News & Photos
News from around summer camp! See what’s happening at retreats, and get updates on future camp and retreat programs!
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Spring Clean Up 2012 – Our best one yet!
Getting this place ready for summer camp!
On Saturday, April 21st, 46 volunteers descended on to our summer camp and retreat facility with one goal in mind – get this place looking nicer! Armed with our new facilities director, Nick Gray, we set to work on our most ambitious Spring Cleaning of all time. Large groups from Luther Memorial in North Syracuse and Amboy Belle Isle in Camillus headed the charge on two huge projects – cleaning up around the outside of the lodges, and getting the insides of the lodges painted.
All told – the ENTIRE upstairs of Robert Lodge (5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a long hallway) got a brand new coat of paint. These two church groups worked hard with summer camper Malerie Belles and her mother Nancy to get the place looking fresh, and that they most certainly did! Laura Sauta, her daughter, Kathleen, and friends Elizabeth and Reagan took the biggest room and made it look wonderful. Joyce and Irene from Amboy Belle Isle even returned on Wednesday, and with the help of Lynn Myers from King of Kings in Liverpool, they knocked out the upstairs in Frank Lodge as well! Neither lodge has ever looked better, and our retreat groups and summer campers will most certainly be grateful for that!
But let’s not sell short what the kids did last weekend. Hoards of children (all of whom will be coming to summer camp this year, I believe!) raked with the help of local volunteer Dave Currey to get all the leaves up from around Robert and Oscar in time for our open house. Pile after pile (after pile) of leaves and pine cones found their way on to the wagon, and then wagon rides took the leaves to go be a new compost pile near the community farming project. The lawn is absolutely sparkling, and with buds forming on the trees, it rates to stay that way for quite a while!
In spite of all of the bad weather, we got great progress done on some of our gardening efforts as well! John Dromms and his crew of boy scouts got to work putting down a gravel foundation for the shed for our community garden, which he is building for his Eagle Scout Project. 2 volunteers from Amboy Belle Isle also got their heads together and cleaned up last year’s garden, which will be used this year for herbs for the kitchen, and possibly even for a pumpkin patch!
Shane McGregor and his boys came out, and Shane got the road graded and fixed with new gravel (which his company VERY generously donated!). For at least a while, there won’t be any bumps or potholes as you drive in to main camp. I think we can all give a big 3 cheers for that!
Volunteers who were less interested in going out in the rain, or in painting, stayed back in the office, and stuffed nearly 500 envelopes with summer camper information for 2012. James is eternally grateful for this, as it saved him a lot of paper cuts! Having those envelopes ready to address and send out greatly streamlines our communications, and we’re so thankful for this work! I’m looking at you, Betty, Jerilyn, and Anita!
Perhaps the most ambitious project of the day was led by Dave Brynien from Luther Memorial. He and a team of staff and volunteers tore up the kitchen floor in oscar, and got to work replacing all the rotten wood underneath from old leaks. In one day they managed to do all the demolition, replaced all the rotten wood, and laid sheets of wood for tiling to go on top of. Our staff finished the job throughout the week, and it’s looking fantastic! So inspired were we by this project, that Bill Myers came up and worked with Nick to get cracking on a bathroom floor in Robert that was having similar problems. Retreat guests and summer campers now officially do not have to worry about rotten wood anywhere in any lodge, and we’re pretty proud of this progress!
And hey, we’d be remiss if we didn’t thank Becki and Jeff for preparing such a wonder lunch for us!
Of course, not every volunteer can be listed in this write up. 46 is an awful lot of folks to come out just to help us! Needless to say, we continue to be energized by all the folks who work so hard to keep Vanderkamp going – and by all the people who believe as we do that summer camp can be more than just a good time. God bless everyone who came out, and we can’t wait to see you all again soon!
Mission trip to remember – what a difference four days make!
