Individual CIAs

Sometimes it’s hard for us to measure who undergoes the most life change each summer – our campers, our staff…..or our volunteers. They tell us their time at Camp Barnabas gives them a new perspective on all the relationships in their life. While 80% of our volunteers come with a mission group from churches, schools and organizations around the country, the 20% who come as individual CIA's have just as much fun stretching and growing.

Volunteer opportunities for ages 14 through 29

Barnstormers: 14–and 15–year–olds who truly are servants of God. This position is not for the faint-hearted! Barnstormer duties consist of waiting tables at meal times, washing dishes, helping keep the kitchen clean, and cleaning toilets and bathrooms around camp. Each Barnstormer is assigned to a cabin, where they will get to interact with campers and participate in daily activities. The best Barnstormers are MATURE, 14-or 15-year-olds with a very strong work ethic.

Cabin Counselors: 16-to 29-year-olds who are placed with a camper to work one-on-one with that camper for the week and unconditionally love and accept their camper, care for all of their camper’s needs and to assist their camper in having the most awesome week of summer camp ever. To be an effective counselor, you must be willing to put aside your own personal desires and needs during your entire week of service. You must be willing to share God’s word in any circumstance. The counselors live in the cabins with their campers and are assigned the duty of overseeing and teaching their campers. Some counselors work with special needs children, while others work with sibling campers. The campers and counselors experience all of the activities at camp together. This means that counselors must be willing and able to participate fully in all activities. This is a huge responsibility, a 23-hour commitment daily. We make every effort to allow for one hour of personal time off every day. THE COUNSELOR MUST BE MATURE AND WILLING TO WORK WITH SIBLINGS OR CAMPERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS. You will not know your assignment until you arrive, but please come willing to minister wherever God needs you!

Wranglers: Anyone 18 or older, with horse experience, is invited to be a wrangler with us at camp. We must be sure that you are qualified to work at the barn and that you have ample experience. You will have opportunity in your application process to tell us of your horse experience and what qualifies you to work with our equestrian program. We will be unable to accept anyone as a wrangler if we do not know the extent of their skills.

Cabin Mom/Cabin Dad: Each week, we need about 18 special adults who are assigned to work with a particular cabin for the week. The position requires you to be dedicated 100 percent to serving in whatever capacity you maybe needed. Your job may consist of providing relief to the cabin counselors or summer staff, doing laundry, or assisting with camper needs such as bathing, changing, dressing or feeding.

Cook’s Helper: Our cooks need your help! The job of the cook’s helper usually consists of chopping, stirring and cleaning the kitchen. No real gourmet skills are necessary, just a hard work ethic and a desire to serve others. Providing meals for almost 500 people is a hard job, but we promise you will have fun!

Maintenance: If you are an adult who wants to get your hands dirty and help keep things running around camp, this is the job for you. You may be asked to mow, weed-eat, pull weeds, plant bushes, move rocks, or change light bulbs or air conditioner filters. Bring your work gloves and willingness to work hard.

Nurses' Assistant:  Do you have a heart for sick children and adults? We are looking for volunteers to serve as nurses' assistants. You must be over 30 and willing to work hard doing laundry, mopping, sweeping and giving TLC to sick campers, volunteers or staff. This is a busy job with long hours and great rewards.

For more information or questions about volunteering, please contact Brittany Lytle, Volunteer Coordinator, at 417.476.2565 or email Robbie@campbarnabas.org .