Wow. 70 days its been. 70 days of the Lord working in mighty ways. 70 days of playing in the sun! 70 days of living in Teepee's. Summer 2011 is surely one for the record books!
We've played in the mud, gone down the slip-n-slide too many times to count, walked the Emmaus Trail, met the Toy Story characters, made new friends, participated in dance parties, learned Walk Thru the New Testament among countless other things!
Over 600 kids accepted Christ at K7 this summer. 600 kids whose lives are changed for all of eternity! Praise God!
As we depart tomorrow we leave different than when we arrived. By God's grave we've been stretched, refined and grown considerably.
Summer 2011 will forever hold a special place in our hearts.
Yesterday we introduced to first favorite activity...the slip-n-slide. However, you can't talk about favorite activities without including the Kamikazi Cribbs!
Named after our Assistant Director and Safety Officer Mr. Dave Cribbs, the Kamikazi has been around for about 5 years. It is the first thing kampers ask about when they first arrive and meet their counselors in the church and the first thing they head towards when at the pool.
Choose to ride down solo or with a buddy, either way you'll love the twists and turns and the splash in the pool at the end.
When asking Kampers what their favorite activity at Kamp is you'll usually hear an array of answers. Whether it's archery, ski class, the blob or basketball we have so many awesome activities that no one can pick just one favorite!
There are, however, two specific activities that typically generate excitement from everyone- the first being our newest addition at K-7...the SLIP-N-SLIDE!
During staff training our staff worked tirelessly to ensure the slip-n-slide was ready for that very first Kamper that came through the gates on June 4th.
Throughout the summer we've added many variations to the traditional slide down. Kampers have created different ways of going down..there is the squirrel and turtle, the whale and bird. Counselors will give style points for their creativity or have races to see who can slide down the fastest.
Who wouldn't want to spend an hour at the slip-n-slide! It's no surprise that it is one of the most favorite activities in Kamp!
Last night was our last installment of Wipeout, our Sunday night program that is always a kamper favorite! Kampers participate in an array of messy activities that leave them muddy, dirty and with huge smiles on their faces!
Dance parties in the foam pit!
The gauntlet, an extra muddy obstacle course!
The mud pit of despair is always the favorite!
At the end of the evening kampers head to the center of the field for a dance party under the fire hoses!
Most days, between the hour of 5:30 and 6:30 you'll find out Junior Kampers on an array of activities. It's the one time of day they are not necessarily with their entire TP, and the time THEY get to choose their activity! Thats right, it's Free Time!
Kampers' love this time as they get to choose how they spend it! With the blazing heat this summer we've noticed a considerable amount of Kampers migrating toward the pool (and who can blame them!) but they are also free to have TP time in the church, play put-put, archery, tether ball, washers and array of other games! What would you choose during free time?!
Every other Sunday Kanakuk holds a church service for the entire family in Branson! Kamp families from all over the country gather together to worship our great God! We see parents that dropped their kids off for kamp the day before as well as families who got picked up from kamp the day before! We even see previous kamp families that drive into Branson for the service every other week!
The hosts for the morning are newlyweds Kyler and Diana Wright! They provide plenty of entertainment and laughs to go around!
The service starts off with a few worship songs led by Brady Toops from K-2 and our very own Callie Chancey.
One of Kamps' famed rappers, Nasa, shares one of his original raps with us!
A few kampers from the previous weeks term share their testimony and how the Lord worked in their life.
Joe shares a message about honor from Psalm 139. He encourages family members to honor each other and see how that honor can spur one another on to incredible things! Check out this snippet of his talk!
The service ended with a few more worship songs and time of prayer!
This was the last service of the summer but mark your calendars for next summer! You don't want to miss this! There is something so special about worshiping our Creator with those you may not ever have met but share a deep common bond.
Thank you, Lord for the body of Christ and allowing us to gather together in your name!
Take a walk down K7 drive past the office, Wildlife, pool and Dining Hall and you'll arrive at the Lookout. Walk past the shoe racks and newly remolded stage and peer through the tall windows and you'll experience this stunning view. It was not by accident that we aptly named our SK programs building the Lookout! This stunning view creates a backdrop for our daily activities and evening programming. If you're ever in our parts you must check it out!
"Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away." -Psalm 148:1-6
Thank you, Lord for revealing yourself to us through creation!
