1. Welcome to Royal Family KIDS Camp Training

2. Trainer Note:
These slides are meant to be a template and a guide for RFK Camp training. They are not mandatory nor perfectly aligned with the Counselor Staff Manual. They are designed for new camps to get started and local Trainers should feel free to add, delete or modify the slides to fit their local needs and Trainers style of teaching. Things to add may be: your church info, local Social Service concerns & regulations, camp facility photos or layout, local schedule issues, additional topics of concern or add team building games etc.

3. Introductions Ice Breaker: Tell us about yourself-
In 30 seconds tell us your;
Name:
Camp Position:
One of your favorite Christmas presents of your childhood:
[You can use some other Ice Breaker or question for introductions if you want.]
We had you tell us about a favorite childhood Christmas present because we wanted you to know there will be kids at camp who probably couldn’t answer that question.
If you ask the campers what their favorite Christmas present was some of our campers will have a long list of favorite Christmas gifts, but others wont have anything to say. It may even be an embarrassing question to them because they never got what they wanted or they or their Christmas memories aren’t favorable.
Their Christmas time and their childhood memories are far different than most of yours.
We want you to recognize where some of these kids are coming from.

4. Perspective
Why Training? State requirement? Church requirement? RFK National office? Volunteer expectations? ???
This slide is designed to help trainees get the right perspective that this training is not just about checking a box for the government that you’ve been trained.
Although the government is concerned and does what the volunteer to be trained and trained well, the training should encompass far more than just checking a governmental box.
The training should involve:
State requirements
What your church as a ministry wants to be discussed
What does that RFK national office want to be discussed based on 30 years of experience operating camps for children from hard places
what do the volunteers want to be covered- what are their biggest concerns, fears, worries etc.
And most importantly, what do the campers want us to discuss at training?
If you could put a camper in front of the audience and ask them what’s the most important things we should talk about to prepare ourselves to spend a week with you, what do you think a campers response would be?
These are all important things and should be a part of the training which is far beyond just checking a governmental box.

5. Counselor/Staff Training Manual

6. History of the RFK Vision{
Wayne Tesch is 12 years old at youth camp in Upstate N.Y. {
1960
12 yrs.
24 yrs.
1972
Wayne & Diane move to Calif.
& enter full-time ministry. {
12 yrs.
Wayne is given invitation to
Develop a camp for
“underprivileged kids.”
1984
Wayne Tesch
1985
“Royal Family Kids’ Camps” is born.
The first question we are all interested in, is the one about how and why RFKC started. The answer is in this brief description by the founder, Rev. Wayne Tesch, which is called “Sounding the Call” on Behalf of Abused Children in Orange County (CA).
“Statistics of abused children in the county were shocking. In 1983, there were 7,811 mandated reports of child abuse. Mandated — a doctor, teacher, or psychologist calls or reports to the authorities the finding of the abused child. In 1984, 10,592 mandated calls were projected. I was shocked and, at the same time, stirred as I realized that we, the people of God, could impact those statistics in our community.
“In addition, in 50% of the 3,905 cases, the victim was under five years of age. Thirty-four percent of that group, or 1,328, were under two years of age. To compound the problem, there were only 650 foster homes in the county to harbor these children if, and when they are discovered, and this number was decreasing at 9% per year. I cried out, “Dear Lord, these are kids who are wounded and need Your love.”

7. Suggested video to insert and play is https://vimeo.com/254902408
The first question we are all interested in, is the one about how and why RFKC started. The answer is in this brief description by the founder, Rev. Wayne Tesch, which is called “Sounding the Call” on Behalf of Abused Children in Orange County (CA).
“Statistics of abused children in the county were shocking. In 1983, there were 7,811 mandated reports of child abuse. Mandated — a doctor, teacher, or psychologist calls or reports to the authorities the finding of the abused child. In 1984, 10,592 mandated calls were projected. I was shocked and, at the same time, stirred as I realized that we, the people of God, could impact those statistics in our community.
“In addition, in 50% of the 3,905 cases, the victim was under five years of age. Thirty-four percent of that group, or 1,328, were under two years of age. To compound the problem, there were only 650 foster homes in the county to harbor these children if, and when they are discovered, and this number was decreasing at 9% per year. I cried out, “Dear Lord, these are kids who are wounded and need Your love.”

