FORTVILLE — When Jennifer Kimble heard about a adventure day camp for boys, she thought it would be a great fit for her son.
She signed up her 10-year-old for it and recruited a few friends to attend as well.
New Life Christian Fellowship in Fortville will offer Boys-to-Men Day Camp in June. When plans were announced at church, the idea resonated with Kimble, who attends the church with her husband, daughters and son.
She said 10-year-old Colton may be thinking more about hanging out with his friends, but she sees value in peers spending time together pursuing godly manhood.
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“Something in society today that boys are just missing is this character building,” Kimble said. “The whole agenda of the camp is to … be specific to what the Bible is calling men to be.”
The church is offering a five-day day camp that’s a mix of spiritual teaching and active adventures such as an inflatable obstacle course, kayaking in the church pond, basketball and archery.
The Rev. Mark Adcock, pastor of the church, said a lot of cultural messages are being sent to boys today, not all of them positive, and he feels churches need to step in and talk about what it means to be a boy.
“There seems to be a lot of animosity toward boys because they’re male,” he said. “I really think it’s a great thing for God to have made a boy a boy.
“… We will teach equality — that God loves everybody equally — but God made you a boy and that’s not a mistake.”
Adcock said he was inspired after having lunch with a fellow Church of God pastor who has a program for boys in inner-city Indianapolis, one where leaders urge young men to steer clear of gangs and drugs.
He said he knows the concept for New Life’s day camp might be controversial to some, but “I’m not going to let that diminish my strong belief that these boys need to know what the Bible has to say” about being male. He also said that more boys are growing up without involved fathers and would benefit from having male role models.
Finally, he said he’s been upfront about camp content so parents know what to expect when they’re deciding whether to send their sons.
He cited some of the Bible verses he expects to be part of the camp teaching:
•Genesis 1:26-27: “… God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
•Joshua 1:9: “ … Be strong and courageous … for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
•1 Peter 3:7: “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives …”
Teaching times will be 10- to 15-minute segments — at the start of the day, after lunch, and at the end of the day — to reinforce that day’s theme. The boys will visit the activity stations in groups of six to 10.
Twenty-two boys have signed up so far for the day camp. Adcock hopes they learn to, as they grow, use the Bible as a standard for measuring messages they receive about manhood.
“I would love for them to have something stored deep within their memory bank” of what the Bible has to say, he said.
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Openings remain for the Boys-to-Men Day Camp, set for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 17-21 at New Life Christian Fellowship, 1574 W. State Road 234, Fortville.
The camp is open to boys going into first through fifth grades. Cost is $50 per boy; a second boy in a family can attend for $20, and any other boys in that family can attend free.
Fill out a registration form online by visiting nlcfonline.com and clicking on the day camp banner (in the slides that change). Or call 317-489-8579 and arrange a time to stop by the church and fill out a form. A permission slip and signed release are required.
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