Yesterday was a special day here at K7! We celebrated Christmas in July. (It was really the day after Christmas in July but we couldn't fit the celebration into our schedule on the actual 25th!) Christmas classics blared through the speakers all day long, staff and kampers donned their favorite red and green outfits, the dining hall resembled that of a room decorated for a holiday party and the Programs Team even made their own Christmas video for all to see which you can watch HERE.
Our incredible kitchen staff provided a wonderful Christmas dinner complete with this cake! Yum!
After dinner, Santa made an appearance!
Our K-Factor talent shows were Christmas themed and hosted by none other than an Elf and his sidekick in JK and Santa and his sidekick in SK! There was even been a snow-ball fight in the K-Dome!
As fun as we had with our dance parties to "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and taking make-shift sleigh rides around Kamp, greeting each other with a "MERRY CHRISTMAS" and hanging paper snowflakes all around Kamp, our celebration was just another reminder of what the real Christmas means for us! We're thankful that we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior every day, not just on December 25!
"M-I-Z-Z-O-U," "Waaarrrrrrr Eagle, Hey!," "Hook 'Em, Horns", "Boomer Sooner" -- just some of the chants you'll hear every Friday around these parts! That's right. It's COLLEGE GAMEDAY at K7 today, and every Friday!
Every Friday morning Kampers and staff members alike come to breakfast decked out in their favorite sports gear ready to cheer their team on all day long! Kids (and staff!) are jumping up and cheering throughout every meal as they hear their fight song! We never cease to have a good ole' Aggie cheer and there are always a few Pig Sooie's thrown around!
We end the day with a college game day themed K-Life complete with a little friendly competition!
We love seeing each Kamper get so excited about their favorite team! Friday's are always a party around here!
It's Christmas in July here at K7 today! (Our schedule's didn't allow for the festivities yesterday so we're celebrating today! Our programs team wanted to wish you a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS (in July!)
Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!
If you were to come to Kamp today and ask all 320 of our Kampers, "what is your favorite thing about K7," you would likely get 320 different answers! From the slip-n-slide, to the Wipeout party and from the food to the counselors, there is an endless list of awesome things at 118 K7 Drive! Our Kampers experience 7 action-packed, fun filled days complete with activities during the day and an evening event they are sure to remember. Kamp is most definitely the most fun-filled place in the world! We absolutely love that we get to build relationships with our Kampers in such a fun, joyful environment. We laugh together, we smile together. How did we get so lucky?!
The greatest part of all, however, comes from knowing that the foundation of all of our relationships is Christ. We love the unique opportunity to disciple kids in such a fun-filled environment!
Twice a week we get the chance to worship as a body of Christ! Wednesday morning at Church and Friday night at K-Life we spend half an hour or so singing praises to our King and worshiping our Creator!
The quality of the footage isn't the best...but the sound of the voices brings chills every time!
What a sweet, sweet sound to hear our Kampers shouting words of praise to our God! Thank you, Lord, for allowing us to be a part of this amazing place!
Here at K7 there is only one thing that can make every single person in kamp stop whatever it is they're doing, jump up and down with excitement and scream, yell and cheer as loud as possible. It's not a hilarious skit from our programs team; it's not the birthday cheer, it's not even the Hoedown Throwdown! There is but one sound that can bring tears to your eyes and chills from your head to toes while simultaneously producing a smile from ear to ear..and that sound is the sound of the bell ringing!
Out on the office porch, right above our wooden cross, sits a large, old cast iron bell that has been there for years and years. It sits in its' spot year round-seeing the winter months when no one is around anxiously awaiting June when kampers finally arrive again! We like to think the bell is content sitting still for those 9 months and looks forward to the break as it is constantly ringing from June-August...and we wouldn't have it any other way!
When we hear the beautiful sound of the bell ringing it means one thing: someone has just become a believer and we have a new brother or sister in Christ!! When a Kamper comes to know the Lord they grab the rest of their TP and run up to the office to let everyone else in Kamp know they are a new Christian! Once the bell is rung you will hear yells, screams, hoops and hollers from all over Kamp as everyone is rejoicing in their decision to follow the Lord!