8. Milestones
1985 1st camp - Orange County, California 1988 Camp #2- Los Angeles, CA 1989 Camp #3 - Phoenix, AZ
1990 RFKC, Inc. is formed.
camps, Unlocking the Secret World published.
Wayne also says, “I see now how God had planted in my heart a dream to reach out to help children whose lives had been devastated by abuse and neglect. I can still remember a vision God gave me in a camp setting when I was only twelve years old. The vision showed a sea of faces of children from all nationalities and races. That vision became reality during the first RFKC in 1985.[1]
“During that first week of camp, the needs of the children touched the hearts of all of us who worked at camp. We realized that if other churches got behind a program like RFKC, we could reach hundreds of abused children every year. So we began to challenge other churches to follow this simple model: organize a one-week summer camp for abused children in your area. Child Protective agencies and foster families are eager to send children because abused and neglected children miss many normal childhood experiences.”
[1] See Chapter Six, “How Dreams Come True,” in Unlocking the Secret World by Wayne & Diane Tesch for more detail.

9. Milestones
camps - 10 Year Anniversary To date: 10,000 Camper spots camps in 36 states – 5,219 kids 2008 Started first Mentoring Clubs camps - 20 Year Anniversary – over 6,800 kids - 9 Countries

10. Milestones
2011 Changed name to Royal Family KIDS merging the Camps & Mentoring Clubs.
camps –
Camp Movie seen by 40,000
people in theaters & over
200,000 on Netflix!
Camps in US, 8,665 Campers

12. What is this training all about?
During this training we’re going to:
become educated about the abused child.
get to know each other to build a strong team.
find out how a week of Camp can change the life of an abused child & how can God use you.
This pre-camp training is imperative for three reasons:
1. To acquaint and sensitize you, the staff and counselors, to the background and needs of the abused and neglected child.
2. To build specific “counseling, leadership” skills so that the counselor-camper relationships will be positive.
3. To build team unity and comradery.
Why are you here?
The Sears Catalog used to advertize many of its products as good, better, and best -- such as Sears' good, better, and best dishwashers. Here are some good, better, and best reasons for volunteering for the RFK ministry.

13. COUNSELOR CODE OF CONDUCT
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your campers, and shall TALK of them when you SIT in your cabin, and when you HIKE by the way, and when you LIE down, and when you RISE. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house (cabin) and on your gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-6
The RFK Mission Statement which includes the Counselor/Staff Code of Conduct (adapted from Deuteronomy 6:4-9) lends support to the best reason for volunteering

14. Royal Family KIDS PURPOSE MISSION VISION STRATEGY
Mobilize the _____ community to confront __________
faith
Child abuse.
MISSION
Create ____________________ for children of abuse.
Life-changing moments
VISION
Every foster child, age 6-12, experiences a life - changing Camp and Mentoring Club.
STRATEGY
_______ and ________ Camps and Mentoring Clubs.
Launch
sponsor
Our commitment to this group of children represents a new endeavor that the Church will undertake. With the assistance of our Lord, we will provide a warm and friendly atmosphere for each child.

15. Make __________ Matter
Values
Royally
Treat People _______
Make __________ Matter
Keep Moving _________
Moments
Forward

16. Organizational Chart Campers Counselors Staff Counselors Staff
Administrative Staff / Dean of Men
Administrative Staff / Dean of Women
Assistant Director
Advisors
Director
Fundraising Team
Founders
Training Team
RFK Board
Prayer Team
Explain the inverted organizational chart – the KIDS are on the TOP
Its about the kids not us!

17. RFKC Team STAY HOME STAFF Prayer Partner Coordinator.
Welcome Home Dinner Coordinator.
Prayer Team
Church Staff
Fundraisers / Donors
Admin. Staff
ON SITE STAFF
Directors
Assistant Director
Dean of Men & Women
Social Worker / On Site Counselor
Child Placement Coordinator
Nurse
Activity Coordinator
Coach
Bible Teacher
Music Director
AV/Photographer
Grandparents
Aunt & Uncle
ON SITE COUNSELORS
Men Counselors
Women Counselors
Lets look at the rest of the team. You’ve just heard your introductions and camp positions, let’s look at the entire camp team.

