Outdoor summer camps keep children away from the television and in touch with nature during their months away from school. Church-based vacation bible schools spark children’s spiritual growth. One Columbus native created a summer camp encompassing both environments.
Penney Wright, a resident of Reform, Alabama, founded Kingz Kidz Ministry 10 years ago. She has attracted a growing number of campers each year since its inauguration and is excited about the camp’s 10-year anniversary.
“It’s a place for (children) to come and learn about Jesus if they haven’t ever heard of him and, if they have, to be able to grow in their faith,” says Wright.
Wright, who describes herself as strong in her faith, instituted the non-denominational Christian camp following a battle with breast cancer, after being diagnosed in 2004.
Since 2006, Kingz Kidz has allowed over 1,000 children, ages six to 14, to spend time camping, fishing and worshiping at little or no cost to the campers’ families.
For three years, the residential camp has taken place at Lake Lowndes State Park’s campgrounds. Previously, Timber Lake Ministries retreat center near Millport, Alabama, and a campground in Palmetto, Alabama, hosted, but Wright says the number of campers has outgrown those smaller settings.
Most campers stay in one of the six cabins Kingz Kidz rents at Lake Lowndes. Older campers pitch tents nearby.
A typical day at Kingz Kidz Ministry includes morning worship, a trip to Slip N Dip, vacation bible school classes, a lab-based activity centered around the camp’s theme for the week, free time with activities such as fishing and kickball and an evening worship.
Area ministers perform morning and evening worship services on the lake’s bank. Parents also have the option to attend the services, and many parents show up to the closing service to take part in the open environment and to see their kids sing and perform outside on the last camp day.
Wright says many of the campers come from families who would not be economically able to send their kids to a summer camp elsewhere.
This year, Kingz Kidz Ministry will host 110 campers, 20 counselors and counselors in training and 18 adult volunteers. The camp reached maximum capacity for 2016. The theme will be “Truerassic Park,” and topics will revolve around Creationism. Campers move in June 12 and stay until June 17.
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