A few summers back we heard the bell ring on closing day while parents were still here. One of our precious Kampers was telling their dad about the decision she had made during the week to follow the Lord. She told him of God's love and the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. The Spirit was moving in this dad because right then and there he accepted Christ for the very first time! This little girl led her dad to the Lord and was so excited about it she took her dad up to ring the bell so everyone in Kamp could know her dad just became a Christian! Our beautiful, old bell has seen men and women of all ages ring her proudly as a symbol of their new found faith!
So far this summer we've had over 500 kids become Christians. Praise the Lord! God is doing unbelievable things in the hearts of our Kampers (and staff, too!) and we are unbelievably humbled to be a part of it! Our prayer is that the bell will continue to ring day and night until the last Kamper leaves on August 13!
We have a saying around here: the sound of the bell ringing is the most beautiful sound in all of the world. I think we'd all agree that we'll never get tired of hearing that old cast iron bell ring loudly over Kamp.
Every Tuesday night you'll see miniature Buzz Lightyear's, Woody's and Bo Peeps running around the Dining Hall and K-Dome. Every now and then you'll find a Slinky Dog or Potato Head. And on rare occasion you'll see a Weezy or Army Man!
That's because every Tuesday night is our Toy Story Mania party! Kampers and staff alike don their favorite character and gear up for a 2-part party featuring Woody's Round-Up and Buzz's Intergalactic Space Party.
Buzz's Space Party is a blacklight frenzy complete with glow-in the dark planets and stars covering the Wildlife and enough techno music to satisfy any music lovers dreams hosted by Mr. Buzz Lightyear himself!
Woody's Roundup looks a little different for our Junior Kampers and Senior Kampers. Our SK kiddos come ready to dance! They'll experience a true roundup while moving their feet to the electric slide, Virginia Reel and of course, the Hoedown Throwdown.
Our JK kiddos roundup looks a like a country fair! They can compete in Zurgs Disk of Destruction, battle it out for candy at Lasso's Lollipops, get their face painted, take their picture with cut-out Potato Heads, and practice their skills in Bo Peeps Sheep Toss.
Perhaps the favorite part of the party, however, is the character signing station! Around these parts we have several "famous" Toy Story characters that like to make appearances throughout the week. They never fail to show up at the Toy Story party and sign autographs and pose for pictures with our JK Kampers! Each Kamper is given an autograph sheet at the beginning of the night and leaves with it full of the character signatures! Our JK kiddos love meeting the characters in person and getting their autographs!!
There are so many things we love about being at Kamp. From the time with kids, to 'smores, to relationships with other staff members and the blob! Our day at the office includes: ziplining, archery, slip-n-sliding, canoeing, pool time and even nap time (FOB)! Who wouldn't want a job like that!
On the ever growing list of "why we love kamp" is good ol' snail mail! Whether we are here for a week, 6 weeks or all summer, we have the unique opportunity to separate ourselves from the busyness and distractions of the world. That means no texting. No Facebook. No phone calls. No e-mailing. No Twitter. No TV. We have to resort to the old fashioned way of communicating (and we LOVE it!)
Our friends and families love it as well as our office girls have their hands full day in and day out with the amount of mail that comes through K-Seven on a daily basis!
Today alone we have 90 packages, 200 letters and 300 e-mails sent to staff and kampers..and that is about average for every other day!
Receiving a letter or package is an automatic daymaker around here. We love watching our kampers come up to the office and see their face light up as they open their package!
Week after week we see kampers make decisions for the Lord, either to turn their lives around and live for Christ or to follow Christ for the first time. Week after week we see God move in powerful ways and are continually blown away at how he is sanctifying us! It is no wonder, then, that K-Seven holds a special place in the hearts of so many of our kampers! In some instances there are Kampers who want to make their decision public through baptism! They know that baptism does not save them but is merely an outer expression of their inner decision to follow the Lord!
Every Saturday after closing ceremonies we head down to the lake. Kampers wanting to get baptized,parents and siblings and staff walk down the rocky hill toward gorgeous Table Rock Lake to hear an encouraging word from Keith and participate in the baptisms! Many times the dads of the kampers will hop in the lake and baptize their child with Keith! It's always such a special moment.
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We're so grateful for all that the Lord does at K-7 and all of our precious kiddo's that come to know him for the first time while they are here and that we get the opportunity to watch so many kids make their profession of faith public! There is rarely a dry eye down at the lake! We are the luckiest staff in the world!
After breakfast every morning we have Base Kamp. It's a time for our counselors to meet together and be encouraged and challenged by one of our directors, our senior kamp kiddos to have Q&A time with our leadership guys and our junior kampers to learn Walk Thru the Bible!