From camp to Schoharie and back
When Pastor Paul Herpich from King of Kings in Liverpool first approached me about doing an Alternative Spring Break – a short term experience in mission, I was really excited. I fondly remember my mission trips as a youth, and hadn’t been on one in a while. It was with great anticipation that we planned and promoted this event, and one thing after another fell into place. Lutheran Disaster Response gave us a generous grant of $500 for food and transportation. Lynn Myers offered to come and be a nurse for us. Pastor Paul and Pastor Anita Mohr from Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Utica each found a young person willing to go on the trip, we got two brothers from Dolgeville, a youth (and former LIT from St. Mark’s in Baldwinsville signed up, and Wendy Simcoe from the Morrisville Presbyterian Church was able to drum up a youth as well. The brother of a Vanderkamp summer camper decided he’d give up his Spring Break to help serve the folks in Schoharie County as well – and there we were: 12 people from in and around the Syracuse area, ready to go and contribute 2 days of seriously hard work in an area that really needs help.
We started off by simply getting to know each other. Other than the 2 brothers who came – we had little to no experience with one another beforehand. We talked at length about our life priorities, interests, and goals on Tuesday. Gary Roller from Lutheran Disaster Response came to help us prepare mentally for what rated to be an emotional experience, and YNN generously sent us a DVD of their “After the Storm” special. After Tuesday night, we were prepared for just about anything – but nothing would have prepared me for the incredible things I saw in those next two days.
When we arrived in Schoharie, we were greeted by volunteer coordinators who relayed distressing news to us. 8 months after Hurricane Irene passed through Schoharie, displaced debris was still scattered throughout the countryside, and as many as 100 families were still out of their homes. Since our group consisted of rather unskilled laborers, we were put to work clearing debris out of a thicket between a farm and a church, and out of a stream across the street from that same church.
This area was simply covered in trash. As a father, I was particularly moved when we discovered what amounted to a drawer full of folded baby clothes and balled up socks – presumably left in a home somewhere by a caring mother or father – only to be swept away miles from any residential area. Others found Valentines, baseball cards, the whole sides of houses, nearly the entire inventory of a tire store 2 miles away, and much more. The major problem we faced was that much of this debris was across a stream where trucks could not get to it without driving through someone’s farm, and volunteers could not retrieve it without walking through the stream and soaking their shoes, or walking quite a ways to the nearest crossing. Our incredible teens quickly got to work building a bridge, braving the water and mud so that we could more efficiently move trash from the far side of the stream to the road, where other volunteers could load it onto a truck to remove it.
Early on in the morning, we faced one very obvious problem. There was a block of tightly wrapped cardboard and wood that weighed several hundred pounds, was soaking wet, and nearly impossible to wrap one’s arms around. Our teens, who had met just a day earlier, worked remarkably well together to brainstorm how to solve this problem, and ultimately got the block over to the road. There is something particularly satisfying about cleaning something up that you can be pretty sure would have been left there to clog waterways and cause more damage in the future. And all of it was done without any adult prodding or prompting.
Perhaps the most inspiring thing for the group of us that trekked out from our summer camp was the amount of volunteers in Schoharie who dedicate themselves to working to do disaster relief around the clock – for no fame and less money. We met a contractor named Bill who had already worked on refurbishing 4 homes, and he related some incredibly sad and also heartwarming stories. He told the story of the local District Attorney, who was ready to move out and give up on the area before volunteers came in and inspired him to stay. He told stories of older folks who refused to quit on the town they love. He told us one particularly inspiring tidbit: above all, it was people of faith who had come to help when FEMA decided to move on.
Perhaps the most incredible people in Schoharie spend their time working at the “Loaves and Fishes” cafe – a makeshift cafe for volunteers (and anyone who is hungry) in the Reformed Church of Schoharie. The volunteers there have served lunch from 12-1:30 PM every single day since the storm struck. Every day. The woman who runs the cafe is a private business owner who simply shuts her business down from 12-1:30. Every day. And this wasn’t processed junk – they were serving delicious, fresh food, donated by local people who care. I enjoyed a divine tomato-basil soup apparently prepared by the Cobleskill Fire Department. That same woman even approached me the next day, excited because she had found a vegan lentil-barley soup to meet my vegetarian needs.
