Summer Staff Search Begins

The summer is on its way and we have begun to look for staff. Each year seems to be similar in that we have a big need for male staff. It is interesting because on the camper side we usually have more boys sign up then girls, but on the staff side we usually have more females sign up then males. Which points to our big need for male staff. It has been amazing as God has provided our needs for each summer. Would you PAUSE and PRAY for solid young men to come and serve at Camp of Champions this summer. Would you PAUSE and PRAY that God will guide the full-time staff as we make decisions on staff members. The staff is what makes our program so great and we need your prayers to make this year awesome.

Summer Camp 2010

The summer is not to far away and there is much to be done. Kayla and I just finished designing the brochure and we are now sending it off to be printed. This picture is a sneak peak at the front side. I want to say thank you to everyone that prayed for this project. Would you continue to pray that there would be no other problems as we send it to be printed?

Looking Ahead...

At this point there are 145 days, 14 hours, and 22 minutes until the first day of Camp begins. One thing that needs to happen is the curriculum needs to be finished. At this point there is still lots to be done. I am currently in Phase 2 of the curriculum. During this phase I am reading through the stories and pulling together different commentary notes for our directors. Would you pray that God will guide me as I go through this process. Thanks again for your dedication to prayer.

Winter Camp

Winter camp has come and gone. It was a great year. This was the first year that we had 2 camp sites open. We played a lot of the same activities we do in the summer such as dodgeball, bowling, field trips and much more. We also have the privilege of sharing Bible stories to the campers. Our first week focused on the events surrounding Jesus' birth. In the second week, we gave the kids a sneak peak of next year's lessons (out of the book of Acts).

I have two really neat stories to share with you. The first one is about a boy who I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with. While chatting with him i asked him how his life was going. He responded by saying everything was going well. He then told me how he had been reading his Bible. I asked him what he had been learning as he read. He told me he had been reading through Genesis and was understanding that there are consequences for our sinful actions. I was blown away that this camper had been reading his Bible and not only reading it but trying to understand it and apply it to his life.

My second story was a message from a parent that we received today. She wrote to tell us how grateful she was for camp. She told us that the 2 short weeks of winter camp had made a large impact on her 8 year old son. During the week her son was picking up his Bible and reading Bible stories all by himself. This was a real encouragement to me. What a joy it is to see campers drawing close to God through the reading of his word.

I want to say THANK YOU! to all of you who prayed for winter camp. You are such a blessing.

Cord of 3

Last Thursday I met with a couple of guys for a group I have named "Cord of 3." This is a discipleship group that is done with some of the summer staff. "Cord of 3" is taken from Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, where we gain the principle of relying on one another for strength. In our meetings we are reading through the book, "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer. There is also a time for review of our personal growth plans. A personal growth plan is a written set of goals to stretch us and cause us to grow. Some goals are spiritually focused and other goals are practical goals for life. We always finish our time praying for one another. This past week was a great time to connect with each other and encourage one another to press on with the goals we set. Thank You for those of you who prayed for this event.

Looking Ahead . . .
Parents' Night Out this Friday. This will be the last one of 2009. Would you Pray that God will prepare the hearts of the children for the Bible lesson?

Winter Camp is under 2 weeks away. Would you Pray for the preparation of this event? Would you Pray that God would draw the campers closer to Himself through Winter Camp?

The Curriculum is coming along. Would you continue to Pray that God will guide me as I put it together?

Acts

Yesterday I completed Phase 1 of the curriculum for next summer. If you remember, we are going to be telling stories from the book of Acts this summer. In Phase 1 of the curriculum I divided up the book of Acts into 40 days of stories. Now that Phase 1 is complete, I will begin Phase 2. In this Phase I will be going through the book of Acts and developing commentary notes for our directors, so that they will be more equipped to tell the stories. Would you PAUSE and PRAY that God will guide and give me wisdom as I put together these commentary notes?

Looking Ahead . . .

Tomorrow, Cord of 3 (a discipleship group with male staff) is meeting. Would you PAUSE and PRAY that are time together would be honoring to God, that we would hold one another accountable to the personal goals we set, and that God would guide us as we learn more about Him (We are reading the book “Knowing God” by J.I. Packer)?

Thank you for your prayers!

Peoria PNO

Last Friday we had a Parents Night Out at the Christian Center. We had a great night. There were about 30 kids that came and 10 staff that helped out. In the Bible lesson we told part of the story of Joseph, and focused on how God is always in control through the good and bad. The campers also got to participate in the "Glow Bowl" that the Christian Center has, some intense games of dodgeball, and "fire ball." All in all it was a fun night and a great opportunity to reconnect with campers and staff. Thank you for your prayers and for those of you who helped out. It was a true blessing.

Looking Ahead . . .

Winter Camp 2009 is just around the corner and there is a lot to be done. Would you pray that God will guide and direct the preparation of this event?Would you also pray that it would be a good time to refocus the campers on Christ? Finally, would you pray that God would bring the staff needed to minister at this event?

Camp 11/11

Last Wednesday we had a full day of camp for kids who didn't have school on Veterans day. We call this Camp 11/11 or Veterans Day Camp. We had just under 20 campers come and 6 staff members. It was a great day. It was so nice we even got to spend time outside. God truly blessed us with great weather and a great day to minister.

I had the opportunity to tell the Bible lesson for our day. As I approached the end of the story I didn't finish it and told the campers that I would conclude the story at the end of the day. While we were bowling one of the campers came up to me and begged me to tell him the end of the story. He couldn't wait to hear what had happened. I couldn't say no to his desire to know more and told him the rest of the story. It was awesome to see his passion to know the story.

I want to say thank you to all of you who prayed for this day. The Lord was at work and provided us with great opportunities to reconnect with the campers.

Looking Ahead . . .

Friday we have a Parents' Night Out at the Christian Center and we usually serve around 40 to 50 kids. Would you pray that God will soften the hearts of the kids to His Word. Pray that they would be challenged to live a life that glories God.