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By Dorothy Brotherton
BEEN there – going back. Done that – want
to do it again.
That’s how most kids feel after a stint at summer
camp, judging from their goodbye tears and enthusiasm to sign up for next
year.
“I just didn’t know it would be so
cool,” said Steven, a formerly cynical teen, after a week at Bible
camp.
In the Central Okanagan, five camps with spiritual
underpinnings offer overnight camps for kids. They are geared for start-up
this month.
Camp Owaissi
Located on the northwest shores of Okanagan Lake,
Owaissi is the oldest camp in the Okanagan, dating from 1950. The name is
not native, as many suspect. It’s a play on the name of the
sponsoring group, Okanagan Anglican Churches (OAC.)
It’s a camp where young people are “exposed
to a balanced and thoughtful approach to Christianity, as well as the
values of teamwork, mutual respect and caring for others,” said
Justin Davison, camp director.
Besides kids’ camp, Owaissi started a family camp
last summer, featuring a drum circle.
See www.campoac.com.
Maple Springs
Located behind Peachland, Maple Springs Bible Camp
offers a line-up of kids’ camps. It will host Amasa Camp for mentally
challenged adults, August 4 – 8.
“We’re partnering with Amasa, which will
bring challenged people to experience the fun of summer camps,” said
Trevlyn Baerg, who directs Maple Springs with Rob Hasenbank.
Amasa is Hebrew, and
means “burden bearer.” Amasa sponsors retreats for challenged
people throughout B.C.
Maple Springs keeps costs low for campers, with
subsidies covering more than three-quarters of costs.
“It gives kids a chance to be kids. They get to
do things they may have never tried before,” said Hasenbank.
Last summer, 21 percent of campers came from single
parent homes and 12 percent were foster kids. Maple Springs is affiliated
with CSSM Ministries, formerly Canadian Sunday School Mission. Check
www.maplesprings.ca.
Morning Star
This facility is a project of Valley Bible Chapels. It
is 52 years old, and ministers to 400 – 450 campers each summer.
Morning Star Bible Camp is landlocked in the Glenrosa hills, where
the Westside municipality grew up around it. But residential development on
every side has not cramped its style.
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“The natural layout here means we hear no noise
– and neighbours hear only our dinner bell,” said Ron
Pazdzierski, camp board chairman.
Morning Star and Maple Springs co-sponsor a Boys’
Fly-Fishing Camp. Al Springer, who works with B.C. Fish and Wildlife, takes
teen boys into the wilderness for a back-to-nature experience. They trek
into the Westside mountains to learn orienteering, fly tying, riflery,
paintball, canoeing – and, of course, fishing. Pazdzierski explained
the value: “In the wilderness, you get in touch with the basic things
of life.”
Check www.morningstarbiblecamp.com.
Green Bay
This camp’s 600 feet of beach and 11-acre
waterfront setting on Okanagan Lake appeal to water-lovers. A huge dock
encloses the swim area. Green Bay Bible Camp features one of the largest
wakeboard-waterski instruction programs in Western Canada, the biggest
indoor skate park in the Okanagan and a popular climbing wall.
With proximity to area golf courses, campers are
offered golf lessons.
The camp was founded by North American Baptist churches
in the 1950s and is operated by an independent society with an
interdenominational focus. Check www.greenbay.bc.ca.
Okanagan
This small camp and retreat (capacity about 50) is
located in the mountains behind Westside, and is owned and operated by
Lutheran Church Canada.
Surrounded by forest, it’s an ideal setting for
focusing on wilderness and survival training.
A new swimming pool offsets the landlocked location.
Facilities include an outdoor chapel, prayer garden and stadium-style fire
pit. Okanagan Camp & Retreat Centre has operated since 1988, and this
summer offers two kids’ camps in August, as well as small group
retreats.
See www.ocrc.ca.
July 2008
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