Spending time in the Loaves and Fishes cafe was great for both our adults and our youth. We were thanked countless times for our efforts, and treated as distinguished guests. People opened up to us, and welcomed us as brothers and sisters. One couple related to Anita and Lynn that they had been out of their homes for the last 8 months, living with friends, while their home lay empty. Instead of complaining about their plight, they simply thanked us for what small amount we were willing to do to help. The spirit of the people in Schoharie was all at once humbling, inspiring, and sobering. These are amazing people who are willing to stop at nothing to rebuild their town, and who are committed to showing radical hospitality to anyone who comes along to help.
In our first day on the job, our group completed what had been slated to take us two days. Did I mention how amazing our youth were? They did this thankless labor tirelessly, with literally no complaint. On the 2nd day – feeling self conscious that they would be bored – I asked if they wanted to see a new work site. They seemed confused by the idea. They wanted to finish what they started. So we headed back out to clear another area near the church, pulling thousands of pounds of debris out of yet another creek. Our youth did this so fast that it looked like we needed a new place to go after lunch, when the volunteer coordinator rounded up two gentlemen who canceled their afternoon plans to come out with a truck and help us move the debris from its spot along the stream to a central point where another dump truck could remove it once and for all.
All in all – the idea that we were able to move a huge amount of stuff out of these areas so that Schoharie can continue to learn to live with what is now “Normal” for them was so satisfying for us. We’ve already begun planning a trip for the fall, and we know we’ll be back out there next Spring as well. No group of volunteers is too small to pitch in down there. If your experience is anything like ours, you’ll be welcomed with open arms and put right to work – helping out in an area that desperately needs it. The Lutheran Disaster Response team believes it will be 3-5 years until Schoharie recovers. What can you do to speed up that time table? If you missed out this time around and want to be on board for next time, call the office today and we’ll put you on the list!
Samuel’s Story – Learning about American Children at Summer Camp
Meet Samuel Mbaja. Samuel was a chaplain for our summer camp program for 4 weeks last summer. We were incredibly blessed by his insight, humor, and peaceful and loving spirit. Samuel recently reached out to us to share his story, so we thought we’d share it with you. Samuel has confirmed he’ll be back for some time this summer, so it’d be great if you got to know him!
My name is Samuel Mbaja. I was born 37 years ago on Mfangano Island on Lake Victoria in the western part of Kenya. My island is approximately 70 square miles with a population of around 16,000 people. Standing on the world’s largest tropical lake, and the world’s second largest fresh water lake, Mfangano Island is one of the most spectacular and serene places I have seen in my life. My house stands right near the waterfront. I grew up on a diet of fish, and did a lot of fishing. Besides fishing, we also keep livestock, and do farming.
I came to the US in the fall of 2007 to begin graduate studies at Syracuse University. I experienced culture shock in a number of ways. To mention but a few, coming from a society where family and friendship form the foundation of one’s life, I suddenly found myself in an environment where I knew no one at all. I tried making friends, but soon realized that friendship can mean a different thing here than it does in my place. Food looked and tasted different, not to mention the difficulty in understanding American English, which would have been handy for ordering food at the school’s cafeteria. Having grown up in the tropics, the cold winter months were unbearable. I would insist on wearing my big winter coat even while indoors to the amusement of my friends.
Things began to look better when I incidentally ran into Pastor Gail Riina, the Lutheran Campus Ministry chaplain in the summer of 2010 at the Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University. She was then doing research on wireless technology, and thought my island would make a good case study. She interviewed me for the research, and later invited me to attend her Sunday services at the chapel. I did, and have been an LCM peer minister since the fall of 2010. I have made lots of friends by attending various events organized by the LCM. It is through LCM that I discovered Vanderkamp – easily the second most serene place I have been to. The first time I went to Vanderkamp was in the spring of 2010 when we went for an overnight peer ministers’ retreat. I immediately fell in love with the place because, in more ways than one, it reminded me of my home. I particularly like the lake, the sunset, the woods, and the birds singing at dawn. I remember wishing that I could live there for the duration of my stay in the US.
