2017 Camper Schedule

The Bible theme for 2017 comes from John 15:16-27:  

"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. ²⁷ And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning."

 

 

The aim is to have all campers and volunteers who come to the camp leave with a personal desire and motivation to be faithful witnesses for Christ.

2017 Camper Dates:

High School Camp 

June 24 Staff in- July 4 Staff out 

June 26 Campers in- July 3 Campers out 

Discipleship Camp

July 4 Staff in- July 10 Staff out

July 3 Campers in- July 11 Campers out 

Jr High Camp

July 10 Staff in-July 19 Staff out

July 11 Campers in- July 18th Campers out 

Elementary Camp

July 19 Staff in- July 27 Staff out 

July 20 Campers in- July 26 Campers out 

Young Adults Camp 

July 27 Staff in- August 1 Staff out 

July 26 Campers in- August 1 Campers out 

Please register early as you can. Camp may fill quickly.

Elementary Camp Wrap-up

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

~ Philippians 2:5-11 ~

Our last plane filled with little ones from our elementary camp just took off. While we are missing them we are overwhelmed with gratefulness that seeds of God’s Word were planted in the hearts and minds of each campers, and we trust it will not return void. 

This year we welcomed thirty-one campers from Tanana, Galena, Ruby, Huslia, Grayling, Selawik, Kobuk, Eagle River, and Fairbanks. These little ones showed great enthusiasm and participation in all the activities (they especially loved the sandbar) and sessions. At the start of the week we set out to continue with the aim of proclaiming Jesus as the Lord over all things (simplifying the terminology a little we referred to Him as “the boss of everything”). Campers brought their Bible’s to each session and were engaged in the preaching and the cabin devotions. Many of them asked good questions and a few professed faith in Jesus Christ.

Our prayer is that as we watered and planted that God would supply the growth. Salvation is a supernatural work of God that He alone can accomplish and we pray that even from a young age these kids would be saved and follow Jesus fully as the Lord of their lives. We also pray for the young one’s who professed faith in Christ going home that they would continue in His Word. 

Teen and Discipleship Camp Wrap-up

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

~ 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 ~

What kind of camp is this? Bible camp! This familiar question is one that all of our staff and campers at Kokrine Hills Bible Camp hear every year. That is because our aim at the Bible camp is to proclaim and submit to God’s authoritative, perfect, infallible, powerful Word. We aim to preach the truth and the heart of our message is Christ and Him crucified.

Our staff at Kokrine Hills Bible Camp has felt the support of so many Christians who count the glory of God and the souls of young people in Alaska more valuable than any earthly ambition. The Lord delights in your prayers on our behalf and we are grateful for His never-ending grace. Right now our staff is resting and making preparations for our final camp (Young Adults Camp). We just finished four camps: Jr. High, Teen, Discipleship, and Elementary camp, and we are so grateful for God’s work through His people.

KHBC was filled with nearly 60 campers for this years Teen Camp. We had the privilege of welcoming returning and new campers from Galena, Huslia, Kaltag, Nulato, Ruby, Buckland, and Selawik. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the staff bonds with the campers and how many tearful goodbyes there are after just a week spent together studying the Word of God.

We had six full days of camp and our time was consumed with the KHBC Olympics including activities such as: Bible memorization, basketball, archery, rifling, obstacle course, speed stacking, capture the flag, beautiful beachy sand bars, line dancing, a movie time, and hilariously creative talent show skits. While all of these activities are a joy to enjoy God’s wonderful creation and build relationships are primary focus was on preaching the Word of God.

It was an overwhelming blessing to feed these young people with the pure milk of the Word and to enjoy their extravagant company. During our ten preaching sessions and six small group cabin devotionals, several of the young people showed great desire to be equipped and challenged by what the bible says, and to grow up into a mature knowledge of the Lord. Our aim was to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. We opened our session time with a message from Luke 6:46 where Jesus made this shocking statement to a crowd, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” The rest of our sessions fleshed out this theme as we moved into how His Lordship extends to all areas of life (Lord of salvation, Lord of the demons, Lord of your body, Lord of your ambition, Lord of your time, Lord over rejection, etc.). At the beginning of each session the campers would take in a deep breath and weren’t told why until the last session when they received a bracelet with the words, “Breath in its all GOD’s oxygen!” We hope it serves as throughout the year as reminder of His Lordship. We were also able to conduct a Q and A filled with sincere questions and a morning where people were able to share testimonies of God’s grace in their lives. 

After tearful goodbyes for Teen Camp, eighteen of our campers stayed over through Discipleship Camp. The setting was much more intimate and gave us opportunities to open up our lives and the Word in a special small group setting through discussions at meal times, berry picking, hiking, camp work projects which included skinning bears, canning salmon and moose, and camp maintenance. 

