Making new friends at Winkler Bible Camp

The anticipation is at an all time high for Patricia Shaiye as she awaits for her son and daughter to return from camp this week.

Shaiye, mother of three, recently immigrated from Nigeria with her family to pursue an education in business analysis.

Just this week she sent her two oldest — 13-year-old Frederick and 12-year-old Divine — off to Winkler Bible Camp, something she was only able to afford due to the Sunshine Fund.

“A relative introduced me to the Winkler Bible Camp and, in the process of filling out the form, I noticed the fee for camp,” Shaiye said in a telephone interview earlier this week. “I mentioned to her that I couldn’t afford the whole amount.”

Shaiye was then introduced to funding meant for families in these situations, ones who want to give their children a camp experience but cannot afford the financial strain involved.

“I applied to the Sunshine Fund and after a few weeks they responded. They told me how much I needed to pay. It covered most of it which made me very happy,” Shaiye said, who only needed to pay $180 out of the $900 total cost.

“It was really impressive and made me encourage my kids to go to camp.”

At first, she was worried about approval for the funds but was quickly relieved when she received a response.

“The communication was seamless. The process was very easy and I was just told what I needed to do — everything went very smoothly,” she said.

At Winkler Bible Camp, Frederick and Divine are able to expand their horizons — religiously and recreationally — at the five-day junior intermediate overnight camp.

At this camp, they offer bible study and daily chapel services as well as a huge variety of outdoor activities. This includes water sports, group games such as human foosball and paintball, as well as skill-based activities like obstacles courses and archery.

“Because we are Christians, it motivated us to register for the program,” Shaiye commented, saying how important it is that her kids get to explore their religion during this time.

Shaiye had no doubt that her children would be in good hands, which has been shown in the camp pictures sent to her throughout the week.

“They’ve made new friends there and they said they really like the environment,” Shaiye added.

Since this is Frederick and Divine’s first camp experience, it was comforting to Shaiye that familiar faces would be joining them for the week, with some of the children’s cousins also attending. With these family members having gone to Winkler Bible Camp last year, they assured their cousins they would have a great time, making memories to last a lifetime.

Although Shaiye is extremely grateful that her children were given this opportunity, she cannot wait for them to come home.

“I’m excited about the fact that they are going to tell us one or two things they learned,” she said. “I know on Friday when they come (back), there will be lots of things to talk about.”

grace.penner@winnipegfreepress.com