay together in hotel-style accommodations and participate in activities such as adventure recreation, hiking, crafts and missions activities. CrossRoads Camp and Conference Center is a ministry of Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia.
Impact!
 |
Impact! is the “umbrella” program for a variety of mission camps offered by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. Impact Virginia! is a one-week student mission camp focusing on construction. This year Blue Ridge, East River, James River and Shiloh Baptist associations, along with Bluefield College, will partner with the VBMB to provide four sites for Impact Virginia.
Mornings begin with a worship celebration led by a team of college students and the camp’s pastor. Students are assigned to work sites and for most of the day will find themselves on rooftops making repairs or in homes painting or outside installing wheelchair ramps.
Last year over 700 students and 75 construction volunteers were able to make repairs and upgrades to 50 homes. This year’s Impact Virginia! camps will be June 26-July 2 in Culpeper, July 10-16 in Stuart, July 17-23 in Buckingham and July 24-30 in Bluefield.
Impact Metro! is an urban-centered opportunity focusing on community service. Projects include working with a food pantry, homeless shelters, after-school clubs, refugee centers and other ministries that seek to meet the needs of those in urban communities. Not only will participants be involved in hands-on service, but they will spend concentrated time in worship, studying the Bible and the culture that they are attempting to reach.
Impact Metro! will be held in Richmond on June 20-25 and in Roanoke on July 31-August 5.
Impact International
Virginia Baptists have the opportunity to be the hands of Christ for 10 families in Panama who need help with their housing July 9-17 in La Chorrea. Students from Panama will also participate and the project will offer not only assistance for the families but a taste of the culture of Panama for Impact participants.
Missions Connection Celebration (MC2)
Likely the most inter-generational summer mission event is the Missions Connection Celebration held July 25-30 at Eagle Eyrie. MC2 provides an exciting week of mission learning, dynamic worship, dialogue with missionaries and hands-on projects for all ages and skill levels.
Preschoolers may bake read to share with children at a church VBS while children assemble packets for migrant ministry and older adults may be involved in a knitting project. Afternoons bring hands-on mission project choices for adults and youth.
“Jesus said,” is the theme of MC2 and Danny Quirin, pastor of Bonsack Baptist Church in Roanoke, is MC2 pastor. More Than Conquerors, a group with ties to Smithfield will lead the music. Reservations for lodging should be made with Eagle Eyrie. Registration for MC2 opens April 1.
Music & Worship Arts Camp
 |
The hills will be alive with the sound of music at Virginia Baptistsí Music and Worship Arts Camp held at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center on July 18-22. While this camp has been popular with thousands of young people during the past 30 years, its focus is changing with more emphasis on worship arts, says Tom Ingram, coordinator for church music and worship at the VBMB. Churches now use a variety of arts in worship, such as drama, art projects and interpretative movement. Special interest classes may include hands-on puppets, handbells, African drumming and Caveman Stomp (creating music with objects like trash cans, pots and pans and spoons).
Campers, grades 4-9, participate in a mass choir and are encouraged to bring instruments and join the orchestra or praise band. Reservations for lodging should be made by contacting Eagle Eyrie. Registration for camp begins May 15.
Passport Kids
During the past 20 years Passport has developed a reputation for quality Christian programs and its summer program for youth as well as children. This year Passport Kids for 3rd-6th graders will take place in six states, including June 16-19, at Eagle Eyrie.
Children will be exploring China and considering what life is like for those who choose to be followers of Christ in this country. At a night market, they may practice chopsticks skills or dodge a dragon as they learn about the work of Christian men and women in China. And yes, there’s a healthy dose of what keeps groups coming back year after year–fun!
Passport
 |
Youth are unique. And God is at work in their lives in unique ways. So Passport for 6th-12th graders has evolved into three camps. Passport missions is a youth camp and a mission trip. Youth participate in Bible study and worship and a meaningful hands-on mission project. As one camper describes it, “In the morning we learn about the Bible, in the afternoon we do the Bible.”
Passport choices helps teens learn to make great choices as they discover who God is creating them to become. Teens choose between Missions, Skin Deep, Tree Space, Curtain Call, Soul Food, Huddle Up and its newest choice — Grace Notes.
Passport missions 2 devotes twice as much time to missions. Hosted at churches, rather than on college campuses, teams are smaller and work more closely with local agencies. This summer Passport missions 2 will be offered in Washington, D.C.
Those choosing the D.C. location will minister to the large homeless population in the city through homeless shelters, recovery centers and thrift store ministries.
Transformers
Since 1998 Transformers, sponsored by the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, has been an opportunity for adults to be engaged in a large group, hands-on mission setting. The project for 2011 will be held June 1-4 and hosted by the Southwest Virginia Partnership in Nickelsville.
Standing Rock Reservation
 |
Increasing numbers of Virginia Baptists are traveling to the Standing Rock Reservation in the Dakotas in a mission partnership started in 2004 under the leadership of Bob Hetherington, director of missions for Roanoke Valley Baptist Association. Virginia’s Woman’s Missionary Union joined the partnership in 2009 to this reservation that is home to about 8,500 people who struggle with many issues, including unemployment, alcoholism, poverty and domestic violence.
This summer’s trip will be July 31-August 5 and those choosing this “hand-in-hand and heart-to-heart” ministry can be involved in various projects. Construction teams will make improvements to churches and homes on the reservation. Medical teams will provide blood pressure, blood sugar and vision checks, while distributing eyeglasses and educational material. In hopes that women and men there will find productive ways to use their time and provide income for their families, teams provide instruction on sewing, quilting, basket making and woodworking.
One way of connecting with children is through the BookNet Project, as volunteers read books, share Bible lessons and distribute toiletry bags. Other groups travel to communities taking family portraits.
Training is required for this trip, so you’ll need to inquire quickly. There will be other trips to Standing Rock later this year.
Smoky Mountain Christian Village
If the church van is loaded and the destination on the GPS is set for Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, some will likely question if a trip to one of the most popular tourist spots in the South is anything but a vacation. But if the van is headed for the Smoky Mountain Christian Village, those on board can be headed for a truly Spirit-led experience.
 |
The Village has programmed camps and retreats in the winter, summer and fall for different age groups. Its staff is also available to work alongside youth leaders to plan camps/retreats at any time of the year that will encourage youth to live out their faith in an authentic, intentional, Spirit-led experience. Youth leaders understand where their teens are spiritually and the goal of the staff at Smoky Mountain Christian Village is to assist them build a camp or retreat that will build their faith.
The 44-acre campus is in a secluded valley and includes 13 chalets/lodges with living rooms, dining rooms and fully-equipped kitchens for family and church groups of all sizes. In addition to year-round vacation accommodations the Village offers retreats, sponsored programs and a very unique camp experience.
SMCV offers mountain cove paintball, swimming pool, teambuilding games, challenge courses, volleyball, basketball, carpet ball, hiking, bonfire pit, and if desired, secluded tent camp sites.
Was it mentioned that the Village is located across from Dollywood and Dollywood’s Splash Country? If your family or youth group are looking for a camp or retreat site, this is one you’ll want to check out!
The choice is up to you
The summer of 2011 offers an incredible opportunity to grow your faith and make a huge difference in the lives of others. From Panama and Switzerland to Southwest Virginia or Lynchburg, why not plan to make this a summer to remember for years to come?