Recently we invited you to celebrate with us as we gave God glory for the incredible ways He moved this summer. We also shared the some exciting news about our missions offering from 2013. After reading these posts, we received a handful of questions regarding CentriKid history, so we thought we would share some of what God has done over the years.
I remember the day that the idea for CentriKid surfaced in a week-long evaluation and brainstorming meeting. Joe Hicks threw out the idea for a Centrifuge-type camp for kids. We had been doing Crosspoint, a sports camp for older kids and middle-schoolers, for over 20 years with some success. The guys leading Crosspoint did not warm up to the idea of another kids camp, and it was several years before we broached the subject again. They still didn’t love the idea, but agreed to pilot it that coming summer.
The schedule was almost identical to Centrifuge with one slight change—it was a day shorter. The new camp was a huge hit!
Under Deane Hartzell’s leadership, Crosspoint had developed a culture of excellence with an incredibly devoted staff that worked unbelievably long hours. The staff was devoted to sharing Jesus in everything they did. We have taken that foundation and added a focus of serving well, just as Jesus teaches us in the Bible. God has blessed our singular focus of sharing Jesus in everything we do with excellence and with a servant attitude.
CentrKid’s first summer was 2001 with 3,829 campers. We felt very good about the launch, especially since Crosspoint had taken nine years to reach that number of campers. CentriKid has never looked back. The second year we had over 8,500 campers, and the camp has continued to grow. This past summer we ministered to over 27,000 people!
God has blessed CentriKid in so many ways. Over these past 13 years, campers have given over one million dollars to missions. Also, we have seen campers make over 15,000 spiritual decisions. More than 7,000 of these kids trusted Jesus as their Savior and Lord!
Pray for us as we continue to minister through the ministry of camp.
Check out our Wall of Fame to see all of our top-notch staffers that have served with CentriKid and Crosspoint over the years.