“You Can’t Touch Moments Like This”
It is not surprising to see kids, who have been coming to camp multiple years, want to serve on summer staff. In fact, that is a hallmark of the impact camp can have on a young person’s life. In 2024, KAA employed 440 summer staff to help facilitate nine weeks of camp for nearly 4,000 campers, and 27% were former KAA campers. All because groups, like Granny’s house, brings kids summer after summer and then diligently continues to mentor them all year long.
Granny’s House, based in Columbia, MO, has offers a bridge onto life in the larger community outside public housing. It provides loving arms, a safe place to play or do homework, and an atmosphere of hope and calm in an all-too-often chaotic world. For the past 19 years, Granny’s House has brought campers (552 to be exact) to KAA for a life-changing week fun, friends, hope, and Jesus.
“We want to see strong, mature, sold-out believers,” explains Dr. Ellis Ingram (aka “Poppi), who co-founded Granny’s House alongside his late wife, Pam. “They take what they learn at KAA and Granny’s House to the business world and will have a tremendous impact. God will do immeasurably more than they can ever ask or imagine.”
Rute Retta is seeing this revealed in her own life. She started going to Granny’s House when she was 10 years old and there, Rute shared, experienced a “real sense of the love of Christ.” Granny’s House brought her to KAA as a camper five years. The care from two of her counselors Derika and Myra left a deep impression. Rute was amazed at the time, love and effort they took to pour into her.
She also shared that camp taught her what being a Christian looks like and fondly recalls how she loved being with the other campers and supporting them. “KAA brought the love of Christ to life by showing me what true joy looks like,” Rute explained.
Because of her experience as a KAA camper, she wanted to work on KAA summer staff and pour into others, like her counselors did. This past summer she got her wish. Rute served as a Kitchikomo (a staff member who serves food to campers and at the dining hall) and as a counselor.
During her time as a counselor, God revealed just how swiftly and mightily he could move. Before Cross Talk, she and her campers were having a devotional in the cabin. Rute shared that all of sudden one of the girls apologized and asked for forgiveness. Like dominoes, every one of the girls apologized and truly repented. “The beautiful part was seeing the forgiveness fill their hearts and multiply,” Rute shared. “You can’t touch moments like this.”
After camp ended, Rute left to pursue her next chapter. She is attending Drury University majoring in psychology and sociology with plans to become a therapist and one day own her a practice. “The biggest lesson I have learned from camp is to not question how the Holy Spirit will move,” Rute shared. “Even though a week at camp doesn’t seem like a lot, so much can happen.”
