Inspiration Point

THE CHALLENGE:

A hallmark of the Inspiration Point experience is a well-trained staff that is eager to serve. For the thousands of kids who come to Inspiration Point each year for camps and retreats, summer staff members are a cornerstone of their experience as they love, listen, and guide kids, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with them in word and deed. In order to hire the best staff possible, IPoint needs to continue to bolster its summer staff salaries. 

Kids are stressed and are looking for answers and hope. People who love kids want there to be a place where kids can grow spiritually, socially, mentally, and physically, in a setting where safety is paramount. Camp has been, and will continue to be, that place, and Inspiration Point needs to continue to add tools to the camp experience that will help kids “grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:52). 

THE SOLUTION:

Goal:               

• Addition of a high ropes course         -- $61,000 
• Summer Staff Subsidy                        -- $98,500 

73% of high-ropes participants become better equipped to cope with fear, stress, and low self-esteem, while receiving a boost in confidence and an increased ability to see positives in failure.    – Researcher Jenny Phan 

 As the Lord provides… 

• IPoint will construct a 2-level high ropes course where people of all ages have an opportunity to enjoy a challenge, be stretched, and grow.  
• IPoint will hire and train more summer staff who will impact kids, their future families, and workplaces. 

 Would you please consider giving today or through year-end a generous gift in support of this vital ministry?

THE OUTCOME:

It happens regularly at camp. Kids grow in a variety of ways. Last summer, a camper named Levi nervously put on his harness and climbed the stairway to the top of the zipline platform. Like many, he isn’t a fan of heights, but he really wanted to try something he’d never done before. The other boys in his cabin stood on the ground below, cheering and encouraging him to go. The IPoint staff member who stood with him at the top spent time talking with him until he finally got up the courage to step off the tower and zip down the 480-foot cable. His cabin mates ran down the hill below him cheering for him the whole way! 

Levi was taking an appropriate risk in stepping off the platform. A dad who attends family camp each year wrote about his experience at IPoint saying, “Taking appropriate risks for new [and hard] things builds resilience and life skills, for us and our kids.” Inspiration Point is a place where campers have opportunities to take appropriate risks, build grit, and increase confidence. Sometimes, just the simple choice to go away to camp for a few days feels like a risk. But time and again we see the value of kids stepping out of their comfort zones as one of the many benefits of going to camp.

It is not only campers who are impacted by their time spent here, but the staff as well! Serving on IPoint staff trains them for a lifetime of service. Throughout this past summer, we heard staffers reporting things like, “I learned more this week than I ever thought possible,” or “I was reminded again and again this week that it isn’t about me!” 

A couple of grandparents who attended camp with their grandchildren wrote to tell us, “Of course, the new facility is amazingly beautiful. We love that campers hear the Gospel presented in a clear way, but the thing that we were most thrilled with was seeing the high school and college-age staff being discipled to lead and share their faith.”

Parents, too, know the value of having their kids serve on staff.  A parent wrote at the end of the summer, “Thank you for the incredible opportunity [my son] had this summer at IPoint. We heard so many good things about his experiences. I know he enjoyed the Bible studies, the kids, cooking, and all the games. I also know he has developed long-lasting friendships, grown in his relationship with Christ, and learned how to truly serve. We are so grateful he had this opportunity. We wanted to reach out and express our sincere thanks.”

Our world needs the kind of people Inspiration Point hires and prepares. The January 20, 2021 issue of Forbes magazine included this statement, “Soft skills – such as empathy, emotional intelligence, kindness, mindfulness, adaptability, integrity, optimism, motivation, grit, and resilience – have become crucial success factors…In 2017, Deloitte reported that “soft skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030.” These are skills and dispositions that are intensely developed while working at camp.