A chance came for me in the summer of 2011, when James Davis – the director of Vanderkamp whom I had met earlier that spring – agreed to my request to stay at the camp for a week as a volunteer chaplain. I went to the camp with lots of apprehension about how the kids at the camp would treat a person from a different culture like me. I had heard that American kids can be rude and disrespectful to older people, especially those that speak with an accent like I do. However, my fears were misplaced because I found some of the nicest people I have ever met. From the staff to the kids, everyone went out of their way to make me feel welcome. Before I knew it, what was supposed to be a one- week stay turned out to be four wonderful weeks at summer camp. Psycholinguists say the best way to learn a language is by immersion. This could not be truer in my case; the many conversations I had with the campers significantly improved my American English language skills. I know this for sure because when I went back to school at the end of four weeks at Vanderkamp, my American friends at SU remarked how easy it was to understand me. They wondered whether I had been taking ESL lessons during summer. I enjoyed the games and activities at the camp; especially boating, fishing, archery, arts and crafts.
Finally, I would like to thank James, Taylor and their son Ollie for inviting me to stay with them during the winter break of December 2011 to January 2012. Winter breaks can be so lonely on a residential campus like SU because most students are away and the place becomes a ghost town. While at the Davis’, I was able to make great strides in the children’s book I am working on. I particularly got a lot of help from Ollie, who would read with me one of his favorite books called Unstuck. I also had the opportunity to read a number of Ollie’s books, which gave me an idea of what form my book might possibly take. Thanks to Taylor for teaching me how to make those special Christmas cookies (I forgot what they are called, but I sure remember the recipe!), and for throwing a birthday party for me. I look forward to visiting Vanderkamp again before leaving for Mfangano Island.
Volunteers and Local Businesses Stepping up to Help our Community Farm
Farm Project – Local businesses and volunteers rallying to support converting a portion of our camp into a Community Garden!
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We’ve had so many exciting developments in our Community Farming project that we just needed to share! People have been coming out of the wood work to volunteer time. Marcellus Presbyterian Church is bringing their youth group up to help with planting in May, and other smaller groups have agreed to help with planting as well. Pat Wallace will be helping us get the irrigation system in place, and 
John Dromms, an Eagle Scout Candidate, has agreed to bring his troop up to build a shed to house tools for volunteer use. The project is expanding even beyond what we thought it would be!
More greenhouses have agreed to donate plants as well, and it looks like we’ll meet all of our need for seedlings and seeds without spending a dime. How blessed are we? In addition to the generous gifts pledged by C&J Farms here in Constantia, Vollmer Farms on Collamer Rd. in Syracuse has agreed to grow us some special tomato and pepper plants, and Joe Van Slyke from Rosalind’s Garden Greenhouse in Durhamville has pledged a number of herbal plants – how generous! Carol Watson Greenhouse in Lafayette is also enthusiastic about our project, agreeing to give all sorts of things, from tomatoes, to winter squash, and leafy greens!
With all of the generosity we’ve received so far, we still have needs. We have some volunteers coming up to camp for our Spring Clean up Day on April 21st, and we’ll have garden work to do then, for sure.
Dennis Wiltse – a local farmer (and former employee from many years ago!) has agreed to come plow the land at the cost of fuel. WOW! You may know Dennis from his INCREDIBLE blueberries on Route 49.
We’re so excited to begin to convert a portion of our summer camp into a local farm for organic food, and so energized by the outpouring of support. Thank you so much to all of our new partners, and please let them know how thankful you are to them for supporting our project if you ever get a chance!
We look forward to seeing you all this spring and summer, and sharing our harvest with you!
Vanderkamp Center is a Christian Summer Camp and Retreat Center that is doing its best to serve local people in need. Want to contribute? Send a child to summer camp? Book a retreat facility? Email vkcenter@vk.org or call 315-675-3651. God Bless!
Cooking Comes to Summer Camp!
In order to best use our new Community Farm, we’ll be offering activity periods where kids can learn to cook and help prepare delicious, fresh meals for themselves and others! If there are ingredients that you’d like to see 
grown this summer for cooking, this is the perfect place to post a comment and let us know! Whether it’s delicious fresh salads, or tomato-mozzarella stacks, or loaded baked potatoes… summer campers will have the opportunity to see food go full circle!
