History

In 1985, Bob and Brenda Bonheim, who had been bringing a team of Christian College students to Maui each summer, visited Phil and Lynn Luttrell on Kauai and offered to help them start a Christian keiki summer camp on Kauai like the one they ran on Maui each summer.

They brought Randy and Louise Manley from Molokai to help lead camp that first summer. Lynn cooked and organized and did the preparation and the Bonheims and Manleys ran the camp that first week at Camp Sloggett in Kokee. The goal was to provide a week of old-fashioned summer camp fun, activities, songs, games, and crafts, while teaching and demonstrating the wonder of how God has loved us and made a way for us to know Him.

Since then, we have every summer continued the wonderful experience of camp for the keiki of Kauai. The Manleys many times came to direct it and brought with them many summer college student mission teams. Camp was held at Sloggett a couple of times, and then moved to Camp Naue which became the yearly home for the camp. The camp was for a long time called Kauai Christian Youth Camp, until someone else began a camp with the same name. By then the camp had affiliation with Child Evangelism Fellowship and changed the name to Camp Good News. When the road to Camp Naue washed out, Makanalani was graciously offered, and we have enjoyed their facilities ever since.

Over the years, we have had a few different coordinators and directors of our camp including Jimmy and Terrie Johnson, Brandon and MayMay Thomas, Matt and Sarah Jenkins, along with several others. Currently, Rebecca (Becca) and Elizabeth (Beth), daughters of Phil and Lynn Luttrell, along with Tyler Mills (Beth’s husband) are the directors and coordinators of camp. Beth and Becca have been part of camp since they were born and were camp mascots as toddlers, then campers, then junior counselors, then counselors, then kitchen cooks, before taking over as directors now.

We are so thankful for the full legacy of Camp Good News Kauai and for the hope we have of many more years to come.