Hello all!
We are coming up to our time to begin really planning for our annual week at Camp. We are beyond excited to get to have Camp this year and are looking forward to spending that time with your students. Camp is held at Gulf Coast Bible Camp in Lucedale, Mississippi and will be July 17-22nd. Registration begins on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. and pick up on Friday begins at 10:00 a.m. It is open to all students, grades 4-12th, using the upcoming year, 2021-’22 as our gauge. Camp is a time of focused devotions, engaging bible classes, meaningful worship, and great fellowship. It is a time for students to lead within their own giftedness, a time to run and laugh and play and a time to eat really good food. It is a time to learn how to be patient, to be kind, to be understanding and to practice self control. It is time to challenge our own selfishness, our impatience, our anger and the things that we know lead us down the wrong paths.
Here are a few details for you to know for planning purposes and also if you are interested in counseling this year:
Transportation: You are in charge of getting your student to Camp on Sunday and picking them up on Friday. If your student can drive, that is up to you, but once they park their vehicle, it is to remain parked for the week. You can arrange car pools with other families as well. If you are absolutely in a bind, please contact Seth and we can see what we can work out.
Cost: The cost is $150.00 per camper. If you have siblings attending, contact Seth so we can arrange the final cost, as there is a sibling discount. This money covers ALL food, canteen snacks, t-shirt, a majority of the crafts, games and more. We keep things very busy and entertaining.
Packing List:
Food: Our master Chef, Marcia Wright runs the kitchen and she cooks amazing meals. If your camper has any special dietary restrictions, we have available space in the fridge for pre packaged meals for them. The earlier this is communicated, the more we can plan(picky eater is not considered a special dietary restriction).
Special Schedule: If your camper needs to arrive late or be picked up early, PLEASE note this on the additional information section of the application. If you have already turned in your application and something comes up, please communicate this as early as possible to Seth so he can put that in the notes.
Visiting Camp: We welcome parents visiting whenever they would like, but it needs to be communicated so we can make adjustments to the menu and it cannot be disruptive to the scheduled activities.
Medical Release Form: We ask ALL participants for ALL Gateway Children’s Ministry and Gateway Student Ministry to have a 2022 Medical Release form on file. This is where you can notate any special circumstances, allergies or anything else we need to be mindful of for your camper.
Special 2022 Camp Wednesday Night Experience: Last year, we had a special time and we want to do something similar this time as well, but a little easier. We want to invite you to write a letter to your teen, about anything you want but with the main focus of affirming them. You can seal this in an envelope and get it to Seth or Jeremy before camp or you can deliver it with your teen to give during Registration on Sunday. Please take a few moments and do this so every teen has a letter. Mark their name clearly on the envelope. Thank you.
Counselors: If you are interested in counseling at Camp, please fill out an application and get that back to Seth or Jeremy. Even if you have verbally told us you are wanting to come, we need a physical application for planning purposes. Counseling is a privilege and we make sure we hold our counselors to a very high standard. In the next few weeks, we will begin sending out information about what we believe counseling is and how you can begin prepping for this week. We do ask that you be willing to put in a lot of work with a lot of grace! Counselors are there FOR the Campers and all answer to the Director. We are allowing special Junior Counselor situations for young adults who are a year out of the Youth Ministry to help with the ROC kids cabin. We fill by need. For any other questions on counseling, please see Jeremy and Seth.
This should be enough information to get you planning. We ask that your campers applications be turned by July 3rd. They can be turned in to Seth, Jeremy or Liz on Sunday mornings, run by the office, or scanned/ photographed and sent in via online methods. Payment will be due on July 10th. Counselors applications will be taken at any time, and the earlier you send that in, the more planning we can incorporate you on, so fill those out quick! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Be blessed and see you soon!
Gateway Student Ministry 