Our mission is to provide Christ Centered Camping that will enrich the lives of men, women, boys and girls mentally, physically and spiritually. This is accomplished by providing year round retreats and summer resident youth and family camps. Our facility on Stony Lake near Shelby, Michigan is available for rental  to groups who are in agreement with this mission. Browse the site to learn more about this ministry.

Established in 1954 through the vision of Rev. Richard and JoAnn Gordon, Camp Ao-Wa-Kiya exists to give young people a Christ centered camping experience. The name, "AO-WA-KIYA" was the winning entry from a special name the church camp  contest held for campers in its early development. "AO-WA-KIYA" is a word that means "Banded Together for a Purpose". This very clearly describes how the camp was founded and continues to exist today. The camp organization is made up of churches in and around West Michigan. They have come together to see their students know Jesus Christ in a very real way. The members of supporting camp churches are  given the opportunity to use their  talents and gifts from God as they come together to minister in our all volunteer, Christian youth camp.   Thousands of volunteers have "band together" over the past 52 years and worked along side others to give  campers a Christ-centered camping experience.