Well It’s another full day of activities for Ignite Junior High 2010. Your student is really taking full advantage of all the fun things planned here at UCYC. Activities include kayaking, paintball, climbing wall and more. Although the weather put a little damper on a few activities early in the day, it hasn’t affected anyone’s spirit!
The morning after another great session with Chris, every student was given the opportunity to spend some alone time with God. I wish every parent could see their student planted on a rock in solitude with their Creator. So cool! (My apologies for no pics as we are having technical difficulties with our media).
Well it’s off to shower (well for the girls) and then to dinner before we head out to Mile High for our night session. Keep you posted.
Marlene
Central Family Ministry Team
Weather Report: 70, drizzles til early afternoon then a beautiful overcast afternoon
After a couple hours of free time and connecting with campers and leaders we enjoyed a topnotch dinner (as usual).Buses headed to Mile High Junior High School in Prescott, Arizona to worship with the Drew Bodine Band. The students were on their feet, singing at the top of their lungs with hands raised to He who brought them here.
Chris Trethewey, Executive Pastor of Family Ministry spoke tonight asking the question, “How big is your God?” Now really think about this. How big is your God?! It’s really easy to just say “My God is Amazingly Big”. But do we really get it! I mean He spoke the world to be.
Psalm 33.6 “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.” Your try to do that on your best day…NOT!
When things go bad we get angry, we wonder if God sees whats happening. We even find ourselves asking if God is there in the midst of it all. To remember that He loves you just as He created you without flaw, without blemish, can make all the difference in those tough situations. Even as Big as He is He has become more personal to each of us, including your student knowing He sent His only son Jesus Christ. With this reminder,Chris challenged each student to give Him their life completely. And to trust God with every part. For many, this was the first time they heard about this God that loves them so much. Others have been brought to camp for this reminder to stop doing it alone and trust Him with it all. Some may have been overwhelmed with this idea and are soaking up every moment. Where ever your student is in their faith right now, God is there Bigger than Life….That’s how big our God is….Bigger than Life.
Marlene
Central Family Ministry Team
Quote of the day….“The size of your God will determine the size of your faith”, Chris Trethewey, Central Christian Church
Weather Report: high 70′s, humid, with drizzles throughout the day.
Well we’ve made it safe to UCYC. We have been spared the rain….for now….while we unloaded luggage and got settled into cabins. Your students are in their first session to hear all about their week ahead. The staff here has been amazing and we are more excited than ever to take on the camp experience. Thanks to all the parent volunteers and Central Family Ministry Team that helped up depart smoothly and on time! Could not do it without you! Well until my next blog continue to pray for the hearts of your students to soak every second of what God has in store!
Marlene
Central Family Ministry Team
Well parents…can you believe it? Summer Blast 2010 officially ends tomorrow morning at 10:30am. It’s been an amazing life-changing week for your kids! The kids have been great all week. They had a blast playing out in the rain today, too!
Tonight’s focus was on the “message” that we each have to share. During our church group time tonight, the kids talked about what that message was and then they were challenged to share the name of a person that they could take that message to.
I want to encourage you to talk to your kids about their camp experience. Many of the kids made a first-time decision to call Jesus their leader, forgiver and friend and that’s awesome! We are so excited for them.
Now you may be asking, what next? How do we capitalize on what happened at camp? It’s quite simple…continue to keep them plugged in at our weekend services. If they aren’t plugged in yet…get them plugged in. When fall hits, sign them up for a Small Group. Most importantly, if your child says they made a decision at camp or that they’re still thinking about making a decision to call Jesus their leader, forgiver and friend, then I strongly encourage you to sign them up for our next First Step for Kids class coming up in September.
Thank you for all the prayers and support you’ve shown. Thank you for allowing us to hang with your kids, get to know them better and journey with them on their path to becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ.
Laura Murphy, Central Kidz Staff
The part of camp I never get to experience are the stories told at home. I always wonder how things get relayed back to parents and friends about camp. What things really made an impression. I wonder what little funny thing that happened is retold as a huge story and what big things are passed over. I know as you sit down and read this you are chomping at the bit to hear stories from your child. They are going to be great. Enjoy spending time together talking about camp. I know you will probably hear about the Yeti, Captain Heck, color teams, activities, and friendships formed. I would encourage you to use those times to get them to talk about things they learned from their experiences here or from the camp services.
Some great things are happening. Last night we spent time learning that Jesus is our rescuer from the punishment of sin and that Jesus is ready to forgive all of us. Several Central kids named Jesus their Leader and Forgiver last night and several more are processing through what it means. It is amazing to get to be a part of that decision. Your child has spent some time this week thinking about their relationship with God. It was a great, great night!
UCYC has partnered with a missionary nicknamed “Boots” from the Dominican Republic. All summer long kids have been donating to help him out. One of the great things UCYC has done to help us choose to give our money to this cause is a “Summer Staffer Dinner Auction.” This morning, small groups got together and figured out how much money everyone was willing to donate to buy the opportunity to have dinner with the UCYC summer staff. Our session of camp, Central and the other churches here this week, gave over $700 at the auction today. That’s $700 of candy and ice cream and drinks your kids chose to sacrifice and give. We are enjoying a great group of kids this week at camp. I know now why you are so ready for them to be back home. We will be back in a little over 24 hours. Until then, here are a few pictures from some of the pool games we have played this week.
