What is Camp Dunamis?

Camp Dunamis is a multiethnic camp for Middle School youth. Its goals are to bring these kids into the Kingdom of God and into the reality of racial and ethnic reconciliation. Camp Dunamis takes place every year at the end of June. Camp Dunamis has been functioning since 1988.

Who Sponsors Camp Dunamis?

The Christian Reformed Churches of Southern California sponsor Camp Dunamis. The executive arm of Camp Dunamis is the Regional Office of Race Relations, under the supervision of Classis California South and Greater Los Angeles.

How are the Goals of Camp Dunamis Attained?

We target all the Christian Reformed churches in Southern California and some of other denominations who share our vision, trying to get a balanced representation from each ethnic group in both campers and counselors. We generally get 60% of our participants from Anglo churches and 40% from ethnic minority groups.

We place our campers in cabins, teams and worship groups that cross ethnic/cultural lines. They learn to respect and love each other by living, playing and worshipping together, and by following the Christian example and teachings provided by the speakers, directors and counselors.

Our activities are tightly organized and everybody is kept active. Counselors are entrusted with the personal and spiritual care of their group. Auxiliary staff helps run camp activities and provides one-on-one mentoring when needed.

Where is Camp Dunamis Held?

We have been using the grounds of Camp Maranatha since 1990. Camp Maranatha is located in the town of Idyllwild, in the San Jacinto Mountains. The facilities are nice with cabins for 8 to 10 campers. Meals are also provided by the Camp Maranatha staff. The mountain location (5200 feet) is beautiful and we enjoy crisp, clean air. The leaders of Camp Maranatha are very supportive of our project.

Has Camp Dunamis Had a Specific Impact?

Every year at camp we have several campers make first time commitments to Christ and many more make recommitments. Changes in attitude are difficult to measure once camp is over, but we have had good input from different sources. Pastors have told us that many of their youth have become spiritually alive because of camp. In fact, the Christian school in Rehoboth, New Mexico has made our camp part of their regular school program because of its positive effects on their students.

Often, former campers ask for an opportunity to become counselors and many of our teen counselors come from the ranks of our former campers. Moreover, several counselors have told us that they have chosen the path of Christian ministry due to their experiences at camp.