Ten Ways to Support Your Camp

Camp has always been an important part of my life, from when I first went as a child until now.  I believe in the work they do, and while I am not as involved now as when I lived out at camp all summer, there are always ways to support the ministry of camping.  Here are a few I came up with - maybe you can add to the list.

1. Join the board.
If you've got extra time year round, there are all types who are needed on camp boards.  Organized types, handy types, mechanical types, creative types... there would be a place for you.

2. Sew costumes.
Or help out with whatever specifics needs come up.  We had a fun sewing bee a few weeks ago sewing Narnia tunics and cloaks for this summer.

3. Get a list of the staff and pray for them by name.
Start early and pray for preparation details, for the staff selection and the campers to come.  Pray through the summer; maybe your camp sends out a prayer request email.

4. Take out cookies for the staff lounge.
Working at camp is an awesome job, but it is also one of the most draining.  Finding a made with love treat on your break time is a huge encouragement.

5. Write the director an encouraging note.
Encouragement is usually needed and always welcome.  Who doesn't love getting mail?  And when it's sent just to be uplifting, even better.

6. Volunteer to cook or nurse or do maintenance or speak for a week.
Camps need these volunteers to run; you might find it to be the best week of your summer.

7. Go out to a work day.
Even a few hours can make a difference, and there are usually jobs that anyone can do.  We're heading out to one this weekend, and  I expect the kid to be in there getting things done - it's pretty special for a kid to go to camp knowing they helped with some of the behind the scenes stuff.

8. Be on the planning committee for a fundraiser.
If you're asked to be involved in a special project, try and make the time for it.

9. Sponsor a child to go.
You can do this through your church, if it's a denominational camp, or through the camp itself; if it's KBK / KLC, you can sponsor the staff who will be doing a walk-a-thon next weekend to raise money for camper sponsorships.

10. Spread the word.
Send camp brochures to school with your kid to send home with their friends.  Add a note for their parents with the week your kid is going and your number if they want to know more about it.

What are some other ways to support a camp?

I felt like myself.

Yesterday morning I went with a handful of other women to serve at the Chili for Children program.  We had a fun time getting to know each other over setting up and chopping veggies, walking over to the second location and finding a hobbit door...  None of these women had been to C4C before, and they were all quite impressed with the people who ran the show, the children that they were able to serve, and excited about the possibilities of doing this again.

Last night I went out on the Love Lives Here bus with 13 great people from church.  The bus hits the streets of North Central and the Core, offering warmth, food and drink and Jesus' love to anyone who needed it - there were a good number of 'divine appointments' and our crew got exposed to a whole range of what the crew sees on a regular basis.  None of these friends had been on the bus before, and by the end of the evening their eyes had been opened to a whole new side of life in our city; a side where spiritual forces do very real battle, where prayers and our availability and Jesus' name are powerful weapons.  Many of these friends are interested in going back; all were grateful for the experience.

These were two of the projects offered through our Westhill Serves weekend, and having just been to three of them (our whole small group went out to paint at the camp today), I am fully content that the reasons we put on this event is sound, and was met in a very successful way.  We do it because serving is one of the three main purposes of our church (Love God, Love Others, Serve the World), to give opportunities for people to serve, and to expose them to new ways to serve.

I was also struck by something else.  Feeding hungry inner city children is great, and I'm glad there is a group who does that; it's not my thing.  Loving on the street workers and gang members is important, and I'm so glad to know this bus is out on our streets while I'm safe in bed.  It, however, is not my thing either.  My thing - my thing - is getting other Christians to go and serve there with me - my thing is taking people to places they have not been, exposing them to what more there is in life and faith.  I want to see Christians 'get it' - to know how they can live an abundant life, fully loving and serving, fully experiencing all that God has for them.  I'm thankful for the chance I had to go on those projects yesterday; I'm trusting that the friends I took along were changed by God because of their experiences.

Sometimes I forget, in the details, that this is the part that fills me.

I'm thankful for this reminder of who I am meant to be.

The NEW Job!

I have never known what I wanted to do when I grow up.
I have always had faith that God would show me what role he has for me at the right time.
This is one more example of that.

I have been the pastor to young adults at my church for the last 4 years. For the last year or so I've been ready for a change; I knew a change was coming, but I didn't know what that was going to look like. In the fall one of our staff team left, and through the process of looking at a change in our staff team, I was pretty optimistic that a change would be happening for me, too.

So after many conversations with the boss, who I'm thankful was willing to explore possibilities with me, and many drafts of a job proposal later, here we are. It was announced this past Sunday that our new staff member is confirmed and that has freed me up to make my shift public. Today I sent the word out to my young adults and the prayer team I had set up, and the next step is to do a bit of a write up in the fall newsletter I am working on.

I will be working in two main areas: one is Sunday morning services, and the other is communications. For Sunday mornings I will serve as the creative arts or worship arts director, involved in the planning and design of the services as well as each of the sermon series. The communication part has two parts to it - for the external I'll be mostly focused on the website, and for the internal there will be lots of pieces that I will have input into.