Daniel Carnahan
Central Kidz
As I sat and watched 40 students walk around our student center this past Saturday night and serve 120 people a hot plate of spaghetti I couldn’t help but get excited what God was doing at our Summerlin Campus. Not only was it a fundraiser to help send these 40 students and others to camp but it became a community event. I watched as each student got to know the table they were serving and built a relationship with their “customers”. After the evening was over I was pulled aside multiple times by parents, church members, and others to let me know how much they enjoyed the night. I heard repeatedly about how much they felt loved by the students that had served them. They talk about how they felt as though, their purchase of buying a ticket to a Spaghetti Dinner was helping change the student’s lives. It inspired them and made them excited about what God was doing in our church! Not only did we raise $2000 that is helping us send kids to camp but our church grew closer that night.
God is moving. The thing ‘s he is doing in the student world is even blessing and affecting the adult world. This is cool. I am not only excited to see what God is going to do with my students at camp the next few weeks but also what he is going to be doing at our church this next year!
Emily Wood
Summerlin
We are officially over our half way point here at camp and everyone is still alive and well!!! The kids are getting more comfortable with each other and their surroundings which means they are getting rowdier…but don’t fear, the title relates to today’s teaching theme not a cry for help from the leaders 
Today is a Big Day at camp. In the midst of swimming, zip-lining, archery, paint ball, hiking, crafts & team building, our theme for the day is Rescue. We’ve been learning that we are all “shipwrecked.” We’re following the story of Jonah each day learning that “we’ve all gone the wrong direction,” “we all need help,” and today: “We need to be rescued.” Hopefully you can figure out that our rescuer is GOD. As you read this, pray that all our campers would have open hearts and ears tonight as they here that they need to let God rescue them through Jesus.
Below is a look at what we did today. Enjoy!
Blessing, Heidi Sandifer
Well we’ve come to the close of another day at camp, and what a day it was! Team competitions are rocking like crazy. I got a great big hug from a soaking wet kid during our Color Competition earlier in the day at the pool at the insistence of his Small Group leader. I must say, it was refreshingly cool at the moment but I definitely see payback coming for this Small Group leader. We’re having a blast!
This year’s camp speakers are off the hook! I can’t tell you how engaging they are for the kids! I mean really…4th and 5th graders having to sit relatively still for 25+ minutes while someone teaches? But, believe it or not, they’re doing it! Our speakers started off the session with the question,”Who do you look to for help?” When real problems happen, do we try to handle it all on our own? They used the story of Peter walking on the water from Matthew 14 to give a great picture of what can happen when we take our eyes off of Jesus, and then pointed out the fact that when Peter was sinking and called out to Jesus for help, that Jesus’ response was immediate! I think the one sentence that stuck out the most for me was, “God has already done all the work; all we have to do is take one step towards him by asking for help!” They ended tonight’s session with the question, “Will you ask for help?” I look forward to tomorrow to see what comes out of our Small Group time with the kids.
We ended the night with a late night activity. Kids gathered around a campfire as the Camp Staff shared some crazy stories! My favorite one was about the purple gorilla. You’re gonna have to ask your kids to tell you that one!
I’m so glad to see so many of you following our blog! Thanks for your support and prayers. Look for some more pictures to be uploaded over the next couple of days.
Laura Murphy
Hey parents!
I first want to say it has been an incredible blessing to be a part of your kids lives this week. God has been moving in significant ways here at UCYC, and it is great to see God’s movement here.
We are in the middle of our set scheduled days, which are filled from church services, to color competitions, pool games, rock walls, zip lines, and other fun activities the camp has planned for the kids. But rather then me telling you, I will show you a little bit of what is happening from camp. All pictures posted with this blog were taken during small group times. Pictures of games, activities, and worship sessions will come later!
Please continue to keep the leaders, camp, and safety in your prayers. As I said, God is moving, and we want you to be a part of it, even from Las Vegas!
Cameron’s Small Group
Kristi’s Small Group
Caleb’s Small Group
Bridget’s Small Group 
Joe’s Small Group
Dan’s Small Group
Ashley’s Small Group
Brittney’s Small Group
Maribel’s Small Group
Alyssa’s Small Group
Peter’s Small Group
Sam’s Small Group
Tony Caniglia
Central Kidz
My middle son, Carson, is such a unique kid that keeps my husband and I
smiling and on our toes. We never know what curve balls we will be thrown
with him and what is going to come out of his mouth.
Just last week Carson decided to plan his birthday party. When, where, who;
he had all the details worked out. Even the handmade invitations that he
gave out at school. There was just one small problem with this…he forgot
to tell mom and dad that he was throwing this party. When my husband and I
found out about the invitations, of course, we had to talk to our son telling
him that wasn’t okay BUT we laughed and thought how clever is he!
I also love listening to him pray. Like so many kids he is very specific
and detailed with God. He doesn’t like to just say family, he has to name
each person including grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins (sometimes this
can be lengthy). His boo-boo, his teacher, his dessert that night, for
green cards at school; you name it this kid has prayed for it.
Carson has taught me two things. One is that we are blessed. This thought
may sound simple but really, we are so blessed by him and the happiness he
brings to us. The second is watching his child-like faith. To see him pray
he has taught me to pray (again), meaning get specific and take your time.
God wants to hear it all and has the time. Treat him like your best friend.
How has your faith grown through your kids?
Andrea Kessler
CentralKidz