Walk Thru the Bible is a ministry that seeks to accurately teach the written Word in a visual age! They do this by teaching the Bible in an interactive and fun way in which those participating learn the geography, characters and key concepts of every book in chronological order through a series of motions and actions. They host seminars to teach their material and train church and ministry leaders to teach it to their own ministries! Our directors are certified Walk Thru the Bible teachers and every summer bring this fun and interactive method to teach our JK kiddo's the Bible!
Last summer we taught the Old Testament and this summer we're teaching the Life of Christ! We teach from Christ's birth in Bethlehem to his ascension in Heaven after the resurrection. Our kampers are going home with invaluable knowledge of the Bible and can then teach it to their friends and family!
Ask your kampers to teach YOU Walk Thru the Bible! If you're interested in more information about Walk Thru the Bible check out their website HERE!
We've said it before and we'll say it again. We have the BEST staff in the entire world. Summer after summer we are blown away at who the Lord brings to K-7 and how he uses them to further His kingdom! We're only here for 3 months (or in some cases 7 weeks) but God does some incredible, amazing and indescribable things in our hearts in that short amount of time.
The majority of the ground at K-7 is pea gravel. It surrounds the TP areas, lake, office area and many other places around Kamp. A common theory around here is that each of those rocks is a little piece of flesh that the Lord has chipped off of as he is sanctifying us by his Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:
"Therefore, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
Day by day he is transforming us into the image of His Son and ridding us of our fleshly selves. It is rare that we will leave Kamp the same person we were when we walked through the gates.
Because our staff is going, going, going all the time, teaching classes, sharing Christ with kids and using available moment to be intentional with their kampers they can get pretty tired- both physically and spiritually! We give each of our staff members one day off a week for them to rest, relax and rejuvenate in order to come back to kamp refreshed and ready to dive back in!
One of our staff members, Ben Telaneus, used his last day off (we call them 24's here at kamp) to go up to Joplin and serve. He had no agenda or itinerary, he didn't know anyone there, he merely felt the tug of the Spirit pulling him towards Joplin.
Watch his story below.
Ben is just one example of how the Lord is continually ridding us of ourselves and filling us with more of HIM! We feel incredibly blessed and humbled to be here and have the unbelievable opportunity to teach kids about Jesus and allow Him to work in and through us! Our daily prayer is that God wouldn't cease to chip off those pieces of flesh and each and every one of us will leave here looking more like him, ridding us of our old selves and making us new in Him!
K-7 (along with K-2 and K-West) is tucked way back in the Ozarks along windy roads and miles from what most of us would refer to as civilization. It is a beautiful drive down long, curvy, mountainous black tops and about 45 minutes away from Branson. We love being separated from the hustle and bustle of the touristy city and welcome the spotty cell phone service as it allows us to truly escape and focus on what the Lord is doing out in good 'ole Lampe, MO!
We do, however, have the privilege of being a couple miles down the road from the one and only Persimmon Hill Berry Farm! The berry farm, as we affectionately call it, quickly became near and dear to our hearts as we have yet to find a better version of their highly acclaimed Thunder Muffins!
The Cumuloblubus: A warm blueberry thunder muffin topped with delicious vanilla ice cream, blueberry syrup and whipped cream. YUM!
Persimmon Hill offers a full outdoor adventure! Not only can you pull up and order the best blueberry cuisine around you can also pick your own berries! They have acres of land full of blueberries, blackberries, gooseberries and mushrooms to satisfy all your berry picking desires!
Each and every changeover day you can find hundreds of Kamp families picking up their kampers and heading straight out to the farm for fresh berries, thunder muffins, blueberry cobbler and an all around fun family experience!
We even get the opportunity to bless our staff Bible Studies and take them to the farm one morning for coffee, muffins and great fellowship! It's always a favorite Kamp memory!
We LOVE Persimmon Hill and highly encourage you to check it out when you come pick up your kiddo's!
For more info and directions to the farm check out their website HERE!
Here at K-7 we love celebrating our country!One of the highlights of our day is the 4th of July parade complete with Disney characters, gladiators, secret service, color guard and of course, Toy Story characters!
How blessed we are to live in America! Enjoy celebrating our countries birthday!
