Posted in Celebrations | Back to Main Blog Page

August 09, 2016

by Pastor Abby Davidson

Little children, you are from God, and have conquered them; for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

For two weeks in July, children from Lawrence Heights and the surrounding area descended on Flemington Public School for the BRBC day camp. This marks Blythwood Road Baptist’s fifth year running a day camp in the area and it has grown every year with this summer averaging 85 campers daily. Campers ranged from ages 4-13 years old. Some had only recently arrived in Canada and spoke little to no English.

For the past four years Blythwood has hosted mission teams to come in and run the program and we welcomed back the team from Southeast Baptist Church, Murfreesboro TN for the fifth year! This year for the first time, Blythwood undertook the running of a second week on its own. Being a small church, there was some difficulty finding enough volunteer help. We began to look for help in our association as well as some of the other ministries we are involve

d with and sure enough, help came. The end result was a dynamic volunteer team of people from all sorts of different backgrounds. We had two refugees to Canada, a team from a Community Centre, teachers on their summer break, our own church volunteers and some Farsi-speaking teenagers who helped with translation. Dufferin Street Baptist Church also joined us to help with the planning and provide camp counsellors.

The days were full of music, drama, dance, sports, crafts and Bible lessons. Campers learned about God’s greatness and love and about how He is working for our good. There was a wide array of faith backgrounds – some children had grown up in church while others were unfamiliar with the Bible – so the gospel message was taught, danced, sung and shown throughout every aspect of the camp. Campers and volunteers alike left exhausted at the end of the day.

God’s goodness was evident throughout the two weeks. During the planning it appeared that there might not be enough resources to run the camp. Yet in the end, help came from unexpected places and there were more supplies, food and campers than we had bargained for. We were blessed beyond what we had imagined.

Reflecting on the camp, it’s amazing to see just how many people were involved with it; from our 

volunteer teams, both local and international, to the volunteer chefs and local businesses who provided food and those who supported by prayer, this camp truly was a community effort. The best part of course was the campers themselves. For those who had been coming for 3-4 years, they were being reunited with friends and falling into familiar rhythms of play. For the ones who were new or finally old enough to attend, they discovered that they too had a place to belong in this little summer community. Monkey bars were climbed, friendships formed, baby teeth fell out and a lot of pizza was consumed. Amidst all the activity and scheduling, campers had a chance to be who God made them to be. Whether it was the little girl who didn’t speak English but knew how to do the robot dance, to the ten-year-old-girl who rocked the tambourine during music, to the older boy who laughed hysterically at every attempt by his leaders to pronounce his name, there was no need for holding back.

The two weeks of BRBC day camp served as a reminder of how God loves His children and of the beautiful chaos that ensues when you have over one hundred children and volunteers from around the globe in a room together. We’re already looking forward to next year!