We’ll have opportunities for kids to learn to raise chickens, plant vegetables, nurture the plants along, harvest the fruits, learn to prepare meals, and of course, eat what they’ve made! In a day and age where it’s decreasingly common for people to know where their food comes from, we certainly won’t be having that problem this summer. Where else do kids have the opportunity to make an egg salad with eggs that were laid that morning, and lettuce taken fresh from the ground? Come to camp this summer and join the fun!
The Vanderkamp Center is a Christian Summer Camp and Retreat Center just around the corner from Syracuse, Rome, and Utica – and an easy drive from Rochester and Watertown as well! We hope to see you soon!
Farming Comes back to Vanderkamp
With 850 Acres, Running a Summer Camp Isn’t Enough
Last week, we received news of an incredible blessing: the Walmarts of Cicero and East Syracuse responded to a grant proposal we’d written to convert a portion of our summer camp into a community garden that would help supplement our kitchen with organically grown produce, and also help people in this area get healthy food.
Our summer campers will have the opportunity to eat organic food taken directly from the farm each day, and will also be able to give back to their community by helping to distribute this food to food banks near their homes. We’ve had an outpouring of support from many of partners – C&J Farms have agreed to donate seedlings to us once again, North Riding has pledged manure for fertilizer, and Matthew 25 Farm has pledged to give us their leftover seeds.
Donations of these items are absolutely amazing, but what will really make this project go is volunteer support. We can only do so much on our own. We’re calling out to people in our community to help in any way they can – whether it’s helping to build the fence, put in the irrigation system, build a shed to house the tools, or to come up during summer camp and help weed and harvest veggies, we can use your support. Volunteers will get to take a share of this delicious and nutritious food with them, as well as the satisfaction that they are helping both a camp and an area in need.
Read more details at the page dedicated to this project, or contact us if you have any questions or would like to help. This is a big project, but it represents the first step in utilizing these 850 acres to the best of their potential. Won’t you join us?
Alternative Spring Break Retreat – Growing Within, Giving Without
Grow at Summer Camp, Give back on a Retreat
If you grew up going to summer camp, you know it’s a place where the formation of faith and friends happens more rapidly than anywhere else. An interesting thing happens, however, when one transitions from being a summer camper into a summer staff member. All of a sudden, the focus becomes more on providing faith formation for other people. It’s about making sure children are having an easier time making friends. Some people have an awfully tough time making this transition. As a camp director, I’ve worked with a number of young adults who become disillusioned when asked to come behind the curtain and start making the magic for other people. For those who embrace the transition, however, something truly magical happens.
Many counselors, including myself, report that working with campers is actually a more meaningful faith experience than being a camper. Giving can be far more rewarding than getting. And this makes sense, as embracing the spirit of Christ means giving back to those with less than you. I believe everyone is capable of feeling the pure bliss that comes from helping another person in need. Since opportunities like this can be hard to find, we have decided to offer an alternative Spring break mission retreat. This will be an incredible opportunity to feel the spirit moving through you while helping to change the lives of your neighbors in need.
Schoharie County had its infrastructure basically destroyed in floods last year. Few people on a national level are even aware of this disaster. Homes have sat empty and destroyed through these cold winter months. This means that it’s up to us – the proud people of central New York, to raise awareness for those in need and to offer our physical support. At Vanderkamp, we’re working with King of Kings in Liverpool to offer an opportunity to join us in 2 days of mission and 2 days of reflection from April 10th-April 13th. For just $75, you can help make the lives of your neighbors better, and experience personal growth in the process.
Spiritual retreat can mean a lot of things, but in order to really explore the depths of what it means to be at one with the holy spirit, one needs to grow within, and give without. Please go to the alternative spring break mission retreat information page, call 315-675-3651, or contact us for more information. We hope you’ll be able to join us in helping these people who so desperately need us.
Vanderkamp is a retreat facility located near Syracuse, NY – and is a short drive from Utica and Rome as well. Please be in touch with any questions!
Record numbers at the Winter Reunion!
