BaseCamp USA features Christian faith-based programs

A group of people with integrity  conducts faith based training at BaseCamp USA outside of Mineral Point and has been hosting a series of workshops to fulfill their mission.

This weekend (August 11-13) will be a father/son camp for ages 10 and over. The desire is to help young men become the men God wants them to be.

The camp will be held on the 189 acres of rolling SW Wisconsin land outside Mineral Point.  The camp is a ministry of Grace Bible Church, Mineral Point.

BaseCamp uses a mix of outdoor exercises, seminars, campfire discussions and one on one talks. The outdoor activities include rock climbing, rappelling, camping, hunting, fishing, giant swing and low ropes course.

Seminars deal with spiritual, mental and physical life skills and finding purpose in life.  All courses are based on Christian principles that potential enrollees are told up front.

The center was founded by Jim Kackley to fulfill a life long dream.  His goal is to help people of all ages realize their potential with the initial focus on young men.

The camp opened June 2021 and to date the enrollment is stretching toward 500. The biggest client is Kingdom Prep Lutheran High School, an all male Christian high school in Wauwatosa.

Staff at the camp includes 16 part- time, full-time and volunteers.

Here are a couple programs planned at the facility.

-Deer hunting program which will involve five young hunters  who will experience their first hunt and each will have a mentor.  The mentor will take them from start to finish and help them have a great first experience. 

The five young hunters will form a deer camp two days before the hunt where they can  listen to hunting stories and be mentally ready to the experience.

Prior to the hunt the five participants will go to the Vortex facility in Barneveld where they will sharpen their shooting skills in a state of the art facility. Vortex is donating over $1000 worth of equipment to the young hunters in the form of scopes.  There are other sponsors helping too.

Plans also call for a butcher to mentor the young hunters in to field dress their kill and even do some butcher work.

The skills the young hunters will learn are stalking their game, scouting their game and tracking it after the shot. Added to that will be the field dressing.

“We want to take them from the hunt to getting the meat into the freezer,” a BaseCamp spokesman said.

There are also plans for an overnight spiritual event that will involve dealing with night vision. The six participants who sign up for the course will have chaperones with them at all times.  They will stay up all night involving themselves in such activities as low angle decent rappelling, using night vision equipment which will allow them to see nature in a different way.

Participants will discuss the ways the Gospel affects their lives and how to spread the message to others.

Further information can be found on the web page, www.basecamp.org or by calling 608-425-0059.