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The Star Rock Ministries' partnerships have worked hard to care for their students all year long. Listen to this story of how one of our partnerships found camp right in the heart of Long Beach.
"Amidst a global pandemic, our students were hoping & praying that XLR8 Camp at Bass Lake would still happen. When we got word that it wasn't going to be possible, our students (as well as our youth leaders) were heartbroken. But we knew that we couldn’t go a summer without our camp experience- not only do we look forward to it all year but we needed it more than ever. Our kids have been suffering from fear, anxiety and isolation and we knew camp is where we could address these issues.
After a lot of effort from our youth leaders, we found a way to do camp at home. It wouldn't be the same—no tuck-ins, no goodnight song—but we would do what we could to make it work based on guidelines set up by our county.
Every day of camp, we had our campers come in with temperature checks, sanitized, signed safety/health waivers, and masks on so they could be with other campers. Much like our cabin intro's at XLR8 camp, the first day started off a little awkward. Students hadn't seen each other in months, and quite frankly, forgot a bit about how to interact with each other.
Just like that first day at XLR8 camp, our leaders fearlessly entered into the messy-awkward-6-feet-apart spaces and broke the ice doing silly get-to-know-you games as well as being authentic in their conversations. It reminded us of those conversations we had around the table at XLR8 camp. And, it just wouldn’t be camp without the activities! Some of the favorites were outdoor cooking, friendship bracelets, crafts like tie-dying tee shirts & making shrinky dinks, sports, random dance parties, cabin kickbacks. Everything got sprinkled with a touch of camp magic.
Just like that first day at XLR8 camp, our leaders fearlessly entered into the messy-awkward-6-feet-apart spaces and broke the ice doing silly get-to-know-you games as well as being authentic in their conversations. It reminded us of those conversations we had around the table at XLR8 camp. And, it just wouldn’t be camp without the activities! Some of the favorites were outdoor cooking, friendship bracelets, crafts like tie-dying tee shirts & making shrinky dinks, sports, random dance parties, cabin kickbacks. Everything got sprinkled with a touch of camp magic.
Olayinka was a leader in creating the camp magic. She came to XLR8 camp first as a student, then grew to be a youth leader in a cabin and now she is a staff member at our church. She took on outdoor cooking- one of her favorite XLR8 camp activities. As she prepared the food, led the students in cooking & managed the cleanup, she debriefed our students on being intentional about eating. The attention she gave to the debrief surrounding the activity was a direct result from her time at XLR8 camp. Just like the staff from camp, she led them in a beautiful and reflective time of enjoying their food and the company around them.
On our last night, we had our campers quietly gather in our "meadow". With the lights down low, we looked into the night sky and admired its beauty in silence. I reminded them of their courage. They have exhibited just as much courage in the last few months as they have at camp. I reminded them of their bravery and encouraged them to share it with us all that night. We had students speak up and share their camp testimonies, as we would normally do at camp on our last night up at Star Rock. It was incredible what our students shared. We were shocked that our quietest (and youngest) students had shared some of the most profound statements.
The biggest takeaway from our camp was the fact that each student had experienced the peace of God & hope for the future because of the space we could create for them here in the middle of Long Beach. We would've never had the tools to do so without YSSC and our experiences there."
Kimy Brenan, Youth Director, Light + Life Church LB
