YL Camp for Everyone

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A guest post by Eric Northrup

“Capernaum Summer Camp is not for everyone.”  These were the words that I heard from a well-respected elder within Capernaum.  At the time I was blown away; it seemed to be contrary to everything I knew Young Life to be.

Thoughts of “What do you mean? We try to make everything accessible for our friends with disabilities!  No one is turned away.”  My gut told me that there was just no way this could be right.

Then I started to think about some of my friends back home.  I thought of one student in particular who has never been away from home, only hangs out with the opposite sex, and currently the parent is not willing to address some of these issues. 

In my heart, I knew summer camp just wasn’t for this person—and they weren’t alone.  There were a handful of my friends I could think of right away that, if I was honest, summer camp would be a really hard fit for them.  For some it was physical, others behavioral or medical and a few just had families that may never be on board with sending their child away for a week.  So what was the answer?

That is why we started our Day Camp.  I believe that we can give each of our friends a true camping experience close to home.  Day Camp is the way we are going the extra mile to ensure none of our friends our excluded from the greatest week of their life and hearing the Gospel. 

In my experience, Day Camp is especially effective at reaching 3 main groups: the medically fragile who couldn’t travel with us, the new students who just need to experience what Capernaum is all about and our older friends who have aged out into Beyond Capernaum.  Day Camp has become a substitute in our ministry for our older friends who have experienced Rockbridge and were so afraid to leave it behind.

I never would have thought it was possible, but after running Day Camp I would confidently say that it is as effective as summer camp at reaching our friends.  You certainly miss some level of bonding without the overnight aspect.  However, I truly believe at the end of the day it’s a caring community “sharing life” with our friends through fun activities and a life changing message.

In order to make Day Camp strong, though, you really have to believe and invest in it.  We decided early on that if we were going to do this, then we weren’t going to hold anything back.  So, in every way, we try to make the camp excellent.  Our philosophy is to make it as close as we can in providing that Summer Camp feel. We did Hillbilly Olympics, a Water Regatta, a County Fair, and Horseback Riding. Next year we will have a banquet for all the parents in the barn where we had club with fireworks at the end of the night to celebrate a great week.

It’s so important to understand that this does not benefit just our friends with disabilities but, maybe more importantly, it is building your community in your area. Volunteers/helpers that get involved, buddies that become potential leaders in Capernaum, students that now feel more comfortable to go to summer camp, and parents who see the power of camp all have happened at our Day Camp.  All of this pales in comparison though with the effect that new genuine friendships and the transforming work of the Spirit in the lives of our friends with disabilities.

Here is a sample template what a day camp looked for us:

9:00: Buddies show up and go through the day
9:30-10: Check in
9:45-10:15: Large Group mixer (For us it was inflatables)
10:15-12: Club/Craft/Cabin Time
12: Lunch
1-2:30: Free Time/Rides
2:30: Group Event (Water Regatta, Co. Fair, Hoe down, etc.)
3:30: Snack
4: Students Leave 

Here is a link to a video that we had made for Day Camp.


2014 Capernaum Day Camp



Eric Northrup has been on staff with Capernaum in Northern Kentucky for 4 years. He is married to his beautiful wife, Kristan, for four years as well. Together, they love the ministry of Capernaum because of the lives impacted by ALL who get involved. 

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