Service with a Smile!

Giving up a week of your summer to go serve in a kitchen seems like a very unlikely request. Especially if you are asking a group of 9 highschool boys. But when the opportunity to come serve at Kanakuk's Family Kamp, K-Kauai, these boys they jumped at the chance!

These 9 boys traveled from Conway, Arkansas with their K-Life staff to Branson to serve. They have spent the past 4 days serving behind the scenes so the families at K-Kauai can enjoy their vacation. They serve tables during the meals, wash dishes, mop the dinning hall, and do the dirty work. But they do it all with a smile on their faces!

Next week another group of high school kids will be here to serve and the next week and the next. Throughout the whole summer there will be kids here serving and giving up a week of their summer so that they can help add to the kingdom one heart at a time.


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Game On Beats

A staple of summertime fun at Kanakuk is the summer theme - and no summer theme is complete without a theme song. The theme song provides the background music to every Kamper’s experience and without it… well Kamp would be much quieter. For the past few years Kanakuk has had the privilege of partnering with Christian Hip Hop artist Lecrae and other members of the hip hop collective 116 Clique to produce our summer theme song. 116-Clique a Christian hip hop collective is named after Romans 1:16 – “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel…” This year’s song Game On, is another awesome track to add to your summer playlist.


(116 Clique pictured above. Tedashii, Pro, Sho Baraka, Trip Lee, and Lecrae)

Accompanying Lecrae on this year’s theme song are artists Tedashii, Pro, and Jai.
Tedashii is an accomplished performer who often works with Lecrae and whose albums have climbed the Billboard Christian and Gospel charts over the past few years.

Co-Founder of Reach Records, Lecrae has established himself at the forefront of Christian Rap. His influence extends into mainstream media and culture, and his albums continue to climb the ranks on iTunes and hit #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Christian and Billboard Gospel albums charts. It is an honor that he chooses to work with Kanakuk each summer.



Pro, the opener for the “Unashamed Tour” in 2010, has collaborated on several noteworthy projects and has watched his album Redemption find itself ranking on the Billboard charts as well.

For Jai, recently labeled a trailblazer for the underground Urban Gospel movement, this isn’t her first collaboration with the men of the 116 Clique. Recently participating in Lecrae’s 3rd album “Rebel” and Trip Lee’s single “The Invasion,” Jai has made a name for herself as a worship leader and speaker.

Download the song and jam with us all summer long.

Check out ReachRecords.com for more on Lecrae, Tedashii
and Pro and JustJai.com for more on Jai



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Anticipation and Excitement!!

Arriving at Kamp is like being shot out of a human cannon. From the moment you pull on the road leading to Kamp anticipation begins to rise. You know as soon as the car stops you will be bombarded by counselors dressed in crazy costumes who are super excited you are there! A couple of them will unload all your stuff and take it to your cabin while the others will show you how to find out what cabin you will be spending the next 7,14, or 28 nights in! You get introduced to the entire Kamp and your counselors energetically hug you and quickly whisk you away to your cabin where you can meet all your new cabin mates. And all of this happens in about a 10 minute time period. Talk about excitement!!





Our first batch of Kampers have made it through all of this and are now on their 2nd day of Kamp! The excitement never stops around here! Game On!

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Hope from Heartache

“Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well: keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:14-17 NIV



When tornadoes came through Joplin a little over a week ago many Kanakuk families were affected. With Kamp in the midst of “work-week,” it just made sense to pack up some staff and head to Joplin to help. So yesterday, we loaded 150 K-Kountry staff into 4 buses, 3 vans, and a truck with everything we would need to try to bring the love of Christ to a place that had lost a lot of hope.



Nothing could’ve prepared us for the day ahead. Volunteering with Samaritans Purse we were quickly put to work with families in need. The sight of the destruction at these homes was unimaginable. Walking down the streets, everywhere you turn you find Legos mixed with tree limbs, house siding intertwined with stuffed animals and cars filled with mud from the whipping winds.

Despite all the destruction, the Lord’s hand was obvious in the smiles on the victim’s faces, in the encouragement they gave the staff and in the love they showed each of us. It was our desire to be Christ’s hands and feet to show His love to individuals One Heart at a Time and our staff did an exceptional job.

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Social Media has hit Kanakuk

In a matter of a week Kamp has gone from a handful of "uncles" (guys who come to Kamp early to help set up) to our nearly 1,200 staff being trained and fixing up Kamp for kiddos to arrive a week from tomorrow. Excitement is building, energy is increasing all because the love of God is truly alive in this place!

This year we want to give you an insiders glimpse to Kanakuk through social media. That's right, each Kamp is officially equipped with an iPad, Twitter and Blog so you can stay up to date with all the excitement all summer long. Follow your favorite... follow them all! And if that isn't enough for you tech-savvy people out there, we are on Facebook too!

It is our desire to keep you updated and it is also our desire to assist you on change-over days when you aren't sure where to go, what the schedule is, or where the bathrooms are. Tweet us (@Kanakuk) and we can help you out.

Spread the word! Kanakuk is having so much fun with social media and we hope you will participate with us!

Twitter:
@Kanakuk
@KanakukK1
@KanakukK2
@KanakukKWest
@KanakukKKountry
@KanakukKSeven
@KankaukKKauai

Blogs:
K1.Kanakuk.com
K2.Kanakuk.com
KWest.Kanakuk.com
KKountry.Kanakuk.com
KSeven.Kanakuk.com

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Kanakuk Favorites: Vaskin's Famous Gyros

Kamp staff, and families often ask where we like to eat, play, and stay so here is the first installment of "Kanakuk Favorites."

