Sikeston church brings camp experience to local children

A Heartland Day Camp participant climbs the rock wall Monday, July 8 at First United Methodist Church in Sikeston. This week the church is hosting its annual day camp for children in kindergarten through sixth grades with ministry in the morning and fun activities in the afternoon. The camp concludes Friday, July 12.

Gina Curtis/Standard Democrat

SIKESTON — Sikeston First United Methodist Church’s annual day church camp event is underway this week.

According to Chandler Landis, associate pastor at Sikeston First United Methodist Church which has been dubbed the “FUN Church,” the the Christian day camp includes 60 children who are participating this year in a variety of outdoor and indoor activities. 

Archery, water slides, rock climbing, arts and crafts, and Bible lessons are among the activities offered. 

Jennifer Moxley, lead pastor of the FUN Church, said the camp is a traveling day camp based out of Kansas City, Missouri, called Heartland Day Camp.

According to Moxley, the day camp started on Monday, July 8 and will end Friday, July 12. Camp starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. It’s for children ages kindergarten through sixth grades, and each grade level is divided into separate groups. 

“The whole thing is organized by them (Heartland Day Camp), they bring all of the supplies and trained camp counselors come here to help put on the day camp,” Landis said. 

According to Landis, the church houses the camp counselors for the week they are in town.

Moxley said this is their eighth year of running the day camp and explained the camp’s purpose.

“Some churches send kids to a church camp that is usually out of town, but with Heartland Day Camp, this is the church camp experience coming to the kids,” Moxley said. “It’s a church camp experience without leaving the area.”

Moxley said that the church wanted to ensure children in the community could have a church camp experience right in their own town without having to travel and stay some where overnight.

“The counselors with Heartland are trained like camp counselors; it’s just a really great experience for the kids,” Moxley said. 

Landis went on to describe how each camp day unfolds.

“Each morning we will start out with a bible story and bible craft and then the afternoon is all the fun stuff,” Landis said. “So, the morning is the ministry and crafts portion, then we go to lunch and the afternoon is all the activities.”

Moxley said they not only provide lunch but also snacks to the children throughout the day.

Moxley said the camp costs $100 because the church will contribute half of the cost to help reduce the price. 

“We ask parents to pay $100,” Moxley said. “But there are parents who have more than one child so we offer discounts and scholarships for the camps. We try to offset the cost a little bit and help parents as much as we can.

Moxley continued: “It truly is a lot of fun, and the kids have such a great time — and there is a variety of activities for the kids to do.”