Winter Retreat Fun at Summer Camp
Well, we are absolutely blown away by what just happened at our retreat center this past weekend. So in 2010 we had around 25 people show up for the Winter Reunion. This year? 78 people came out from Syracuse and other areas in central New York to do summer camp in the snow! Well, not so much snow as we would have liked! Enough for some snowball fights on Saturday, and some mud/snow sledding on Saturday, but that was about it! Some sleds didn’t live to tell the tale, but we’ll trade smiles and great memories for sleds any day. We’ll always remember the 2011-2012 winter retreat as the one with autumn weather!
With that slight monkey wrench thrown in, we decided to have other kinds of winter fun! We set up a make-shift Ga Ga court in Fellowship Hall and had a blast playing game after game (after game) of Ga Ga. It’s always so neat to see the sportsmanship that our summer campers (well, they were retreat guests this time around) have. Older campers were so supportive of younger campers, and our group of first timers were integrated into the game with no problem at all!
For campers that wanted to relax and enjoy the calmer side of our retreat center, we had plenty of other activities to choose from as well. There was no shortage of friendship bracelets this weekend! Don’t tell folks from summer camp, but we MAY have even watched a movie or two after it got dark outside. Things are a lot different around here when it gets dark at 4:30! We went through unbelievable amounts of hot chocolate, and even decorated Christmas cookies with Taylor on Saturday.
We got together for a great game of Predator and Prey, Winter-Style!, on Saturday. Groups of Polar Bears, Snow-leopards, and seals gathered resources and tried to stay away from poachers!
What we really focused on was getting back together with old friends from summer camp or one of our retreat programs and remembering why it is Vanderkamp is such a wonderful place. Everyone put aside all the drama and difficulty from the outside world, and took a retreat with us to get to know Christ’s message a little better. While we didn’t have as direct a faith focus as we do during summer camp, we remained in a spirit of worship and thankfulness throughout the entire weekend. During evening worship on Saturday, the campers were asked about things they were grateful for in 2011, and the response was so touching. From being thankful for things as basic as running water to things as magical as that “special something” that exists only at Vanderkamp, the Christian value of gratitude was heartily practiced.
While we had a wonderful time seeing old friends (and making TONS of new ones), what would New Year’s Eve be without a ball drop?? All of the retreaters and our staff got together before midnight to count down the New Year with a fantastic “crystal ball” made by Jon! And it wasn’t even that cold!
As we say goodbye to 2011, we have so much to be thankful for. We are so amazed by the love shown to our camp in this time of transition. We are humbled by the generosity shown by our donors. At the silent auction alone, we raised more than double what we had in the previous year. We were thrilled by the response from summer campers, who returned in record numbers for extra weeks during the camp season – more than 4 times as many kids signed up for an additional week after coming for one week than the previous year. We are so excited at how many people showed up to our Winter Reunion – more than 3 times as many as last year (and some say it was the biggest ever). We booked more new retreat groups than we have in recent memory as well.
With so many blessings having come our way, you can rest assured that we are working around the clock to make sure that our retreat center offerings and summer camp will be even better in 2012 than they were in 2011. From our Vanderkamp family to yours, we hope 2012 is an amazing year for you and yours!
Retreat stories – So much to be Thankful for!
On an unseasonably cold and rainy day last September, a wonderful woman named Sharon came to Vanderkamp for a tour of the retreat facilities. She lives just a few miles away from our retreat center, and wanted to take a look around and see the different buildings around camp.
I asked Sharon if she had ever been up to Vanderkamp before.
“Oh, yes,” she said. “Many times. In fact, last year my family rented Frank Lodge for Thanksgiving. We weren’t going to do it this year, but I think we have to.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well, times have been tough around here, and we were just going to do Thanksgiving at home. But the other night I was spending time with my family, and we were going to watch Wheel of Fortune. But before Wheel of Fortune, they do the Lottery drawing, you know?”
I nodded.
She continued, “So we were going around, saying what we would do if we won a million dollars. Then it got to my grand daughter, and she said, ‘If I won a million dollars, I would pay so we could go back to Vanderkamp this Thanksgiving.”
