When I was in middle school, there was an interesting book series called Choose Your Own Adventure. At the end of each chapter, you could make decisions for the main character and, based on your decision, you would turn to a different chapter. Then you’d repeat until the book ended, not always on the last page.
The “choose your own adventure” concept is one of the best things a child or teen can experience at Frontier Camp. Weeks before camp, a Junior camper, ages 7-12, gets a list of 15 activities. Along with mom or dad, they pick four of the activities in which they want to specialize. If you don’t want to ride a horse, you can try your hand at being Robin Hood and choose archery. If water-skiing isn’t your thing, you can take swimming in the new pool.
A teen doesn’t even need to plan their adventure weeks in advance. Campers ages 13-17 who are checking in at our Fossil Creek Teen Camp location are given a booklet that lists the different recreational options available each day. For example, teens can try out the new high ropes course in the morning and follow that up with a trip to the trap range to shoot clay pigeons. In the afternoon they can ride the cable wakeboard lake, take a break in the Quarry Store for a snack and cold drink and then venture back out for outdoor laser tag in and amongst the pine trees.
Choosing your own adventure at camp is very important and really sets Frontier Camp apart. The camp I grew up going to herded the campers from one crowded activity to the next, even if you didn’t care for that activity. Another camp has campers choose just one activity and they work at it all week. FC is the best of both worlds. You get more than one activity and the four you choose aren’t overcrowded. Plus you get to do them each day meaning you get some great experiences.
There are some aspects of choice in our spiritual program as well. First, our staff members get a choice. Counselors at Frontier Camp can select their own devotions for cabin time each night. Selecting a Bible passage or theme is great in two ways. The first is that the staff members grow through developing their own Bible study to share. The second is that the counselor can size up his/her cabin and tailor the devotion to the needs of their campers. For instance, if some campers are excluding others, a great devotion could center on Philippians 2:3 which says, “Nothing should be done because of pride or thinking about yourself. Think of other people as more important than yourself.” Campers can choose to participate in the memory verse program or a post-camp Bible study done through the mail.
Choosing your own adventure is just one of the many things that sets Frontier Camp apart. If you want your child to experience their best week of the year and have a tailor-made experience that will encourage them as they grow, I invite you to choose Frontier Camp and experience the difference. Adventure, of their choosing, awaits.
