Summer fun mixes with Bible study at Camp Kaleo

Joe Westbury

Younger members of Royal Ambassador Challengers burn off some energy by jumping off the camp bridge. The exercise is part of an annual ritual that brings cool relief to the hot summer days.

FORSYTH — Camp Kaleo campers are used to making friends from distant regions of the state during their week at the central Georgia facility, but this year they are getting to know characters from thousands of miles away.

Abraham, Isaac, and Sarah are part of this summer’s camping experience as they share their lives through Bible storying sessions outside under the pine trees. Carla Clements of Visual Story Bible Ministries in Moultrie is using the technique to bring the characters to life in flesh-and-blood appearances throughout the summer.

But it’s not just Royal Ambassadors with a background in Bible stories who are getting an up-close and personal look at the famous individuals. Younger children, many of them unchurched, are also being exposed to the Bible for the first time through the camp’s first day camp offering.

“We have considered a day camp program for years because of the requests from the community but this is the first time we experimented with the idea. We distributed about a thousand flyers at shopping malls and ballparks and the phone began ringing off the hook,” says camp director Mike Flowers.

This is the first in an occasional series of stories highlighting the 100th anniversary of Royal Ambassadors.

Day campers are not isolated from the biblical instruction that is offered for the RAs who attend and sleep over each night. They receive the same curriculum, such as learning Bible stories, participating in worship services, and mission studies as well as have fun running through the woods, swimming, and learning nature crafts.

“It’s a full day and they go home tired, and that’s what makes the parents happy,” says Flowers, who also serves as a consultant through GBC Men’s Ministries.

“This has been an invisible camp for years and we believe this is going to change all of that. The day camp is co-ed, unlike our RA camps, but we believe many of those boys will learn about Royal Ambassadors and Christ and want to return as campers. There are a lot of unchurched kids in our area and this is giving Kaleo a whole new outreach into that community,” he added.

Regular campers also have their days packed with Bible instruction, scripture memorization, outdoor recreation, and a night spent in the woods.

“This is a place where boys can come and be themselves in the great outdoors while learning that missions is masculine. They see older role models in the counselors who serve as mentors and coaches who encourage them in their spiritual development,” added Glen McCall, specialist in Men’s Ministries.

“We have some young men who began coming to camp 12 years ago and are now returning as counselors. That’s the impression Camp Kaleo has made on them and why they want to pass that along to the younger campers.”

Special camp instructors like Shannon and Loraine Long of Whitemire, S.C., share the sentiments. The couple, former missionaries to Chile, are the camp’s flesh-and-blood introduction to the life of sacrifice in telling others about Christ.

“Without a week of teaching at camp many of these boys wouldn’t know why missions is important. It’s worth it to Loraine and me to take the time out of our lives and share that story with these boys,” said Shannon Long.

Joe Westbury

Camp counselor “Apollo Kaleo” from Valdosta goes through a morning exercise warm-up with the Crusaders after the morning flag raising ceremony. Counselors do not use their actual names at camp, opting instead to use a name given to them as part of the Kaleo brotherhood. Campers never know the counselor’s actual names.

Joe Westbury

Brad Davis, left, and Cameron Barefield, center, search for a Bible verse during an afternoon mission study. Davis is a member of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Homestead, Fla., while Barefield attends Rosemont Heights Baptist Church in Waynesboro. Campers receive biblical instruction throughout the week as well as learn camp craft skills such as knot tying and how to survive outdoors.

Joe Westbury

Carla Clements straightens a headdress on camp counselor “Swift Kaleo” who will portray Abraham in a Bible storying session. Clements, whose Visual Story Bible Ministries is based in Moultrie, helps teach the Bible lessons in afternoon sessions.

Joe Westbury

Loraine Long of Whitmire, S.C., right photo, along with her husband Shannon, shares 16 years of service as International Mission Board missionaries to Chile with the Crusaders. “We are spending our time here telling the boys that a missionary is anyone who goes somewhere and tells someone about Jesus,” Sharron Long explained. “Our children just don’t hear the missions story like they used to. That’s the value of places like Camp Kaleo.”

Joe Westbury

Bart Davis discovered Camp Kaleo on the Internet and drove from the Miami, Fla., suburb of Homestead to spend the week with his two sons at the camp. “This is a good time for them to be in the outdoors and be around some good Christian role models,” he said.

Joe Westbury

Joe Westbury

Camp Director Mike Flowers explains the nine prayer stations along the lake where campers are given opportunities to reflect on their personal mission fields. The Royal Ambassadors traditionally stop at each station and meditate on the prayer requests found inside the box at each station. The stations focus on the mission fields of “my life,” “my home,” “my church,” “my school,” “my community,” “my association,” “my state,” “my nation,” and “my world.”