Lighthouse Christian Camp 40 Years Of Service And Guidance

Smithville’s Lighthouse Christian Camp is celebrating 40 years of bringing under-resourced children free summer camps.

Executive Director Michael Kilgore said the week long events give disadvantaged families the opportunity to let kids be kids

“We have horseback riding, we have hiking,” Kilgore said. “We have kayaking. We have pontoons boats that we take the kids out and allow them to drive the boats. Just lots and lots of fun activities.”

Kilgore said at a point in his life, he was one of those under served children. Kilgore said as director, he wants to give others the foundation to not make the same mistakes.

“Because I didn’t have someone pouring into me and lifting me up and teaching me right from wrong, because my mom being a single mom was working all the time,” Kilgore said. “I hurt a lot of people in my early adulthood and my teenage years, and because of that, I see Lighthouse Christian Camp change direction, change course for so many human beings and so many children in the Middle Tennessee area.”

Camps are open for children from ages nine to 17-years-old, but people affected from the camp’s mission extends further than that. Kilgore said one father in particular changed his own life.

“His children would come back after a week of camp, and they would be different from when they left,” Kilgore said. “They would be more respectful. They just changed for some reason, and he began to explore to see what was it about camp. What were they learning in camp that was different in their lives? Because, he knew that he needed that same kind of thing in his own life. So, his testimony is that he has never been to Lighthouse Christian Camp, but yet, this camp changed his life.”

Summer camps extend weekly in June and July. Kilgore said follow-up events are scheduled year round to continue serving the under served.