WS Chronicle

The WinShape Camp in Winston-Salem, held from Aug. 6-10 at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, was a complete success, according to officials.

In 1985, Chick-fil-A founder, Truett Cathy, established the WinShape Foundation and Camps as a hopeful means of inspiring children with such engaging summer camp adventures that the time spent would literally change their lives.

Since then, WinShape Camps have taken off across the nation, giving kids more than just your typical camp routine. It is offered to those kids in the first through ninth grades. While encompassing worship, leadership building and a variety of skills training, WinShape Camps also unite area churches and other local groups in a common goal, which is inspiring local youth to reach for the stars.

“We are honored and excited about our partnership with Love Out Loud and Chick-fil-A,” said Dr. Nathan Scovens, senior pastor of Galilee in a statement. “We strongly believe that Camp WinShape will provide an opportunity for children to build lasting friendships and discover their many hidden talents.”

During the week, the kids participated in 21 different activities, from football, basketball, cheer, archery, dance and so much more. Last week 175 kids came out to participate in the camp.

“There were so many options that it kept every type of child and personality occupied,” said Christie Williams, WinShape coordinator for Winston-Salem.

“It is a collaborative camp with local Chick-fil-A owner/operators here in the city,” she continued.

Williams, who has served as director for the past four years, says she enjoys seeing the passion and purpose in the kids’ eyes as they participate in the camp. She says the camp also is about bonding families closer together in faith.

“WinShape does a lot to engage families together, both in having daily family moments and encouraging campers to converse with their parents,” she said. “Personally, just to witness here as a leader, one little girl accepting Jesus as her savior shows this camp is a great model for discipleship.”

WinShape also partnered with the local Urban League, Crosby Scholars, other local churches and Love Out Loud. Williams stated Love Out Loud was the biggest fiscal sponsor for the Winston-Salem camp.

The Rev. Chuck Spong of Love Out Loud says their mission is to transform the city with the love of Jesus by connecting and mobilizing the people and resources, so the camp aligned perfectly with their goal.

“This is a very transformational camp from a Christian perspective, and it’s very gospel-centric,” said Spong. “It has a strong emphasis on Jesus’ work in each one of our lives, and we also look for initiatives that pull together the body of Christ and community members from across the city for a shared project, and this was the perfect fit for that.”

“The WinShape team brings the core experience and we provide the logistics and the connections to other believers, churches and campers. We try to be real intentional to go across denominational, racial and socioeconomic lines, and that’s what we saw this week with 175 campers from all over the city.”big success