Vaskin's Famous Gyros is located at 1015 Highway 248 in Branson. Some of the best Greek deli food you will find. It is just 15 minutes from our offices across from K1 and K-Kountry and is a favorite place to meet and see friends. This is a locals only kind of place that is bit hard to find, but worth it!

favorites: Hot Ham and Cheese with pasta salad, The Firehouse Gyro, The Lamb and Beef Gyro.

Yum! See you there!

2011 Kanakuk Summer Theme Announcement

Key Theme Verse: James 1:22 - “prove yourselves doers of the word”

Kanakuk Kamps Mission: Developing dynamic Christian leaders through life-changing experiences, Godly relationships, and spiritual training.

The goal of the 2011 summer theme: That all Kampers would take home spiritual principles from James and apply them to their spiritual walk.

Check out the Theme announcement video HERE.


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Kanakuk Ministries - Graphic Designer Job Opening

UPDATE: This position has been filled! Thank you very much for your interest in Kanakuk Kamps. If you are interested in creative positions at Kanakuk it is appropriate for you to submit a portfolio anytime. There are summer photographer and videographer positions available and hiring occurs for those in the Fall and Spring. For more information go to: http://kanakuk.com/staff/Prospective.aspx

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Looking for a fun, fast-paced, family oriented place to help visually communicate for multiple brands and non-profits? Kanakuk Ministries is now hiring a full-time, year-round graphic designer to work in their Marketing/Communications Department. This is open to newly graduated, recently graduated graphic design students or applicants with at least 2-3 years of experience. For more information please submit a resume and digital portfolio to jay@kanakuk.com. Please include your availability and a brief description of why you would want to work for Kanakuk Ministries. (www.kanakuk.com).

Kanakuk Ministries - Graphic Designer I Job Description

The Graphic Designer will perform all tasks designated by the Marketing Director including but not limited to:

• produce new logos
• website design
• 4-color brochures
• Posters
• Postcards
• other printed materials
• Work according to the specifications on job tickets and tastes of clients
• Maintain and revise existing documents
• Work with other departments to concept and create new graphic content
• Back-up and archive data from completed jobs
• Record time and materials used in projects.
• And other misc. tasks not yet determined

The Graphic Designer is a salaried position and is expected to perform all of his or her duties under the direction of the Marketing Director. Work schedules vary but are typically 8:00am to 5:00pm.

This job description is meant only as a guide and in no way should be considered an all inclusive list of duties.

Applicants should have a thorough knowledge of the entire Adobe Design Standard Creative Suite, industry standard color theory, general knowledge of HTML/XHTML and CSS, and work comfortably in Mac OS X and a network environment.

Please submit a brief electronic portfolio and resume including references to: jay@kanakuk.com.

Qualified applicants will be contacted by email regarding their continuation in the application process.
This opening will close as soon as April 1st.

Kamper Ryan Alexander Signs with ARMY

It's always fun when we see former Kanakuk Kampers excel in their athletic endeavors, but even more fun when they excel as leaders. I received the following email from a former Kanakuk summer staff guy and cousin of Kamper Ryan Alexander.

My name is Justin Rader (OSU and worked at Kanakuk Klassic 4 summers. ROLL IT BACK!)...my cousin, Ryan Alexander is 18 and a senior at Canadian High School. He attended Kanakuk Klassic, K2, and possibly another camp (can't remember), but Kamp has had a huge impact on him, just like it did on me, and he has become a super leader on his team, in school, and in our town.

I know he's my cousin and all, but I seriously respect the discipline to work out, read the Word, and live an I'm 3rd life that Ryan has shown. Kamp has been a major factor in his life and is what got a lot of that kicked off for him.

After an amazing highschool football career and chasing a lot of leads with lots and lots of disappointing news in the college football category, Ryan's faith has been put to the test time after time. God has proven Himself to be good and tomorrow morning (Tuesday, the 7th) Ryan is officially signing to play for Army. It's a huge answered prayer for us as his family, but it's a huge praise to the Lord for his faithfulness too.

Congratulations Ryan and thanks Justin for encouraging us all to lift one another up!

Well Ryan did sign with ARMY and you can read about it here or see Ryan sack a "baaazillion" quarterbacks here or an interview after the break.






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Top Christmas gift for Kanakuk Kampers

To say that Kanakuk is important to Jennifer Farley would be an understatement.

Jennifer Farley, a.k.a. “Reno”, is the Assistant Women’s Director at K-1. Her Kamp experience began in 1989 at K-Kountry where she accepted Christ as a Kamper in Barn 5. She went on to spend two years there, three years at K-West and two years at K-2. She began her Kamp staff career in 1997 as a counselor and has worked a variety of jobs including the Osage Mama, the scheduler and Assistant Women’s Director.

Needless to say, Reno loves Kamp.

Recently she shared with us that summers at Kanakuk were her birthday and Christmas present for the seven years she attended as a Kamper. In fact, she wanted to share a special video from “Christmas Past.” She get's a little excited about it to say the least :-)



That’s Reno being surprised with the gift of Kamp. Like every year, Kamp remains a popular Christmas gift for Kanakuk Kampers. And it’s easy to give the gift of Kamp.

Simply go to KANAKUK.com and click on the graphic that says “Give Kamp for Christmas”. After you’ve purchased your gift, download and print this Stocking Stuffer to give on Christmas day (or whenever you open presents).



And make sure you have the camera rolling as your Kamper opens the gift. Capture the moment on film, send it to us and we’ll post as many videos on here as we can.

Merry Christmas!

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