“Wow!” I responded, a little dumfounded.
“Yes. So, I talked to my children and we decided we need to make it happen. We just want to figure out which lodge we want to use.”
“That’s great!” I said. “My wife and I are thinking about inviting our families up for Thanksgiving this year, but we weren’t sure if they’d want to drive all the way from New Jersey and Connecticut to central New York.”
“You should! It was just wonderful,” she said. “We had time to just sit and be with each other. No television. No video games. No computers. We hiked through the woods, the kids played ‘Ghost in the Graveyard’ at night, everyone had such a nice time. I couldn’t believe my grandkids could go that long without TV!”
“That does sound great,” I responded. “I think you’ve convinced me. Our families could use some time to just be with each other and take a retreat from our crazy lives.”
And come up for Thanksgiving, we did. Our joint families rented Oscar Lodge and spent our days playing bocce ball, hiking, playing with the chickens, enjoying the fire, playing all sorts of silly games, and just taking time to really talk to one another. My one and a half year old spent the next several weeks signing “where?” and saying his version of the names of the different people in our family. It was easily the best Thanksgiving we ever had, and it gave me a great perspective on what it is like for our retreat guests when they spend a weekend here!
As for Sharon’s family? I caught up with her on Sunday, after their four night stay.
“How was it?” I asked.
“Everyone had the best time. And for next year, my kids are all saving up the money so it won’t be an issue. We can’t wait to see you then!”
And with that, Thanksgiving weekend was over. Around 45 people went back to their day to day lives, but feeling restored after a wonderful four day retreat. Feeling restored and rejuvenated, and most of all, thankful!
Merry Christmas, everyone! We have so much to be thankful for, and hope you do as well! Call 315-675-3651 or Contact Us today!
With love,
James, Taylor, and Oliver Davis
James is the Director of Program and Marketing at the Vanderkamp Retreat Center and Christian Summer Camp.
Summer Camp 2012 Information is Here!!!!!!!
Since summer camp ended last year, you’ve been holding your breath wondering when our offerings for 2012 will be available, haven’t you? We know you too well 
Head over to our summer camp page and check out our offerings for 2012 – REGISTRATION IS LIVE! Just in time for Christmas! If you’re dying to see your summer camp friends before then, nothing would be easier than heading over to the Winter Reunion page and getting registered!
If you’re on this website, you know that nothing compares to the Christian summer camp experience. You may or may not know that Vanderkamp is working to revolutionize how that looks. Sadly, many Christian camps have suffered from decreasing enrollment in the last decade or so. At Vanderkamp, we think that most that comes from a lack of perspective on what exactly Christian camping is. I’d like to give you a brief glimpse into what we are, and what we aren’t.
We aren’t interested in comparing our collection of stuff with any other camp’s collection of stuff. We have a number of amazing program offerings, and the fun to be had here is plentiful…but the point goes so much deeper than that. We believe Christian camps lose touch with who they are when they try to assert themselves as having the most stuff, or the glitziest this, or the most glamorous that. For us, it’s all about relationships, learning to love yourself, and following your own individual faith journey as you become closer with God. It sounds simple, but if you’ve looked into any of our essays on the Vanderkamp Method, you know we take that job extremely seriously and have thought about it a great deal.
A week at a Christian summer camp involves twice as many hours of Christian community as a year of Sunday school.
For those of you who have taken a language in school, I’m sure you know the difference between immersion in a culture that speaks a language and hearing a professor talk about the subjunctive and past perfect tenses. Vanderkamp is that unique Christian immersion experience. Children who come here as campers live in a community that focuses on helping people accept the Peace of Christ in their hearts for an entire week. That’s a whole week retreat from bullying or teasing. A whole week with young-adults showering them with love for exactly who they are. A whole week where what matters is who they are and who they can be, and not what they look like, how their math is, or how athletic they are.
Come here, or help your child come here, and see what a life changing experience looks like. Our dedication to taking children as partners in pursuit of Christ’s message is unparalleled. The love between the campers here and our staff is incredible. The friendships children leave with last a lifetime. Come here, and help us change the world. Sign up today and reserve your spot!
