Hello Blog Friends!
FINALLY, here is the long-awaited wrap-up for summer 2025, and it is, technically, still summer!
This year, 7 communities hosted the CTM programs. Since the first one, which took place in late June, was the Service Project collaboration between Promised Church and First Filipino Baptist Church; you can find that, separate, post here.
Of the 6 remaining camps, only 1 did not complete the fillable Feedback Form, if, in the near future, their response is sent in, I will add their photos and/or reflections.
So here we go- in chronological order:-
July 14-18, Christ the King, Edmonton welcomed 27 campers. This church meets in a rented school facility, so they have some great indoor and outdoor spaces in which to run the program. The leadership appreciated our Biblically-based program and the great opportunities for teens developing leadership and organizational skills, faith building for all.
They sent in some constructive criticism regarding creative activities and, as always, suggested they would like to see the return of travelling teams (it’s not going to happen!!)
Here are some pics from the camp. We are still hoping to also embed some video clips, once I can find a technical guru to help with the task!
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July 14-18, St. Joseph of Nazareth, Brossard, welcomed 9 campers and used the short version, Backyard Day Camp Program.
This community runs the program late afternoon-early evening, including a light supper for the campers. This allows children who are locked into summer-long municipal day camps to still experience CTM’s Biblical themes during a timeframe in which they might have just been hanging around on their bicycles or sitting in front of screens. The local leaders thanked our planning committee for creativity and imagination.
Here are some pics from St. Joseph’s
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July 14-18, St. Aidan’s, Windsor ON welcomed 22 campers to their camp. Although this church has used our program for several years, the curate who, previously served as Coordinator is no longer there, so a person who had been a local helper, stepped up to organise. She commented that she would have appreciated receiving all of the resources at an earlier date. The best thing about this camp, according to the children was Lamb!!
Some parents had not given permission for photos, so, none again. Next year, we plan to include some tips on how to take photos that still give the flavour of the Day Camp without including children’s faces.
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August 4-8, All Saints, Deux Montagnes, QC welcomed 10 children to their Day Camp. The community appreciated the comprehensive advance materials and the “easy-to-follow” resource package. The coordinator commented that “music selections were particularly great” and said that “On Fire is my favourite program and discussion of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost, etc, resonates well with the campers”
He also shared this:- “One added reflection after having sent you the feedback form: one boy who attended is autistic and was a real handful. He didn’t want to sing or sit still to listen; however, when we had the daily quiz, he was usually the first to answer and he knew the stories. It was a reminder that the seeds we scatter seem to not penetrate the ground in some but are actually growing roots.”
And here are a few photos-
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Finally, the last camp of summer 2025 took place August 18-22 at First Filipino Baptist Church of Montreal, with 59 campers attending.
Feedback form comments-
The best things about this Day Camp.
“THE THEME SONG!! Our Campers LOOOVED it so much! They were singing it at journal time during Small Groups, during Lunch, during Creative Connections! It’s stuck in our heads in the best way! We appreciate that the Quiz included non-Biblical questions but still about Fire, it helped make our non-church-going campers feel like they can contribute to their team! We loved that the memory verses this year are also the Psalm verses. The repetition helped the campers (and leaders too!) remember them. Thank you for keeping Bible Smugglers, our repeat campers were asking about it when they arrived Monday”
Areas where there could be some changes:-
“FFBCM loves this program! There are no areas we wish to change!”
Since “a picture is worth a thousand words” and since co-coordinator, Mikaela, took many lovely photos, we will close this post with a whole bunch!
