Camper Care & Safety

Bair Lake Bible Camp is dedicated to providing a safe, Christ-centered, life-changing experience for your camper. Solid biblical teaching combined with excellent staff, facilities, and programs make BLBC a place where your child will be encouraged in their relationship with Christ and with others. We take the responsibility of caring for your child very seriously, and we are honored you would allow us to invest in their life.

Over the summer, we have an entire network of people to care for your child and ensure his/her wellbeing while on our grounds. As a year-round facility, our full-time staff consists of approximately 14 full-time camping professionals who collectively have decades of camping, leadership, and ministry experience. In the summer, we are joined by a summer staff consisting of young adults who are passionate about Christ and serving others through Christian camping. Our full-time staff and other professionals provide two weeks of extensive training to our summer staff before campers arrive on grounds. Additionally, we have a small army of experienced volunteers who serve alongside us each week of camp. Many of these volunteers are former campers, staff, and friends of BLBC who have been connected with our camp for years. 

Each staff member and volunteer is carefully screened and background checked. BLBC practices Ministry Safe policies and procedures such as “the rule of threes” to ensure your child will never be alone in a private area with an adult or fellow camper. All of our day and overnight summer camps are licensed and regulated by the State of Michigan Department of Human Services, Division of Child Welfare Licensing, Children’s and Adult Foster Care Camps. We are inspected annually in accordance with our licensing requirements and have an excellent track record of compliance with the licensing requirements.

Camper Health & Health Care Issues

A qualified health officer is on-site 24 hours a day to manage all medical issues for each camp. The nearest medical facility is Three Rivers Health, which is approximately 15 minutes away. Upon registering your child, you will be required to complete a medical form, which supplies us with the necessary information to make sure your child receives the care he/she needs. Should serious injury or illness occur, every attempt will be made to contact you, as the responsible adult. The health officer will be available at check-in to collect medications and answer any questions you may have. 

• Any medications you send with your child must be in the original pharmacy container with the correct name, unexpired date, and prescription label. Do not bring medications in bags or containers as they cannot be dispensed to your child. Common over-the-counter medications will be available in the health center should your child need them.
• We have a no nit or lice policy at BLBC. If lice or nits are found on your child during the check-in process, your child will not be able to join the camp session until they have been treated. Once they have been deemed nit/lice free by your medical physician or our health office staff, we will integrate them back into the week of camp as discreetly as possible. We encourage you to have your child checked for lice by yourself, a school nurse, or a pediatrician two weeks prior to camp and again immediately before camp begins. We hold to a no-refund policy if your child is unable to experience camp due to lice.

What Does A Week At Bair Lake Bible Camp Look Like?

Cabins

Our cabins consist of two types of facilities, both of which are clean and air-conditioned. Our main cabins are rustic bunkhouses that share a common bathhouse in the middle of cabin row. Our Sunrise Lodge is a self-contained building with dormitory-style bunk rooms and shared bathrooms inside the building. Your child could be assigned to a cabin in either location during their week here at BLBC.

Meals

We strive to provide high-quality, balanced, and appetizing meals for all ages. Many of our campers rate our food as one of their favorite parts of their week of camp! Should your child have dietary needs, please list them in the medical form portion of your registration. Due to the number of people we feed each week of camp, we can only accommodate dietary requests due to medical conditions or food allergies, and not mere preferences.

Activities

Bair Lake Bible Camp is set on 80 acres, which allows us to offer many outdoor activities such as disc golf, mini-golf, a playscape playground, soccer, 9 square in the air, gaga ball, human foosball, and more. Water activities include a pool, a lake (Bair Lake, of course), canoeing, kayaking, and tubing. Our high adventure activities include a double zip line, a climbing tower, a high ropes course, and several others. 

While fun activities and new experiences are important, our main goal is to introduce campers to the gospel of Jesus Christ and inspire them to encounter God. To facilitate this goal, each week of camp includes daily Bible sessions and worship.

Schedule

Every camp is unique in its schedule and activities. A sample schedule is listed below. 

8:30 – Breakfast
9:30 – Chapel/Cabin Devos
11:00 – Activities
12:30 – Lunch
1:30 – Horizontal Hour
2:30-5:00 – Activities
5:30 – Dinner
6:30 – Group Game
8:00 – Chapel
Bed times vary based on age group

Camper Contact, Visits, Phone Calls, Homesickness

Mail may be sent to 12500 Prang St, Jones, MI 49061 and will be distributed to campers daily. Care packages are available for purchase at the Bair’s Cove at check-in or online here. Please remember to put your child’s first and last name on any mail so we can ensure proper delivery.

Keep up-to-date with your child by liking our Facebook page and viewing photos posted throughout the week on our SmugMug account. The password to access those photos will be given to you via email and at check-in. A weekly recap video will also be posted SmugMug after your camper’s time here.

BLBC strongly believes in 1) the family unit as the most important influence in children’s lives and 2) the power of the camp experience towards the growth and development of children. A huge part of the power of the camp experience comes from campers beginning to learn to live self-sufficiently away from home in a safe environment where their needs are fully supported by a caring and trained staff. In order to balance these two beliefs, we have adopted the following policies:

Visits – Visits from family members are not permitted due to our structured program, which purposely keeps campers active and busy.

Phone Calls – Phone calls to or from a camper are not permitted except in cases of emergency.

Homesickness – In the event that your camper is experiencing extreme homesickness, you will be contacted to discuss next steps.

Lost & Found Procedures

Please contact us as soon as possible should you discover a lost item (269-244-5193 or info@blbc.com). If the item must be shipped back to you, you will be required to pay for shipping through a PayPal link sent to you via email. Any lost and found items that remain unclaimed after summer camps end will be donated to a local charity.

Older Campers Driving Self To Camp

Teen campers with a valid driver’s license are permitted to drive themselves. They will be required to park in the designated parking area and turn their keys into the camp office for safekeeping. As their parent/guardian, you will need to list your child as a release person so they are able to sign themselves out at the end of the week. Please contact the office to verify their name is listed as a release person.

Cell Phone Policy

Bair Lake Bible Camp’s core purpose is to inspire this generation to encounter God. Some of the ways that we strive to accomplish this as a ministry is to provide a space and programs that are out of people’s “normal.” We challenge campers to go without personal technology during their stay with us. Though it can be difficult, we have seen great impact in the depth of interpersonal connection, minimizing distractions to emphasize what is happening at camp, relief from the anxiety of being over-connected, and letting God’s Word be the “loudest voice” of the week. Technology no doubt has great value, but as a ministry, we have seen beautiful life-change happen when we all step back to be present in what God is doing in the now. For those reasons, we request cell phones be left at home. In situations where parents/guardians feel the phone is needed for travel to or from camp, phones must be turned in at check-in, and we will store them in a safe and locked location until check-out when they will be returned. If a camper is discovered to have a cell phone with them during their week at camp, it will be confiscated and returned to them at the conclusion of the week.

What To Bring

Items in italics apply to overnight camp only and not day camp!

• Bible, notebook & writing utensil
• Clothing to be active in
• Sweatshirt
• Swimsuit & towel
• Bug spray & sunscreen
• Water bottle
• Tennis shoes & sandals (Make sure to have one pair of closed-toe shoes for ACE activities)
• Bedding (sleeping bag or sheets) & pillow
• Personal care items & bath towel
• Flashlight
• One pair of clothes that can get messy

What Not To Bring

• Cell phones or electronic devices (including smart watches)
• Valuable items, trading cards, or cash (including pokemon cards)
• Weapons of any kind (including pocket knives)
• Prohibited substances including but not limited to alcohol, tobacco, vapes, and marijuana.