18. What’s expected of you by the time this training is over?
We want to prepare you to be able to change the life of a child of abuse.
We must see ourselves as being one small part in the entire process of rebuilding hope in these abused and neglected children. It may be our experience to simply provide the initial love and affirmation that only begins to soften the encrusted shell that this child may have developed to survive in life. This is a beginning. Beyond this may be opportunities to sow the seed of a gospel witness. But the objective must never be that we can till, water, sow, cultivate and reap — all in one short week at RFKC. Remember what Paul said in I Corinthians 3:6 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth

19. Training
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
~Abigail Adams
We must work hard to teach and to learn. Your time here is not without effort on your part or on our part.
But with time and effort we will begin to understand and prepare ourselves for the work God has planned for us to accomplish.

20. That sounds like a lot, but with God “all things are possible”
That sounds like a lot, but with God “all things are possible”. We have seen that a week of time, even a single moment of time, can change the direction that a life is going.
CAMP
You see these red arrows, there’s only a slight deviation between the direction each one is going. But a moment at camp is enough to change the direction that a child is going.
By the end of camp you may see dramatic changes in the lives of your campers, and you may only see slight changes in the lives.

21. Over a long period of time, a slight deviation here.
Can result in an entirely different person here.
Over a long period of time, a slight deviation here.
Working with children is a long term ministry. It may be years before you see all the results of the work you have put into this week.
The parable of the Sower says that the seed was scattered and some returned 100 times, some 60 and some 30 times.
(Matthew 13 8 “seed” fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.)
Camp will be like planting good seeds into the lives of these children and believing that some will return a harvest 100 fold , some 60 fold and some 30 fold.

22. In A Moment
Moses life was changed in a moment in front of a burning bush
Saul's life was changed in a moment on the road to Damascus
Mary’s life was changed in a moment when an angel said “…you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. Luke 1v31
My life was changed in a moment when…
Think about your life. Has it been changed in a moment?
The moment you first meet your future spouse?
The moment you found out you were pregnant?
The moment you graduated?
The moment you walked the aisle or raised your hand to accept Christ?
There have been moments that have changed your life and there will be moments at camp that have the potential to change the direction of an abused Childs life through you.
To go from Hopelessness to hopeful
To go from feeling worthless- to having worth and value
To go from emptiness to wholeness
From being unloved to loved.

23. Training, Resources Support & Accountability
“The Purple Cord” that ties the community together
Church provides ________ and ________
people
Business & Civic clubs provide __________ and _________ i.e. “Gifts in Kind”
finances
resources
finances
KIDS
RFK Inc. provides-
Training, Resources Support & Accountability
Camp facility provides the ______
Social Services provides the ________
place
children
We are a Christian camp. To the “Social Services” community, we are identified as a “faith-based” camp. What are appropriate ways for us to share our faith with the campers? They will come to camp with such a variety of experiences, and most of them will have had no previous knowledge or experience of who Jesus is.

24. Campers will be changed for eternity
“And they were bringing children to him, that he might touch them and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it he was indignant, and he said to them, ‘Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God.’” Mark 10:13,14
Campers will be changed for eternity
Explain how kids lives will be changed in mere moments such as:
A moment on stage, a moment riding a bike, playing with a group, feeding an animal, dressing up with your counselor,
Touching a star fish, making hand cranked ice cream looking at you memory album or seeing a helicopter up close.
It could be anything where a moment takes place, a teachable moment about life, about God, about hope.
For to such belongs the kingdom of God.
They belong to God, you will be Gods hand and feet at camp!
RFK Inc 2012

25. Adult lives will be changed for eternity, too!
TRAINER you may want to put pictures in here about adults that you know from camp.
How adult lives get changed, friendships you make, hope that is built in you and faith that is built by seeing God come through at camp.
[You may change out these photos with others form you local camp

26. Local Camp Slide
Please modify and add pictures of your local campground to show to your staff.
Put in local pictures of the camp facility where that group will be going.
Could be done here or section 8 – the week of camp.

27. 3 FOR 3
Before we move on… Let’s have three questions about this section. AND / OR Three Take-a-ways
If you have already had good interactive questions and engagements with the trainees, or if you are out of time, you can skip this slide.
If not, this is a good way to end each training section and draw some information out of the trainees.
Wait for the answers, don’t move on to fast. Draw some answers out of them. You just covered a lot of material and the trainees should be able to easily come up with three questions and / or three take-a-ways.