Camp Peniel is a small, Christ centered, and relationship focused summer camp. Our goal is to provide outdoor adventures for our campers that will point them to their Heavenly Father & allow them time and space to meet Him face-to-face. We want to meet camper’s right where they are, come alongside them in their journey, & instill in them that they are loved and valued just as they are, not only by us, but by the Creator of the Universe. We believe that our campers should have the opportunity to experience just being a kid as they leave the pressure of the world behind for a week. We strive to create a safe & exciting place for them to live life to the fullest.

The staff at Peniel operates as a tribe. A tribe is a division in traditional society that consists of a group of people linked for a number of different reasons, led by a recognized leader. We are linked by the gospel, our love for God’s kids, our enjoyment of creation, & our desire to have a lot of fun. Our leader is Jesus & we strive to imitate Him in all that we do, especially in our love.

Our summer staff is paid $90 for our staff training and approximately $225 a week thereafter. Housing is provided as well as food. (And, not your average camp food.) Time off varies depending on what role you hold in a particular week. We hire less than 50 counselors in the summer which gives us the opportunity to really get to know everyone on staff & operate more as a family. There is not a cookie cutter person that we look for. Rather, we hire young people from all different walks of life, with different hobbies, talents, & gifts. Our hope is that diversity in our staff will enable each of our campers to be able to point to someone on staff that “gets” them. It also gives us the opportunity to practice and demonstrate loving those that are different than us.

Positions

When someone is hired as a counselor at Camp Peniel, they are hired for four different positions. Every week, our counselors rotate and assume a new role working with a new group of kids and with a new core group of staff members.

Resident Counselor

Our overnight counselors are responsible to lead a group of 8-10 campers, ages 8-14 with another member of our counseling staff or a counselor-in-training. Counselors are responsible for the physical (including hygiene), emotional, & spiritual well being of their campers from Sunday afternoon until Saturday morning. During this time, they will teach skills classes, play, participate in big camp games, play, lead nightly devotions, play, spend quality time getting to know their campers, being a friend to them & seizing every opportunity to share the gospel.

Day Camp Counselor

Our day camp program serves kids 6-10 years old. The campers arrive at 9 AM & hang out with us until 4 PM. The campers are divided into tribes based on age & gender. Each day camp counselor will have a tribe of up to 6 campers. Day camp counselors spend their days in a sprint moving from activity to activity in an effort to give their campers as many experiences as possible. We want our day campers to experience adventure, to use their imagination, to grow in confidence as they try new things, & to learn more about their Creator. Our Day Camp counselors walk with them in all of these things!

Adventure Camp Counselor

Adventure Camps are held off-site at different city parks in the Austin/Highland Lakes area. These are essentially a shorter version of our Day Camp program and each is a little different depending on the park and what facilities are offered. Adventure Camp counselors travel from camp to the park and will help with the set up, implementation, and tear down of the program daily. Again, our hope is that the time will be filled with imaginative play and conversations full of love, value, and the truth of the Gospel for the glory of God.

Support Staff

There are weeks in which our counselors are not responsible for a specific group of kids, but instead serve in a supporting role to all the programs running. Our staff learns a lot of flexibility these weeks as they are asked to do a myriad of tasks such as teaching skills classes, monitoring day camp lunch, life guarding, setting up night programs, running afternoon activities, etc. This is not a break week from ministry, only an opportunity to do ministry differently as you serve the needs of not only the campers, but of the counseling staff as well.