Cultivate Relationships
In everything we do at Ridgecrest Summer Camps, the focus is to foster, build and strengthen relationships. We build relationships with staff, campers and their families. We create memories and an environment that fosters deepening relationships. But ultimately, everything we do is rooted in and points others toward a relationship with their Creator. In essence, the message we share is: “Follow me as I follow Jesus."
Create Purposeful Experiences
When campers exit our gates, they go home different than when they arrive. The experience we create is unique from other ministries or camps and rich in tradition and history in a way that invites them into a family. We go the extra mile to set up our counselors to be heroes in the eyes of the campers they lead, so they build relationships and bonds that set the stage for conversations and life change.
Serve One
Whether it be our traditional summer program or weekend family camps, we serve large numbers of campers and families at a time. With the size and scope of our ministry, it can be easy to focus on the masses or groups of people, but we intentionally keep our focus on each individual camper who comes through our gates. Each camper has a story with individual needs, burdens and dreams. It’s our job, through building relationships, to enter into that story and meet them where they are. And lastly, we serve the One who is the author of our story, creator of this place, and owner of this ministry. The hope of the gospel compels us to show up, keep going, and persevere on our challenging days.
Make It Better
Our camps are rich in tradition and history. While we hold onto many games, stories and programs that have impacted lives for generations, we are unafraid to adapt and evolve to make things better or reach campers in a new or different way. Traditions are a great thing, but we don’t continue things just for “tradition’s sake”. We constantly ask “why” and sharpen our program, ministry and property so that we can reach campers with the gospel better this year than we did last year and better next year than this year.
Purposefully Unique Experiences
Our programs and activities are designed to be intentional in relational ministry and extraordinary in creativity. Through our unique adventures and excellence in our activities, there are great opportunities for lives to be impacted and walls to be broken down. However, no matter how great or unique the structure of a program or event, the only way for these to make a meaningful difference is for the staffers involved to be fueled by the reasoning behind the activity, which is to pursue people as we represent and present the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
