Center City Church in the La Mesa Community hosted a basketball camp on Monday, June 17, through Thursday, June 20, 2024. The basketball camp was an opportunity to meet and serve families in the La Mesa community. The goals for the camp were:
These goals were absolutely met! It was awesome to be a part of what God is doing here in San Diego. Many relationships were built, and many kids heard the gospel for the first time. Since the camp, multiple families with kids who attended the camp have come to Center City’s Sunday service for the first time.
This year, the camp had 86 boys and girls aged 6-12. There were also 48 volunteers present throughout the week. The San Diego Southern Baptist Association's party trailer was primarily used for the celebration cookout on the last day of camp. Most of the kids’ families came to the cookout, bringing the total number of people in attendance to about 230. So many of the families, especially some of those who are not part of a local church, told us how they felt so loved by this camp and experienced the real love of Jesus!
We have heard countless stories of our volunteers being thankful for getting to have a front-row seat to what God is doing in the next generation. In addition to volunteers from our church, we also had a team of Campus Outreach college students from the East Coast serve alongside us. We also had a few volunteers who are not believers, so it was a joy to be able to serve alongside them and get to connect relationally and build trust! We have already had volunteers ask for the dates of the camp next year so that they can volunteer again!
The San Diego Southern Baptist Association's party trailer significantly increased the success of our celebration cookout. The kids loved the cotton candy and snow cones, and the bounce house was also a huge hit! Even the small things, like having extra tables and coolers, were greatly appreciated! We are beyond grateful!