A camp by the dam

Ninety km south-west of Moose Jaw, Glad Tidings isn’t your stereotypical scenic camp. Instead of a pristine lake, Glad Tidings Bible Camp is surrounded by two dams in the middle of miles of crop land. This is a real deal prairie camp.

The two dams and trees surrounding Glad Tidings Gospel Camp were established in the 1920s. The camp itself opened its doors for bible camp in 1953 under the Christian charity Canadian Sunday School Mission . It is one of 11 bible camps in Saskatchewan supported by the mission, which camps over 6,500 kids in a summer, according to Lori Durksen, secretary for CSSM Saskatchewan.

Algae lines the shore of the dam. But, remembering my time at camp, I imagined most kids wouldn’t hesitate to jump in any body of water, no matter how slimy.

Katy Halgrimson, 21, the full-time camp director assured me that the kids swim in it and have yet to get the itch.

This summer was Halgrimson’s first year as director and only her fourth year attending the camp.

Halgrimson and I parked the car beside the chapel. A light breeze and bare trees exaggerated the quiet while we walked the grounds. Most of the buildings have been built and maintained by faithful volunteers throughout the years, such as Jim Erb, 77, and his wife Hilda, 75, the camp grandparents.

Jim Erb has been involved in the camp since he was a teenager and helped with important features of the camp, such as building the chapel and the swimming pool.

The camp used to run better when there was more help, he told me. He pointed to changes in farming as the reason for fewer volunteers.

“Times have changed. Farmers are larger, they have more land to take care of and don’t have as much help. Of course that ties them down, so they are not available to donate a lot of time,” he said.

Halgrimson’s biggest hope is to have more older people from Mossbank and surrounding communities come out to volunteer as cabin leaders for the over 200 kids that come to camp in the summer.

“We had two senior cabin leaders who were over 50. That was one of the best weeks we had, with the testimonies that the kids shared. We need parent figures and grand-parent figures because their (the kids) parents are generally so busy they have just been abandoned by them. So they need those role models,” she said.

As Halgrimson led me around the camp she spoke with simple pride of the modest surroundings. Pointing to the painted theatre style seats surrounding the camp fire she told me of the special moments shared. Next she eagerly showed me the craft shop, wall-to-wall graffitied with kids' names from years past. She won’t be the one to paint over it she assured me.

Once we got to the dining hall, Halgrimson and I sat down for a chat and she explained to me that camp is not about the facilities or even about how much fun it is, but about something closer to her heart.

“When I was in high school, I hated it. I was struggling with who I was. I didn’t feel very good about myself. I didn’t have a lot of freedom and joy in my life. For me the biggest thing for growing free of that was the support of my parents and mentors.”

Because her friends and family prayed for her and supported her, she wants to build an environment like that for the kids.

“I want kids to know that God loves them and wants to meet them where they are at,” she continued. “I want more people to get on board with kid’s lives. I just really want to see older people pouring into younger people.”

More information on how to become involved with Glad Tidings Bible Camp is available on their website, gtbc.110mb.com.

By Nathan Frank
Photo credit Nathan Frank