ANBC Corn Boil

This fall we hosted our third annual Corn Boil and Pie Auction fundraiser. It's always a great deal of fun and we always enjoy the fellowship and laughter. This year we raised almost $2000 to go toward security cameras and signage for the camp buildings. A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in the event and came out to support the camp.

Lots of folks came in and enjoyed some turkey and corn! 

These two. 

We had 24 beautiful pies and cakes donated to auction off; final bids ranged from $25 to $100. 

Rob McCready did a fantastic job of auctioneering. 

Lots of good natured competition.

Weekender at CHBC

It was a great privilege to travel with the other two elders from Cumberland Bay Baptist Church to the Weekender at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. 9 Marks hosts a conference at CHBC periodically for the benefit of elders and pastors who are interested in the polity of the church. At Cumberland Bay Baptist Church we have recently moved into an congregation led eldership model of ecclesiology and felt it would be beneficial to go and attend the Weekender together for the edification of our own church.

The conference included opportunity to sit in on an elders meeting, a members meeting, Sunday services and numerous seminars. We were given many printed resources and given the opportunity to share a meal in the home of an elder of their church.

I cannot begin to express to you how useful this conference is, if you are considering attending, do.

We met some friends for lunch at China Town. 

We had an hour long metro ride into the city from Dulles. 

Matthew was in his glory at the Smithsonian aviation museum. 

Awesome no parking sign over at the Anglican Church. 

Andrew successfully transported a bag of Covered Bridge "Weekender" chips to Mark Dever at the 9 Marks Weekender; cause that's how we roll.

We enjoyed several panel discussions and seminars over the course of the weekend. 

It was very helpful to learn the history of the Church through it's journey to an eldership model of leadership. 

Though a church that seats 1,000, I felt very much like I was in a small local church.

The elders engage in a debrief after Sunday's services for the sake of edification and accountability.

Of course we got to be tourists for a few hours as well.

Some Fawcett family vacation

This year immediately following camp we packed up our little family and took our camper to Cavendish for some much needed rest and relaxation. We camped there for a week and very much enjoyed the time together. The summer tends to be a whirlwind and we can get into a state of inertia where everything is urgent - so this vacation time away helps us to regroup and refocus a little bit after a busy summer.

 We sure do love our little camper!

Can't have vacation without ice cream! 

 Lots of play parks with these two lovely people.

Ivy and mommy going for a paddle at Shining Waters Park. 

Ivy and daddy met Optimus Prime. 

At Cavendish Beach, Ivy was able to take part in a sand castle building program.

ANBC Summer Camp Outs

Every summer we take a small group of teens on an off site camp out as a way to build into their lives in a more intentional discipleship focused way. We've found these to be profoundly useful camps and have seen some excellent results through them. This past summer, along with 3 volunteers, I took a group of teens camping in Cape Breton and then the following week another group (with some overlap) to Brier Island. For our second camp the intention was to camp at Kejimkujik National Park, but due to forest fires in the area we adjusted and went to Brier Island instead. Without a truck we were a little uncertain how our camp outs would work - but we had a friend of the camp loan us his truck for the Cape Breton trip and then we decided to only take a small group of guys for the second trip to Brier Island. At the end of the summer everything worked out for the best!

Both of these camps were wonderful opportunities and we continue to value them as extensions of our summer camp ministry here at Arrowhead.

BBQ on the road at SaltSprings Provincial Park. 

The gang at Annapolis Royal. 

One of my favourite things is to cook the breakfast! 

The gang at the Fortress of Louisbourg. 

Some of the guys fishing off fishermen's wharf at Brier Island, NS. 

We hiked half the island one day - our destination was that lighthouse in the background. It was a beautiful hike, we were all well tired that night. 

God's creation is beautiful.

ANBC Summer Camps 2016

Arrowhead is best known for our summer camp programs. It is an aspect of the ministry here that we absolutely love and find such a huge blessing. This summer we hosted three weeks of on site camps here at Arrowhead; a teen camp and two subsequent weeks of junior camp. The new playground was a huge hit and was seldom not covered in kids. It was also amazing to have a volunteer lifeguard for our summer camps this year; Kyle Hubick did a fantastic job of keeping our waterfront safe!

As is the case at Arrowhead, we do not measure the success of our summer in a number of "decisions" or even in the number of campers we see through our door. We measure our success in two ways: 1 - was the Gospel clearly taught; and 2 - was there evidence that the Gospel was clearly understood. Conviction of the Holy Spirit and a rejection or submission to the Gospel is not our work, our work is to faithfully proclaim the Gospel and plead with young people to know God. This summer, even through some challenges, we saw the Gospel proclaimed and we did see God work in the lives of both our campers and staff volunteers. Please pray for those young people who left our property with the Word of God in their minds - that they would be pierced with conviction of their sin and the need for redemption.

Kirk was our guest teacher for Teen Camp, solid Gospel teaching as always. 

Tomahawk throwing was a new activity this year and it was a huge hit.  

Awesome to see us able to use our waterfront again. 

Serving up the yummy vittles.

Some of our summer volunteers. 

Jim serving up some tuck, makes him a popular guy! 

Our new archery program was a huge success this year. 

Announcements with Rick in the dining hall!

We were so blessed to have this family with us for our on-site camps! Rick served as our program co-ordinator for the summer and kept everything going! We love you Mittons!

Day Camps 2016

This year our Day Camps program saw us visiting Oromocto First Nation, Natoaganeg (Eel Ground First Nation) and Esgenoôpetitj (Burnt Church First Nation). It is a fantastic way to connect with families and kids in community and make ourselves available to them for summer camps! We run an afternoon program from 12:30-1:00pm until 4:00-4:30pm; the program encompasses a number of our summer camp elements including games, music and a Bible lesson. We do these camps at no charge - so it is only by gifts from people such as yourselves that we can even bring these programs to the communities.

Carroll Hill with the Bible story at Burnt Church. 

A powerful reminder outside of the school at Burnt Church. 

Cathy Hill sharing a story of repentance about Zacchaeus. 

Taking a picture of Venus taking a picture of everyone getting set up at the home of Timothy SImon in Eel Ground!  

Some of our volunteers for the week of day camps! 

Music and puppets time at Oromocto.

Volunteer Training 2016

We hosted our annual volunteer training sessions here at Arrowhead this weekend. Every year the training evolves a little bit as we tailor it more specifically to our needs here at Arrowhead. Easy Believism continues to be a battle that we must engage in as we strive to see the Gospel being clearly taught and our goals be for solid teaching and effective communication. Next year will see some advances to our training program and everyone will find some fresh information that will both challenge and enable us to be more effective stewards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

As always the training weekend is a lot of fun and sets  us off at a great pace for the summer. This year was no different.