Family Faith Builders: Kanakuk Ministries & K-Life
The relationship between Kanakuk Ministries, founded in 1926, and K-Life, established in 1979, may be best personified by Kyle Williamson.
Williamson grew up attending Kanakuk summer camp and later worked as a camp counselor. In that role, he learned of the year-around fellowship and activities provided by K-Life. Now, as area director for K-Life in Conway, he seeks to reinforce the Christian mentoring and interdenominational peer-to-peer relationships that played such an important role in his spiritual life.
“I grew up in a community where all of my best friends went to a bunch of different churches,” he says. “We were learning things in school and on sports teams together but then our spiritual growth was done separately via whatever church we went to and whatever youth group we were involved in.
“Today, I personally am leading an eighth-grade small group of 10 boys and I think those 10 guys represent six or seven different churches. It’s fun to help them grow spiritually at a place like K-Life.”
Kanakuk was founded on a similar mission, one that has remained intact to this day, according to Lindsay Rother, K-West assistant women’s director.
“The Kanakuk camps are committed to developing dynamic Christian leaders through life-changing experiences, godly relationships and spiritual training,” she says. “We are going to create the most fun experiences possible through that life-changing experience element, so that we can develop relationships of trust, whether that’s staff-to-kids or peer-to-peer. Ultimately, we point kids to the truth of the Gospel. That’s our model.”
Kanakuk hosts more than 13,000 young people ages 6 to 18 at its eight Kanakuk Kamps in Branson, Missouri, every summer, including hundreds from Arkansas. In addition, Rother says, the organization’s KampOut! Day Camps bring its unique brand of Christian training and leadership development to participating churches in several states (see “Get Involved”).
Just as integral to the Kanakuk experience is forming strong friendships, says Rother. “Some of my favorite stories are the kids that only see each other at camp, but they would say they’re some of their life’s best friends because they get to spend such quality time together talking about uplifting things in an environment that’s healthy.”
The experience at Kanakuk was so powerful that parents approached Kanakuk leadership looking for a way to sustain the experience year around. K-Life was the answer and today the Arkansas program boasts an annual ministry of 356 in Conway, 40 in Searcy, 148 in Fayetteville, 92 in Ozark and 128 in Harrison.
Williamson says K-Life’s strong appeal even today speaks to young people’s search for authenticity and meaning. K-Life helps participants on that journey through its group leaders, most of them college students or recent graduates: “What we want to do is to put men and women in their lives who are a season above them, in college or as a young professional, who can say, ‘I’ve been where you’ve been. I’ve gone through what you’re going through. I know the struggle, but Christ is worth it.”
Get Involved
If your kids aren’t ready for sleepover camp, you can sign them up for Kanakuk’s popular day camp, several of which are hosted in central Arkansas. KampOut! events in 2016 include:
June 6-10: Little Rock Christian Academy, Little Rock
July 11-15: Church at Rock Creek, Little Rock
Aug. 1-5: Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, Little Rock
June 27-July 1: Mt. Sequoyah/The Grove Church, Fayetteville
July 18-22: Mt. Sequoyah/Central United Methodist Church, Fayetteville
Aug. 8-12: Central Baptist Church, Jonesboro
For more information about Kanakuk and K-Life, visit Kanakuk.com.