Estevan Bible Camp is gearing up for this summer's camp season. Director of Operations at EBC, Shawn Bissonnette, says despite another three months before camp begins, registrations are near full.
“Two of our camps are full, our squirt camp and our junior camp, which is ages ranging from seven to twelve. Those are our overnight camps, we have some day camp options available still, and our teen camp as well. Another thing that we've rolled out in the last couple years is our RISE camp, which is a camp dedicated to inspiring young leaders to grow in their leadership skills and also just learn much more about the Bible and dive into that too, so we're excited about that.”
The camp has seen significant growth over the past few years, Bissonnette attributes this initially to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“During COVID, everybody just wanted to get out and do things, and since then, I don't know why they're coming. I think it's just the Lord, and that's awesome to see. There's a lot of kids coming, maybe they love what we're doing, they love the skills, they love the people. That's all I can say for sure.”
The camp is seeing growth outside of registration as well, the grounds will see the addition of new cabins to house not campers, but their growing staff.
“Last year, we were just kind of shuffling them into wherever we could find a bed. People were donating trailers to help people sleep in and stuff like that, that was awesome. So new cabins with more space in those cabins so they actually have a more enjoyable camp experience.”
Bissonnette continues, saying they hope to add more camps therein extending the summer camp season in the future.
Looking at preparations for this year, he says they’re currently getting through the registration process and compiling their summer staff, noting their team is coming together.
“[Applications] have been coming in from all over the place, so that's just awesome to see that the community is growing.”
He explains the presence of the camp in the area brings a number of opportunities for community growth and interaction, beginning by noting that many people are unaware of its presence on the outskirts of the city.
“When I started working with the camp, I’d hear it a lot of times that people don't know that we even exist, and we're a five-minute drive from town, we're right by the golf course, right across from Mets Field.”
He continues describing the relationships he has seen built in kids attending their local bible camp.
“Kids get to come and meet new friends that they wouldn't have met in their school, but they get to meet them at camp, and so it kind of grows the community together, that's been a really awesome thing to see.”
Their community involvement, however, does not end with summer as Bissonnette explains the programming and events that run in the off season.
“We do run a kids club, and we do that fully free, we don't charge a registration fee for that. There's been a lot of kids coming out, we play games, we sing songs, tell Bible stories, and do crafts, and then we also started doing a puppet show once a month, which the kids have been loving. If anyone's interested in joining that, it is free, and we would just love more kids to come out and just have a good time.”
They also operate an annual corn maze in the fall.
Bissonnette encourages anyone who is interested in supporting the camp to do so in whatever way they are able.
“People getting involved through volunteering or praying or donating or anything like that, whatever they can do to support the camp, if they're passionate about camp and want to be a part of it, then there's a space for them to be a part of it, and we'd be happy to have that.”