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.

PLAYGROUND!

Tuesday was an exciting day for the Eureka Camp. After 6 years with no playground for older campers, we finally purchased one for them. This is a really nice system that we bought from Rainbow. It has swings, slide, rock wall, rope latter, and tire swing. It is now on site, ready to go and we look forward to putting it into action next summer.

Things to come . . .
Next Friday we are planning a Parents' Night Out for Eureka. Pray that it will be a good time of reconnection with the campers.

On November 11, we will be having a full day of camp at the Christian Center. Pray that God will guide our conversations with the campers.

Curriculum 2010

This week I am beginning the process of developing our curriculum for next year. In 2008 we focused on the Bible as a whole. We told stories from both the Old and New Testament, so that campers could get the big picture. This past summer we focused in on the Life of Christ. Starting from the beginning and working our way to His death, resurrection, and ascension. This year we will focus in on the beginning of the church as we tell stories from the book of Acts. The purpose of theses stories will be aimed at the spiritual growth of the campers. Will you pray that as I develop this curriculum that God will guide me and use it to encourage campers to grow spiritually in their walk with Christ.

Peoria PNO

Last Friday we had our first Peoria PNO. It went really well and was a lot of fun. We had about 40 kids that came to the event, along with 16 staff that helped out. One of the unique things about the Peoria PNO is a lot of the kids that come are not camp kids. The Christian Center is involved with the Peoria PNO, and thus brings in several kids from their connections. So it is a great opportunity to meet new kids and minister to them.
For the Peoria PNO's I have chosen a theme on Trusting God. I decided to use the story of Joseph to teach kids to trust in God. This past Friday we talked about Joseph's brothers selling him into slavery, his time spent at Potipher's house, and finished with Joseph telling the baker and the butler the meaning of their dreams. Would you pray that God will teach the kids to trust him in all situations as we study through Joseph's life?

Looking Ahead . . .
Next Monday we will be having a full day of camp. We call this our Fall Frenzy. Would you pray that God will bring more campers to this event, and that we will be intentional in our relationships witht he campers.

First PNO of the Season

This last Friday we had our first Parents' Night Out of the Season. It was held at our Eureka Camp Site. We had around 19 kids and 8 staff that came to the event. During the night we played a variety of games such as Gold Rush, Human Pinball, Dodgeball, and more. We also enjoyed dirt cups, which really hit the spot. The kids seemed to have really enjoyed themselves and a few even asked their parents to stay a little longer. It was also a great night for staff to reconnect with the campers whom they haven't seen in a while. There were some great conversations that the staff had with the campers. Another great part of the night was the Bible story. I had the opportunity to teach and I chose to tell the story of David and Goliath. After finishing the story one of the boys raised his hand and said David and Goliath was one of his favorite stories. Would you pause and pray for the children that attended the Parents' Night Out. Pray that they would be bold in their life to do what God wants them to do, just like David. Overall it was a great night and a great opportunity to reconnect with the kids.

Looking Ahead...
Would you pray for us as a Full-Time Staff. We have a retreat this week to review the summer and plan for the coming year. Pray that God will guide our thoughts and give us wisdom as we plan for the next year.

Summer 2009

Hello again,
It has been a long time since I have updated this blog. So I apologize to all of you that follow this so closely. To bring you up to speed, we had a great summer this year. The staff that God brought to us were phenomenal and the changes that God brought about in both campers and staff were awesome. One story that is truly amazing is a story about a camper from Eureka. He was with camp for most of the summer so it was great to see God work. At the beginning of the summer this young man was really struggling with some tough issues that were going on in his life. His world seemed to have collapsed on top of him, which transferred to the way he acted at camp. Well as the summer went on the boy was able to hear more and more about Jesus as camp traveled through the life of Christ in our assembly times. He was also exposed to the Good News of Jesus Christ every Friday through the staff. It wasn't until late in the summer that he sat down with a staff member who shared the gospel with him and answered a few questions. The boy then prayed with the staff member and asked Christ to enter into his life. From that point on the staff did their best to encourage him and help him to grow. A few days after asking Christ into his heart the boy came to a site director and asked if he could have a Bible. The boy was given his Bible and from that point on he was seen with it many times through the day. He came to me about a week later and showed me that he had read through Genesis and was some chapters into Exodus. His excitement and passion to read the Word of God was amazing. Would you pray for him as he is back at school in an environment that could easily pull him away from God. This is one of the many stories of what God did in the lives of children this summer. I hope to share with you a few more stories over the next few weeks, so keep your eyes open.

So whats going on now? What are you doing now? These are a few questions that I receive when camp ends, and its not what you think. I don't just sit in the office and stair at the wall. These past two weeks we have been cleaning up our 6 camp sites and "inventoryizing" (yes I made that word up). We have also been reading through our evaluations from staff to hopefully collect good ideas to improve camp.

So what can you pray for?
1.) Pray that God will give us diligence in this ministry.

2.) Pray that God will open up some one-on-one follow up opportunities with campers and staff.

3.) Pray that God will give us wisdom as we debrief the summer and look for ways to make camp more honoring to God.

What about you? I would love to know how I can pray for you and better serve you. Just send me an email or give me a call to let me know.