Slackland Baptist Church, Leesburg, brought outer space down to Earth on July 18 for its first Big Brother-Big Sister Space Camp.
The camp was a missions outreach program from Slackland Baptist’s youth department to the children’s department. The day began at 8 a.m. and concluded at 7 p.m. with an awards ceremony where the children received “diplomas” for completing Space Camp.
Josh Prater, youth pastor at the Cherokee Baptist Association church, said the event was adult-supervised but youth-led. Prater’s goal for the camp was to put the youth in a ministry position where they could see that “even though [they’re] growing up, it’s still cool to work for Him.”
Children from 4 years old to 12 years old launched meteor rockets, bounced on a “Space Jump” and enjoyed craft, recreation and Bible study times.
Anne Shumaker, a member of First Baptist Church, Centre, appeared in a space suit to speak to the children about outer space. A self-professed “space nut,” Shumaker was one of the Alabama alternates for the Teacher In Space Program that would have put her on the Challenger Space Shuttle that exploded Jan. 28, 1986.
Shumaker, a retired science and Spanish teacher at Cherokee County High School, told the children about her application process for the program and her lifelong love of space.
“I hope I was able to put a little spark in a child so when they grow up, they’ll be interested in space and science,” Shumaker said.
Although the camp was a big undertaking, it was well worth it, Prater said. The total attendance for the day was 87 people.
“The goal was to get kids involved and excited about Jesus,” Prater said. Slackland’s youth department plans to host Space Camp again next year.
(Maggie Walsh, TAB intern)
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