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. About 70% of our summer volunteers come with a mission group from churches, schools, and organizations from across the country. When you come with people you know, there’s a reassurance that comes from seeing the same things you’re experiencing and feeling in the eyes of people you know.
For the Summer of 2009, all CIA's will register through our on-line registration program. We hope to have registration open for all CIA's on November 1st, 2008. Please check the website for updates.
Volunteer opportunities for ages 14 through 29
Barnstormers are 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 are 16-to 29-year-olds who are placed with a camper to work on-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.
Volunteer opportunities for those 30 and over
Medical Team: Each week we use a team of registered nurses and licensed physicians to care for the medical needs of everyone at camp. If you are interested in a position on the medical team, please contact Cyndy Teas at
cyndy@campbarnabas.org or call 417-886-2800.
Cabin Moms and Cabin Dads: 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