By Drew Curiel, YFC Summer Camp Specialist / Intern
Our July 15, 16, and 17 Day Camps were split between three communities: Le Mars, Hawarden, and Sioux City. Each 12 hour day was full of fun games, great food, intentional small groups, motivational speakers, and lives being changed for the glory of God.
In LeMars, students participated in capture the flag, slip-n-slide kickball, and tug-of-war. Both students and adults had a good laugh when middle school rap group “BRB” took the stage for our daily skit. Our guest speaker, Jarell Roach delivered a humorous, yet revitalizing message of hope in Jesus. Two other camp leaders shared their stories in a segment called “Real Life”. Afterward, students were allowed to open up to each other in their small groups. In total, 21 students came to LeMars day camp and 2 kids said yes to Jesus for the first time!
The next Day Camp was held at the Hawarden Teen Center, where 30 students attended. Being a small community, kids look forward to something fun being held in town, which brings such joy and excitement. They participated in all of the fun games as well, including the substituted sponge dodgeball due to drought conditions. Jarell Roach spoke again, and the Holy Spirit touched hearts. Once again, 6 kids made first time decisions to follow Christ, and some rededicated themselves to Jesus.
Our last Day Camp was held in Sioux City where 40 students attended. The schedule was similar to the prior days, but our guest speaker was Ryan Martinez. After sharing some of his raps and rhymes, he presented the gospel in a very relatable way to the students. The students had the opportunity to play games, share some meals and connect with others in their neighborhood. God moved and 6 said yes to Jesus. Some were not ready, but had the seed of the gospel planted.
In total 14 kids made a first time decision to follow Christ and 28 decided to recommit their lives to Christ.
We want to thank our communities, because everything from breakfast, lunch, and dinner was donated by local volunteers and organizations:
Sioux City and Hawarden Pizza Ranch / Sergeant Road Chick-Fil-A / 1000 Degrees Pizza Salad Wings / Chesterman Co. / The Hope Center / Rejoice Community Church / Sioux County Pork Producers / Sioux Center Hy-Vee and Walmart / Renae Forney / Josh and Lexi Westergard all helped make meals a success!
We would also like to thank all the volunteers who helped show God’s love to our YFC kids. We couldn’t have done it without them. But most importantly, we couldn’t have done this without God! He provided all we needed.
To learn more about the YFC Camp ministry, click here
