Create! Arts and Sports Camp 2017

Things are finally starting to calm down after a very busy summer, so it's time to get caught up on the blog!  You can expect several new entries over the next few weeks as we recap all that has happened.  

Create! Arts and Sports Camp was the first big event to happen this summer.  At Gold Avenue Church it's our version of Vacation Bible School and is intended to be an evangelistic reach into the neighborhood.  It took place the week after school got out for the summer.  We invited children and youth from the local schools and handed out fliers while we were prayer walking in the weeks ahead of camp.  Around 50 kids came throughout the week to learn about God through arts and sports.  

This is just one of the many pieces of art that reflect what the kids learned!

Each evening we started with a meal since the camp took place over dinner time.  We are very thankful that people from Caledonia CRC and The Gathering were willing to put together and donate these meals.  Kids ate dinner with their class while watching pictures from the day before; afterwards each class went to their place.  The children were able to pick and one class for the first two days and one class for the last two days so that they could experience a couple different things.

Here is a glimpse of the different classes, or studios as we called them:

Cooking was a highly sought after class, because there's food to eat!  They made cupcakes, yogurt parfait, worms and dirt, and more.  They also had fun learning about eating healthy.

They even shared some with me, in fact, they were eager to make me a parfait.  It was delicious!

Next was Sculpting, where they made Papier-mâché bowls and decorated them with special paper.

Next was Drawing, where they learned how to make an underwater seascape like the one you saw at the beginning of this post.

In all of these classes we got to enjoy seeing the natural talent that the kids had.  It was fun to encourage them and to build them up as they learned how to do new things.

Next up was Painting, where they were able to learn some cool watercolor techniques.  They used wax to create big stars on their galaxy, salt to create little stars, and a hair dryer to blend it all in.

Next was the Music class, where they learned how to play different instruments and how to create some cool beats.  A few of them had enough courage to perform at the gallery on Friday and they did a great job!

This year sports were an addition to camp to make it more appealing to all kids, and it seemed like this worked out well.  Soccer was a big hit as were the other sports classes.

Basketball class taught shooting technique and they played through lots of drills.

Volleyball class was a big hit (punny)!  They focused on learning the basics, which included lots of chasing after volleyballs!

We were blessed to have this aweseome camp photographer too, his photos really help to tell the story of camp! (I took a few too but I need a nicer camera like that!)

After the classes were over everyone returned to the large group for the lesson.  Each night we were blessed to have a different person or group share about God through their form of art.

We had Master Art Theater come and do a fun drama performance for us of different tales and stories that taught important principles from the Bible.  They were really fun!

Sharon from our church told the story of Lazarus using some beautiful story boards.  Then she explained the gospel with the help of some volunteers.

We got to hear from Julie about her paintings and what they mean to her.  They represent her prayers and were very beautiful.  We also heard some singing on another evening and learned of the inspiration behind it.  It was a real blessing to be able to hear the different ways that God has created us and how he can use different ways to share his gospel message.

At the end of the evening, after the lessons were done, we enjoyed eating what the cooking class produced!

On Friday night we had a special art gallery to show off the artwork and pictures from the camp.  We invited families of the kids who came.

We enjoyed an extended performance by Master Art Theater where they performed Bible stories about Jesus and how he seeks us out, inviting us to faith in Him as we accept his love.

It was a great opportunity to share the gospel again and to show the love of Jesus to all that attended.  

Create! went so well, it was a lot of work planning it but I had a lot of help.  Many people were in prayer before and during this camp.  Thank you!  Many people from our church and the community helped with different areas of the camp, from being teachers, helping with setup/teardown, helping with transportation, making signs, food, supplies, etc.  In addition Bridge Street House of Prayer (BSHOP) helped with some of the planning, helpers, and materials, it was great to have a wonderful neighborhood organization involved.  I was so blessed by everyone and so were all of the children and youth that came.  I praise God for making it all work and for blessing the camp, and I ask that we would all continue praying for those that came, that the seeds that were planted will grow into faith in Jesus!  Thank you!