News / Education
CentriKid staffer explains 'why we're here'
She didn’t attend years of Fuge camps throughout her childhood and teen years. Actually, she didn’t grow up in a Christian home at all. In fact, she was a self-described “party girl” early in high school.
But things started to change when she accepted Christ at the age of 16. Three years later, at the encouragement of her youth minister, Childers applied for a staff position at LifeWay’s Crosspoint camp. Childers, an athlete herself, thought the sports-themed Crosspoint camp would be a good fit.
LifeWay had a better idea.
Instead, LifeWay offered her a position as a staffer at CentriKid, the organization’s other camp for children.
“I hadn’t even considered CentriKid,” Childers recalled, but she accepted the offer anyway. “Training week was a little overwhelming,” she admitted, “but once the kids got here, it was all over … I loved it.”
Now in her third year, Childers is serving as a CentriKid camp director. It’s a position that requires her to spend much of each week behind the scenes and not necessarily interacting with the campers.
So it was an especially exciting moment when she had the opportunity to lead a young camper to Christ during the June 20-24 CentriKid camp at Ridgecrest Conference Center.
“All the details and chaos – whatever it takes,” Childers said. “This is why we’re here.”
During her few years as a Christian, Childers, now 22, said this was only the second time she’d had the opportunity to pray with someone as they accepted Christ. “It’s pretty exciting to be a part of,” she said.
For Childers, it’s especially exciting to see a child come to this decision. Because of her own background, she knows the importance of reaching children for Christ early in their lives.
“If you can get to a kid early and build a foundation for life, when they get to high school and are faced with the tough decisions, they’re more likely to remember that base and choose the right things,” she said.
With several weeks of camp still to go, Childers is hopeful to see more lives changed.
