Up-Date

It has been a little while since I've been on here. Here is what has happened. At the end of February we attended a camping conference. It was a nice get away and gave me some good things to think about. We then attended the Equip conference which is held at PCS every year. That was a great opportunity to get our name out there and to gain more ministry training. Following that we had our Chili Supper, our annual fundraiser. I am pleased to say that it went well and God blessed us through it. Then the first week in March we had another PNO in Peoria. That was also a great night. We bowled, played games, and had a Bible lesson. It has been busy for us lately but God has brought us through it.

Looking Ahead . . .

Several things are coming up:

1. Group Interview Session - Our first group interview session is tomorrow. We have around 12 Counselor and Junior Counselor applicants coming. Would you PAUSE & PRAY that God will give us wisdom as we begin selecting staff members to serve this summer.

2. Eureka PNO - At the end of this month we will be having a Parents' Night Out in Eureka. This is a great event for us to reconnect with former campers. Would you PAUSE & PRAY that God will be at work in this event.

3. Staff - We have about 54 of 115 staff members that have applied. We still need more. Would you PAUSE & PRAY that God will bring the people he wants to Camp this summer.

4. Curriculum - I am currently in week 9 of the curriculum but there is still much to be done. Would you PAUSE & PRAY that God will guide me as i finish the curriculum.

Thank you for your prayers, you keep me going.

PNO & Presidents' Day Camp

Two Fridays ago we had our first Parents' Night Out of 2010. I am pleased to say that it went well and the kids had a great time. Through the night we had a Bible story, games, and bowling. One parent told me he hadn't been out with his wife in a couple of months and was so happy to have a place for his children on a Friday night. What an honor it is to serve our parents.

This past Monday we had our first ever President's Day Camp. We had 25 campers come to Pekin and spend the whole day with us. We had campers from a variety of different camps. During the day i had the opportunity to share a presidential Bible story with the campers (a story about King Saul and David). Along with the story we taught the campers a verse from Romans 12:21. At the end of the day one of the campers came up to me and asked me if i would help him learn the verse. We spent the next 10 minutes practicing and learning motions to the verse and he finally had it done. It was very encouraging to see a young boy memorizing God's Word.

Looking Ahead . . .

The Chili Supper is on its way and there is much to be done. This is our annual fundraising event to keep camp going. We you pray for the preparation of this event?

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!