I am pretty excited to be moving in this direction. There are still some things to be nailed down, but we'll work them out. One of those things is that we still have to nail down a job title. Any suggestions? I will have a prize for the person who suggests a winner!! To have continuity with the other church staff it would have the word 'Director' in there somewhere.

My 3 favorite foods. And an update on life.

Pringles.
Sunflower Seeds.
Honey Nut Cheerios.

That order changes, and as far as real food goes, Pizza and Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins are tops. :)

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I got a message on the phone today from the camp. Yeah, the one that is looking after my kid this week. They said she's fine, but they wanted us to know what was going on... Hello? Yeah, fill me in! They took her into the hospital yesterday because she hurt her wrist. Doing handstands in the field. She went over the wrong way and hyper extended it. Just a sprain. What a dork. (I say that lovingly!) Handstands are her new thing. And now, as if camp wasn't memorable enough, she's got a hospital trip and x-rays to remember this year by. They said she's got a tensor bandage and is icing it, but that her counselor said she was scrambling up the gravel pit with the rest of them no problem, so she's good.

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We have confirmed that Darren Andres is coming to join our pastoral staff this fall doing Adult Ministries; now that it's confirmed, I can tell you about MY change! The boss is going over my draft of what I'm going to send out to the young adults tomorrow, so as soon as I do that I will let you in on the news. How's that for leaving you hanging?? I could spill the beans here first, but we haven't nailed down the title, and that might be a good place to start. So I'll leave you hanging and you can check back tomorrow!

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I finished 3 layouts yesterday - one just needs a dragonfly embellishment, so as soon as I find that I will take pictures and post them for you. Two from camping, one from racing. I'm excited to share!

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Since M's away, it's date week. Monday we went out to a new restaurant for dinner, and then to a friend's for a bonfire with a bunch of people. Yesterday we went to Starbucks in Chapters for a drink and some browsing. Tonight we're out to a dessert place with a bunch of friends, and then tomorrow night we'll be packing to go to family camp. Maybe we'll get done in time to take a walk to Tim Hortons... And with M going to Winnipeg after family camp, we'll have date week part 2 next week! We are still newlyweds, you know - it's only been 2 1/2 years! (Although we'll still be dating when we're old and grey...)

Leave a comment:
What is your favorite date night date?

or

Did you ever have to go to the hospital from camp?
or
What are your favorite 3 foods?
or
Are you excited to hear what my new job is?

Web Pastor?

A friend made a comment about me being a web pastor (I think it was because I suggested we have a staff blog on our church website, and they agreed, and now we do). But that phrase made me sit back... I do connect with my people more online and through texting than face to face. Young adults are not program-goers, and while I've been frustrated over what I do and what I'm not doing in my role there, this is legit. I am staying connected. It's not a cop out, but where they are. And I should do more of it, and less stressing about not seeing them weekly. Hmmm - web pastor...

Here is the blog on our site if you want to check it out. It's new, so there's not much on there yet.

Finding the Oak Shoot

Will I ever get it?
Am I too influenced by what I read?
New ideas pour in and I agree and wonder how I can do that or adapt that into what we are doing, or radically change everything we've done so far to do that instead...

I just had a picture in my mind as I lay in bed - you know that state where your body is weary and heavy and comfortable, but your mind is wide awake and firing on all cylinders? This picture had to be written down, partly because I did not want to forget, and partly to soothe the gray cells in my head to the point where I could sleep.

I saw a yard. The background is that I have been reading for the class I'm taking, both the course notes and one of the texts, and each have provided me with images that have stuck in my head. One line in particular from tonight's reading in the text made me completely sure that our plans for the young adult ministry, while well thought out and worked through, and possibly even right, should maybe be approached in a completely differently way. I won't go into the details until I've had more of a chance to think it through, but it led to this picture. I won't go so far as to say a vision; I just think in images sometimes, and explore the possibilities.

So the yard. I am infinitely small, looking up to the great big sky, and all around are things growing, reaching up. The sky is God, and all these things are reaching and growing up to Him. So much of what is growing is grass. It is trimmed and nicely manicured, and only reaches so high. Some of it looks more like weeds - scruffy looking, but with a bloom. Some of it is attractive, but should it be nurtured, or is it really something that is going to suck the life dry, and end up withered? Some of what is growing are strong trees, that reach high, and expand, and produce new branches. I have in my care a group of people. I want for us to be a people that reaches up to God, yearning to stretch and grow. I don't want us to settle for being grass that stays safe within the trimmed limits. I don't want us to fit into a tidy box of programming with all the bases covered and nothing really happening other than staying a healthy green. I don't want us to latch onto one idea or catch phrase that is right but only part of the big picture, and then suffer from lack of the other things we need. I want us to find that sprout that is an offshoot of the oak. Something that we can start small with, but that has within it the right DNA to grow and reach closer to God than anything else. Something that will grow and multiply and become bigger than any of the parts could be alone, something that works together as one, unified in a common purpose, strong in love, and growing into the sun.

How does that WORK? What does that look like in my real job as pastor to young adults at my church? And so I pray. I have a deadline, but I do have time. It will simmer. The ideas will be discussed, options pondered, and prayed over. And God will lead. I pray we hear clearly.