Tonight is our highly anticipated Wipeout Party! Kids get their messy clothes on, head out to Callie Field and participate in some of the messiest, nastiest games around! They LOVE it!
Rummaging through some old pictures and video's I found this gem from Term 3. Our Director loves Wipeout night, especially the mud pit!
Here at Kanakuk we have many, many special traditions that have remained strong over the years. One long standing tradtion here at K-7 is the Rice Crispies Song on Sunday mornings.
Every Sunday three of our Leadership Guys put on their aprons and hats, grab their bowls and perform the rice crispies song! It's a long standing tradition that is a crowd favorite!
The best part of the tradition is the encore! As soon as the performance is over the Dining Hall erupts in cheers and chants of "one more time," "one more time." The Rice Crispy guys climb back on the counter for an encore performance with a twist. They will perform with a twist including (but not limited to) a mouth full of grapes or water, backwards or my personal favorite: spanish version!
Kamp traditions are part of what makes Kanakuk so special, unique, memorable and fun! What is your favorite kamp tradition??
Our Fitness and Nutrition Class, affectionately called "FitNut," is quite the popular new addition to our schedule, at least for the girls! In FitNut class we spend an hour working out and learning fitness and exercise techniqies and then we spend an hour discussing nutrition and healthy eating! Of course, if you're learning all about nutrition and healthy eating you HAVE to practice making some of those healthy snacks, right? We make a spinach smoothie and homemade salsa!
Want to try to make this salsa on your own? It's simple!
Ingredients:
-1 can of Rotel
-1 can of tomatoes
-1 handful of cilantro
- 1 teaspoon of Cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 lime
Put all ingredients in the blender together and blend for a few seconds!
We LOVE having an extra day of Kamp because not only does that mean we get another full day with our Kampers but we also added several new classes to our schedule. Perhaps the favorite new class (at least for the girls) is FitNut class! This is a 2 hour class in which our Senior Kamp TP's spend an hour talking about nutrition, healthy eating and treating our bodies like temples of the Holy Spirit. The second hour is spent learning about and practicing fitness and exercise. More about that in another post.
Of course, in the Nutrition part of the class we not only learn about eating healthy, we practice it as well! We show our Kampers a couple of healthy snacks including spinach smoothies!
In case you want to try one of these nutritious snacks for yourself here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups of ice
2 1/2 large handfuls of spinach
12-15 pieces of mango (or fruit of your choice. I like blueberries!)
1/2 fresh lime (squeeze as much as you can into blender)
10 mint leaves
1 cup of water, lemonade or orange juicen (I use Odwalla SuperProtien)
1 1/2 packets of sweet in low, honey (or my favorite: agave nectar!)
Blend well...
And your finished product will look like this! It looks a little scary but tastes oh-so-good! It tastes even better knowing how healthy it is!
The spinach smoothie (otherwise referred to as the Green Monster in the health food world) has several variations. In fact, you can add really whatever fruit, seeds or supplements that make your taste buds happy! It's perfect for breakfast or for an afternoon snack!
Enjoy!
Tomorrow I'll post the recipe for the salsa!
If you try out the smoothie comment below and let us know how you like it!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Every Tuesday night we have our K-Factor Talent Show! We love seeing the many talents of our K-7 Kampers ranging from musical talent to gymnastics to drama! Last week we had one particularly moving talent from a Kamper out of Super Deal. He memorized a 4 minute speech from pastor S. M. Lockridge describing our God and who he is. It was unbelievable! Check it out!
You can check out the S.M. Lockridge version here.
Yesterday, with off-the-charts energy, our staff welcomed 300 new Kampers to K-Seven! They came on busses, cars and airplanes all geared up for the best week of their summer! All afternoon we enjoyed snow cones, pool parties, new friends and dance parties in the street. It was an exciting day from the moment Kampers arrived until the moment we went to bed.
We love the parties and cheers and all the fun that we have here at K-Seven but what we love the absolute most is teaching our kids about Christ and equipping them with the Biblical knowledge they need to glorify God at home. We are so fortunate to have counselors that love Jesus and get excited about teaching their kids about Jesus! Kids get to see the gospel lived out as our staff love them, teach them and serve them.
Thank you, Jesus for placing these wonderful counselors in the lives of our Kampers! It's truly amazing to watch as the Lord uses these role models to change kids lives forever!
Who is your role model? Comment below and let us know!
