Summer fun and faith the focus at Connect Camps
TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – Graham Holliday grew up in Harrisburg Baptist Church, and this week, he is back, leading the 30-member Red Team Connect Camps staff.
‘Connect Camps is a remarkable day camp experience, a group comes into town, sets up camp at church, so you don’t have to go away to camp,” Holliday said.
It is high energy, with campers placed in packs according to their ages. Each pack is named after an animal.
‘You’ve got the forest animals, like the bears, panthers, we have fish, barracudas and eels, there are a lot of them,” said Shelley Farmer, director of children’s ministry at HBC.
Along with the Connect Camps team, it takes an army of volunteers to pull everything off and bring the Christ-centered camp to kids in the region.
‘It takes a lot of help from the church to do this camp, so they don’t just come here and do it and leave. We want to connect with the community, so we have a lot of church members here involved, other churches taking part as well,” Farmer said.
All of the activities are meant to show campers that following Christ is an adventure, at any age.
‘The main point is to create an experience so families can connect with the church, and as we do that, we share the Gospel, all of our staff have a great time with the kids, get to know their names, create community in small groups, and create a great experience at a church,” Holliday said.
Veteran campers Jones and Graham say they look forward to Connect Camps every year.
‘It gets you closer to the Lord and you can always make new friends,” Jones said.
How has Connect Camps helped you with your relationship with God?
“It has made me want to be closer to Him,” Graham said.
Connect Camps wraps up Friday.
Church members also provide scholarships if families need assistance with the cost. For more information, go to harrisburgonline.org or connectcamps.com
