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| These children participated in “Mass Chaos” at a CentriKid camp at Campbellsville University. More than 7,000 people will participate in camps at CU during the summer. (Campbellsville University Photo by Drew Tucker) |
By Joan C. McKinney, news and publications coordinator, and Samantha Clark, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – A little more than 100 Bibles have been handed out this summer to campers at Campbellsville University. Rusty Watkins is proud of that.
Watkins, who’s worked with summer camps at CU for 12 years, said each young person who is saved while at camp gets a Bible with a camp worker’s name in it. He said 102 students have received the Bibles as of July 3 out of approximately 7,000 who will be on campus this summer.
Watkins said many other children have rededicated their life for Christ during the camps.
So far this summer, camp participants have been from 10 different states with over 120 churches on campus plus 28 high school and junior high sports teams.
Campbellsville University hosts several different summer camps that range from basketball, wrestling, softball, football to Fellowship of Christian Athletes leadership, CentriKids and Kentucky Baptist All-State Youth Choir and Orchestra.
“I really enjoy the ministry aspect of the camps,” Watkins said. “I love to meet new people and provide a way for churches to share ideas and communicate with other churches.”
He said the groups are very organized and plan ahead for the camps.
Watkins said CentriKid is the biggest camp on campus. CentriKid is a sports ministry camp for students who have completed third grade through sixth grade. It is run by LifeWay Christian Resources affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
There are eight different sessions of CentriKid with several states sending students to camp at Campbellsville University.
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| Jaide Jones of First Baptist Church in Murphysboro, Ill. played a game with a CentriKid leader, Caleb McDonald of First Baptist Church, Shelbyville, Ky., on the campus of Campbellsville University. There will be eight different sessions of CentriKid on Campbellsville University’s campus this summer. (Campbellsville University Photo by Drew Tucker) |
“CentriKid has been coming to this campus for around seven to eight summers to spread their love of Christ through the lives of young children,” he said.
Watkins said organizations will often recruit young children to be a part of their camp and then they will bring them to CU to actually be at the camp and spend some time outdoors having fun with new people.
“CU uses this as a recruiting method because no matter how young the children are, they will always remember how much fun they had at camp and if they liked it or not. This will make the kids want to come back and possibly come to CU as a student in college,” he said.
Watkins said many of the people who participate in these camps on the Campbellsville University campus have a lot of positive feedback about the university itself.
He said they like the location and the close proximity of all the buildings, they love how beautiful all the landscaping is and all of the options that are provided in the Winters Dining Hall.
Watkins said the highlight of the camps is when young people are saved.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master’s degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.