Camp Savio
Middle School Catholic Summer Camp
June 6-11, 2016
This is the sixth year of Camp Savio and the second year that St. Charles Borromeo has been privileged to bring a group to camp. Last year I brought two middle schoolers to Camp Savio Week Two. I had a goal of doubling our numbers and we surpassed that goal! Including Camp Bosco which begins next week, we quadrupled our numbers! We had 7 attend Camp Savio and 1 that will attend Camp Bosco, the NEW High School Catholic camp! One of the 7 that came to Camp Savio last week had attended camp before, so the other 6 were brand new.
It was fun to watch all of our teens experience camp for the first time, when they came in Monday, they were all excited but nervous. As the week went on you could see them become more comfortable and outgoing. Our 7 teens were divided among 3 different small groups and I did my best to divide my time between each group and my Director duties.
Here is a breakdown of how our schedule was for the week:
Monday: The first day was opening day of Camp, all campers arrived Monday afternoon to many welcoming staff members. They could play the yard games, Giant Games and enjoy Snocones. The Shepherds gave the campers a tour of campus to help them know where to go, then we had our first session which was filled with introductions, music and a rules skit. Then we had daily Mass, dinner and the nightly session on "Humility." Some of the reflection bullet points from Monday's talk by our Host, Kyle Sellnow were:
- God uses humble people to change the world.
- Humility is the path to Jesus.
- Without humility we cannot have a proper understanding of ourselves and others.
- We can be prideful and compare ourselves to others.
- Humility means thinking of yourself less, not thinking less of yourself.
- Who am I before God?
- We should live our life for the Glory of God.
- Why be humble?
- Disciple means to follow.
After session, they had small groups and then did a Geocaching Scavenger Hunt. Afterwards was our first Parish Pow Wow. A Parish Pow Wow is where our Parish meets to take the activities and lessons from the day to a deeper level and apply it to our specific parish and how we can grow and participate in St. Charles.
Tuesday: The second day of camp was full of many fun activities. The morning was full of Team Game competitions with Paintball, Archery Tag, Bubble Soccer, Giant Games (Pick Up sticks, jenga, kerplunk) and Yard Games (Ladder Golf, Bean Bag toss, Wiffle ball). Following lunch was Free Time, so they had more time to play the team games from earlier, as well as go down the Slip 'n Slide and water kickball. That night we had daily Mass and Family Dinner. Family Dinner is where we spend time as a Parish Family to eat dinner and check in with each other and get to know everyone better. The night was concluded with our regular session, small groups and parish pow wows.
Some reflections from Tuesday's session on Mercy include:
- Jesus' love is for everyone
- Who is your neighbor?-- the one who has shown mercy and we should all go and do likewise.
- We are to "smell like our sheep" (Pope Francis)
- What are your Gifts and talents?
- Ideas of unique ways to serve the poor in our world.
- To understand God's plan for us, we have to know our Gifts and Talents.
- The poor give us an opportuntiy for us to love and to learn our gifts.
- Spiritual Poverty- those who feel lonely, unloved & depressed
- Invite God's love into our lives
- Be a little bit of God's love to other people
- John 6:35
Wednesday--
Schlitterbahn day! We spent the whole day at Schlitterbahn practicing Random Acts of Kindness and enjoying the water slides and rivers. We returned from Schlitterbahn to eat pizza & ice cream. The theme of the night was on "Trust."
Thursday was an intense and fun day-- we spent the morning on low ropes building trust within our groups through many different elements. I got many great pictures from the low ropes that can be found on the St. Charles Borromeo Youth Ministry Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BorromeoKCYouth/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1074177365986781). In the afternoon they had more free time to play Paintball, Archery Tag, Bubble Soccer, Gaga Ball and more. Thurday's theme was "Victory." Jesus' victory from His death on the Cross. The evening was also very intense with an hour of Adoration and Praise and Worship in the auditorium. Many of the parents were able to join in on the experience through the Live Stream that is available each night of camp. (https://campsavio.com/live-stream/) Our parish pow wow discussion was very good, many of our teens open their hearts to what God has planned for them in their lives, using Kyle's imagery on "Jesus knocking on the door of our hearts."
Friday was lake day and Bishop Johnston came to visit campus! We had daily Mass in the morning and then headed out to the lake. At the lake we had a competition with belly flops, synchronized swimming, canoe races and sandcastle building. After the competition, the Warrior Dash began! They did many obstacles courses to make it back to Maur Hill Mount Academy campus. Those events included the mud pit and water slide, basketball and many more. The Warrior Dash concluded with Ice cream sundaes! We had our second Family Dinner, this is a great last check in as a whole parish for further parish bonding. The nightly session's theme was on "Faith." We had a deep conversation in Parish Pow Wow about what goals they had to live out their faith at home and in their parish. We have been brainstorming activities to grow Youth Ministry and invite friends to Youth Group.
Saturday was family day, parents arrived early in the morning for the Parent Session to experience what a day of Camp is like-- this included music and a talk about the week and the video for the week. Following Session we had Mass in the auditorium and a family potluck in the cafeteria.
It was a great week with my 7 middle schoolers at Camp Savio. I really enjoyed hanging out with each of them and getting to know them more and on a deeper (dangerously deeper) level. I know that through this experience Camp Savio will start a "fire" within St. Charles and they will continue to invite their friends to camp next year! You can continue to follow the next upcoming weeks of camp through the Live Stream and Camp Savio Facebook and Instagram pages! Please pray for us-- St. Charles campers and staff!
I will update you next week on Shelby's journey at Camp Bosco. I will see my St. Charles family in a few weeks! P.S. Let's gear up and spread the word about Totus Tuus too!!!
God bless,
Jen