Our Bible study was spent in the book of James, where we studied one chapter a day for five days covering topics such as trials, temptations, favoritism, faith and works, the tongue, worldliness, and prayer. Campers were given study questions to get them in the Word and see for themselves what the Scripture says. Our intention was for them to walk away seeing God's Word is powerful and alive and that they could walk away from the week learning the book of James, feeling encouraged to further their study of the Word back home. 

Friendships were made, prayers were said, and campers left feeling encouraged to return home and let their light shine before their friends and family. But several stayed over to help staff the elementary camp. Five of them served for their first time as counselors, three were maintenance, and five were kitchen staff.

The seed of the gospel has been planted in the hearts of many and we trust that wherever God sends forth His word that it will not return to Him void. Not even a hint of salvation and eternal life is gained by man’s efforts it is impossible with us, but with God these things are possible. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would move and create repentance leading to eternal life and true spirituality in the heart’s of these people who are one day closer to the judgment seat of Christ.

During yesterday's evening session, Joey talked  about the devil and demons. He taught that these things are very real and can be terrifying to some. Thankfully, the Word of God teaches that Christ Jesus is Lord over all such demons. One of the questions that came up was "Can demons enter into a Christian?" The answer to that was NO because Christians have the holy spirit in them once they've accepted the Lord.

Just this morning, Dave talked about the thoughts and temptations that often accompany a persons teenage years. He focused on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, which teaches us to keep our bodies pure and as a living sacrifice to please God. This is His will for our lives. 

New to camp, Rope Swing over the Pit of Death.

Human Bowling
(don't worry the containers are empty)

 

Another fun and safe day at the Sandbar!

And here come the teens!...

Just yesterday we kicked off our 2013 Teen Camp! The weather was not looking good early in they day, but praise the Lord for His providence in blessing us with good flying weather later in the day. We were able to bring in 53 campers from across the state, in Buckland, Selawik, Galena, Ruby, Nulato, Kaltag and Huslia!

Already, things are in full swing with activities, worship, and session focusing on the fact that Jesus is Lord over all creation. Be praying for safety and the softening of Teens hearts to the Word of God.

Jr. High Wrap Up

Jr. High Wrap-up

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.”

~ Colossians 1:15-20 ~

Kokrine Hills Bible Camp is an odd place without campers. Our staff feels the sting of our campers having left the Jr. High Camp, but we are eagerly anticipating the arrival of many teen campers today. Of course we rejoice in the Lord that the gospel was preached and many seeds were planted and the campers returned home safe and sound.

As for the Jr. High Camp, this year was an exceptional group of campers. We were overjoyed to have just under 70 campers, much more from villages like Buckland, Galena, Selawik, Kobuk, and Huslia. Many returning campers came and many first-time campers as well. At first it can be hard to adjust to a new environment but it was impressive to see counselors and campers bond quickly, and so many campers be attentive during 10 sessions of preaching. All participated in daily bible memory verses, and cabin devotional time.

The Lord blessed us with rain keeping us indoors a lot but gave us a greater appreciation for the glowing sun as we enjoyed waterslides into the Yukon and a beachy sand bar. The annual KHBC Olympics kept us busy throughout the day and those who excelled in Bible memorization, basketball, rifling, obstacle course, and speed stacking were given honor (and candy) at the final award ceremony.

Our primary focus and emphasis here is on the Word of God. We know that it is God’s word that is prefect for converting the soul and that the Scriptures alone give us the wisdom that leads to faith in Jesus Christ (Ps 19:7; 2 Tim 2:15). The theme of our preaching this camp season is Jesus is Lord. Many in our day tip their hat to Jesus, but don’t bow their knee to Him in a joy filled life of surrender and submission. Jesus confronted this kind of attitude all throughout His ministry, so we chose His own words for our theme verse printed on the t-shirt, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” We started the week with the reality that Jesus is Lord over all things and ended the week with a focus on His Lordship over all the problems of life. By God’s grace the campers were attentive to the Word and engaged in the cabin devotions.

We are confident that Jesus is the Lord of salvation and He graciously grants repentance and forgiveness to all who come to Him. The seed of the Word was spread on many soils this last week. Pray that God would give the growth and draw many to Himself. So that they may know and trust in the Lord Jesus and serve Him all of their life.

During the small activities, the kids put a lot of effort in trying to get more points and this activity is the Obstacle Course.

 This activity is the Speed Stacking and the kids are having so much fun trying to go as fast as the fastest stacker. A camper, her name is Shaylynn Tickett has a score of 17 seconds.

 Every cabin have a name for the week. The kids each came up with names that they like and vote on them. This group is called the Warrior Cobras! The group are all from Buckland but Shaylynn is from Selawik and Kaylee lives in Soldotna.

The most popular game in camp is Nuke-Em. The kids loves to play during the small activities and during free time.

 Yesterday, everyone went to the air strip to go play Capture the Flag and Ultimate Frisbee.