“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9

Dennis de Castro

First off I would like to thank everyone who has supported Royal Family Kids Camp!

I’d like to let you know how the first few days are going. We have been here since Saturday preparing for the kids who got here today. God has been amazing putting this camp together! We have witnessed his work time after time. Up until a week ago I wasn’t even expecting to be here. I thought that I had retired from Royal Family. But apparently God had other plans. I was called to lead worship at a new camp with all new music! Long story short, God made it known to me that I should take this on, even though it was way out of my box. In short time I started seeing miracle after miracle. I’ll share one with you now. I had no idea of the theme of camp was even going to be. And after rehearsing some of the camp songs with our team, we were walking out and I started singing “This Little Light of Mine” asking one of the leaders if this song would be appropriate. She replied “appropriate! That is the theme of camp this year!” “BE A LIGHT”. God gave that to us! And the kids loved it! With all of my insecurities and worries God made the worship amazing! One of the best nights of camp I have ever been part of! And it is only day one for these kids. Thank you Jesus for all of the hearts that you have brought here to love on theses kids, and a special thanks for bringing me!

Michelle Brown

So, the kiddos came this afternoon, an hour behind schedule. Road closures, power outages and detours would not keep them away. Much prayer and planning go into creating a schedule that the kids will enjoy and that we have material and staff to create an amazing experience. When a schedule goes off course, it is challenging to correct course, so we had to be VERY flexible. When the campers finished lunch, they unpacked their bags. Some of the campers got to shoot off air rockets, some played with Legos, some tried their skills at woodworking. Several young ladies got to visit the beauty salon while others flexed their creativity muscle at arts and crafts. All of the campers got to swim in a huge pool with a diving board and then off to dinner. After dinner we all got to worship Jesus, learn a bit about Daniel and his friends and watch chapter one of our daily drama skit. The first night of camp is when the counselors get to know their campers a bit and the campers get to know their counselors. Many will paint nails, color pictures, share stories, play games and start the bonding process that has always been my favorite part of camp.

Tomorrow holds a new day, maybe one that stays on schedule, maybe not. Either way, God is in this place and we can feel His presence everywhere, hear Him in the laughter of the children, smell Him in the pines.

Paul Hernandez

Sometimes it takes a village, it takes a community of people and a lot of prayer. We learn sometimes that we can’t always go at it alone and the fellowship built between one another is a tool we can use to battle evil. These children sometimes have evil tugging on their elbow born with the odds stacked up against them, but with God’s guidance we try so hard to reverse that. So because of that we can’t always only be satisfied with immediate results. It’s the planting of the seed inside of these children, and with time, prayer and faith we hope that it will blossom. I thank every single volunteer here with RFK. It’s a blessing to be a part of this

Christina Nickerson

First and foremost, thank you God for having your hand right in the middle of camp. Today was nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster however, WE MADE IT! Seeing how everyone came together to work out every single problem that came our way was the absolute meaning of teamwork. We truly are a family here working together for the greater good of these amazing kiddos. The best part of today was the glow party. The way the adults and children let loose on the dance floor was exactly what we all needed. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for tomorrow!

Tyler

Wow, where do I begin! Well, I guess a good place to start would be to describe WHY I am at camp. The question WHY is one of my favorite questions given to us by God because it explains the reasons and purposes for absolutely anything, and one of my favorite sayings that I strive to live by is “Love God and Love People.” With my current ROLES in life (which is another important thing to consider) having childcare experience being the oldest of five siblings, and in a position of connection and admiration with kids in general, but also being an 18-year-old kid that they can relate to and have the energy to keep up with them, I realized I was in the prime position to utilize those blessings and glorify my creator. I thought this camp would be an amazing place to live out that saying of “Loving God and Loving People” with kids who might have never felt the unconditional Love of our Heavenly Father. With this being my first Royal Family Kids Camp and being the youngest possible age to be a counselor for two kids of my own, I went into camp with the sole goal of showing these kids God’s love, through my love for them by making them feel special and cared about by entertaining their interests and passions.  Through all the preparation and training all I could feel was excitement to go boots on the ground and have some fun with these awesome kiddos; and when the moment came, it sure didn’t disappoint. Although I technically only have two kids of my own, there tends to be a trail of five or more wanting to join the fun. Despite all of their unique characters (God has purposely placed in each of his children) and the wide variety of situations present, all these kids just want a person they can trust and know cares about them. The time these kids spend at Royal Family Kids Camp will be a time in their life they will never forget and know that someone out in this crazy world loves them very much! Love God and Love People! Blessings 🙂

Reyna

We are halfway through camp, and it has been nothing short from fun. The kids had the opportunity to do archery and absolutely loved it. We were given verses at lunch and there was a moment where I was able to share the gospel to one of our campers through God’s love and endurance. I can write more of the fun and great things we did but that would not sum up what this week has been. This week has been quite difficult, but the Lord is still good. Through His guidance and seeking His word, my cabin counselors and I are truly understanding the meaning of dying to ourselves.

Bruce

Today is the last full day of camp and, as always, we have a fully packed schedule with many activities for the kids. Thursday usually starts with an early morning ‘polar bear swim’ but this year we changed it up had the ‘arctic slide’…a slip and slide with water guns and ice! The kids loved it and I think this will become a regular event at next years camp. The next big part of Thursday is the birthday party where we celebrate everyone’s birthday with a massive party with cake, snow cones, cotton candy, popcorn, games and this year we were visited by three mini therapy horses. The kids loved petting and feeding the horses. Seeing and experiencing the excitement and joy with the kids really reminded me that, for many of them, this is the best day of the year and humbles me to be able to be part of RFK camp and serve Gods children. It is a day of mixed emotions for all, as the kids begin to realize this week is almost over and the leaders come to face the week is ending and they will also return to their families and ‘normal’ life. It’s a day when we try to encourage the kids and remind them that they are loved by a God that created them each with a unique ability and gift, and He has an amazing plan for their life. While the day closes and we work on our memory books late into the night, we also get the chance to start talking about and planning for RFK club, where we get an opportunity to mentor a kid from camp on a monthly basis throughout the year…until next years camp!

Delaney

Last full day of camp we were able to celebrate all the kid’s birthdays! Thankful the kids were able to play on the bouncy house, see the ponies, and face their fears climbing up the rock wall to go on the zipline. The joy on the children’s faces priceless. Today I witnessed a moment I think summed up the whole day. One of campers that was having a difficult time with the fact that it was our last day of camp decided to conquer a fear. Instead of closing off and pushing away everyone this camper did the opposite and made a difficult moment into a memory. They decided to be involved in every aspect of the last day activities. Choosing to put others before themselves with their encouraging words and taken time to spend with other campers. I feel like we should be this way in our personal life. When we find ourselves in the moments that are difficult, we should look to others that we can love on with our time and efforts. It can put us back to a place of knowing that life is bigger than our own perspective.