From June 7-10, the Grace Kids team hosted Kids Camp 2022 at the Bee Ridge Campus. The event was held for rising K-5th graders with every fun water activity you could imagine. Some of the games included water balloon baseball and dodgeball, tug-of-war, frozen t-shirt races, cheetos toss, and slip & slide races. While these were only half-days, they were jam-packed with worship, Bible stories, lots of smiles, and memories that these kids will never forget. You could say they were truly “soaked” in God’s word. What’s incredible is that this entire week was offered for free to the community thanks to the generosity of the church.

Close to 100 volunteers came out to devote themselves and pour their whole hearts into each of these kids individually. They sang, danced, taught, and sweat through the hot days like absolute champs without asking anything in return. Within Grace Kids, the volunteers are known as “Worldchangers.” This name was certainly exemplified as they all led and watched over 200 children throughout the week. All to say, Kids Camp 2022 would not have been possible without them. (Fred the Flamingo was also a huge contributor to the success of Kids Camp!)

On the first day, the kids were welcomed through a vibrant entrance of hanging tropical flowers, divided into teams based on color, and began decorating their team flags. Many topics were covered throughout the week, such as one lesson discussing what it meant to trust Jesus. And out of all the children who attended Kids Camp, 63 kids decided to trust and accept Jesus into their hearts for the first time. How exciting is that?!

There was one sweet girl who never grew up in the church. Her mom reached out last minute to see if her daughter could still attend because she wanted to “take a chance” on Jesus. Her daughter was able to participate for the entire week. She ended up being one of those sweet kiddos who accepted Christ into their life. It was a week filled with life changes, and now these kids can go out and continue spreading the Gospel themselves. One volunteer, Kaylee Miller, exclaimed, “When we asked God to show up, He did! What a privilege it is to be used by Him!” 

If you’re interested in helping our Grace Kids team continue impacting the lives of these children, fill out the volunteer form under the Get Involved tab at www.gracesarasota.com. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this week possible!