Hello Camp Zion Families,
It is hard to believe we passed the half way mark of our camp season this past week. Our time together is flying by way to fast.

This week during lesson time we talked about two different pieces of the Armor of God. The Breastplate of Righteousness & the Shoes of Peace.

• The breastplate of a soldier is what protects his heart from being hurt in battle. Our physical hearts are a great reminder of how wise and wonderful God is in creating our bodies. But we also have a different kind of heart – it’s the combination of our personality, our feelings, thoughts, hopes, and dreams that make us the special & unique people we are. Our hearts are very special to God because he thinks we are amazing. He doesn’t like our hearts to feel hurt or broken so he has given us the Breastplate of Righteousness to protect our hearts. You see God knows we are in a battle. A battle against Satan. Satan is the one who loves to cause trouble, spread lies and make us doubt Gods love. When we believe in Jesus, we can know we are right with God and that he does love us. This knowledge is the breastplate that protects our hearts. Just like a soldier will still feel the hurt of battle his heart is protected from fatal wounds so can the knowledge of Gods love protects us from Satan’s lies.
• Shoes help us to be ready for different situations in our every day life. Are we really ready for school or work if we don’t have our shoes on? There are even special shoes for playing sports, for swimming, fishing, hiking, rain, snow, parties, the beach and so on. We are excited and motivated and prepared to do the thing our feet are ready for. God has a special pair of shoes for us to put on called the Shoes of Peace (also called the Shoes of Readiness). When we have faith in God we are ready to show & tell Gods peace and love to other people.

Here is what is coming up next week.

July 16-19 – Carnival Week.
Monday: Magic Bob & Suzie.
Tuesday: CZ Carnival.
Wednesday: Learning Lab. (Lunch served at Zion. Menu includes: Hotdogs, chips, watermelon & lemonade.)
Thursday: 1st-4th graders = Play World. bring socks.   5th-6th graders = Mystery trip. Bring swim suits & towels

Reminder about the Soccer Zone waiver that needs to be completed for our upcoming fieldtrip. Thank you to those who have already gotten this completed. For those of you who haven’t yet follow this link https://letsplaysportsinc.waiverapps.com/locations/grandrapidssoccerzone When you have completed your waiver for your child please shoot me an email and let me know it has been submitted.

Other stuff:
Please be praying for our CZ staff members Jeremy, Brad and Kim as they are leaving Sat morning on a week long mission trip with the Zion HS youth group to Philadelphia, PA. We hope they have an amazing time serving in the community there, that they have safe travels both there and back, and that they are inspired and brought closer to God through the experience.

See you all on Monday,
~ Rachel

Hello Camp Zion Families,

We had a great week 3 at Camp Zion. Leaders and kids alike were tired after staying up late watching fireworks but everyone did a good job staying positive and having fun with each other.

This week we introduced your kids to the first piece of the Armor of God, The Belt of Truth. Belts are an important part of a soldiers outfit. Not only are they fashionable but a belt holds the pieces of a soldiers armor in place so nothing falls apart or falls off in the middle of battle. The truth is like a belt – it also holds everything in place. The Bible, in John 14:6 Jesus tells us that He is THE TRUTH. He also says that the Bible, the word of God, is TRUTH. We need to make sure that we have the truth, both Jesus and the word of God in our lives. When we take the time to learn more about God and Jesus by reading the Bible we are filling ourselves with truth.

Our skit this week was about three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego that believed so strongly in the truth of God that they were willing to be thrown into a fiery furnace rather than worship a golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had built. Because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were willing to die for the truth rather than disobey God, God saved them. When King Nebuchadnezzar’s saw the three men walk out of the furnace unharmed his eyes were opened to the TRUTH that God is real, and the King began to worship God immediately.

 

Here is what’s happening next week at camp.

Week 4 – July 9-12 – Community Week.
Monday – Learning Lab @ Zion
Tuesday – Wedgewood Park
Wednesday – Camp Zion Serves.
Thursday – Spartan YMCA. Bring swimsuits and towels.

 

Important Reminder: We have a fieldtrip to Soccer Zone coming up. Everyone needs to complete an online waiver for Soccer Zone or they will not be able to attend the fieldtrip. Follow this link to complete the waiver.   https://letsplaysportsinc.waiverapps.com/locations/grandrapidssoccerzone
When finished send me an email confirming that your waiver is complete so I can mark you off of my list. Thank you.

Have a great weekend,
Rachel