Some lessons in God's Sovereignty at ANBC

It can be easy to slip into the mindset that we are in charge of our ministries — to forget that, in fact, God has everything well in hand and most certainly under control.

This past week was a challenging one for us here at Arrowhead, and it served to be a stark reminder that, in fact, no matter how much we may strive to be fully prepared and equipped for our summer camps; God can, and does, have farther reaching plans. So, with this reminder we are encouraged.

We would ask you to join with us in prayer for a number of issues that have arisen with respect to our summer camp ministries.

• We are still awaiting permission and a venue to host a day camp in one community. We ministered there last summer, and were well received - we are still waiting for social services to confirm our attendance there.

• We were informed this week, that a community that we normally have a large number of campers from has made the decision to not fund any summer camping activities for the youth excepting that which originates from their own recreation dept.; this has the potential to have a dramatic impact on the ability of campers to come from that community to summer camp. We have received some sponsorship funds, this may help to some degree.

• We found it necessary to cancel the second of our junior camps (July 28 - August 1) due to an almost complete absence of volunteer staff. We are making arrangements with communities that had been scheduled to come that week to come on the other weeks.

• We had to cancel our 3rd annual Charity Golf Classic that was scheduled for yesterday - due to low attendance. This has generated several thousand dollars of income for ANBC in years past, which has been very helpful to our summer programs. Although this was initially discouraging, we have seen the Lord providing in amazing ways this summer that far outweighs what we may have lost to the tournament.

• We found out this week that the lifeguard that we had lined up was unable to re-certify for her waterfront lifeguarding qualifications. She will, thankfully, still be able to join us for our summer camps, but not in the role of lifeguard. We have made some new inquiries about finding lifeguards for even just one day for each week of camp. New Brunswick has a dramatic shortage of lifeguards, so this is also a prayer request.

• As we enter our last week prior to the camps, there is a great deal of work to be done here at the Center. Please pray for energy and wisdom as camp hurtles toward us.

W.M.S. and dustings and camp prep...

It was our pleasure last Tuesday to visit Jacksontown, NB and share with the ladies of the W.M.S. group from Jacksontown Baptist Church. It is always a blessing and encouragement to be with them; it is amazing to see the heart they have for mission and the work that they accomplish as a small group. It is humbling to see and be with them as they read letters from missionaries and pray together for the various needs around the globe.

This is always a busy time of year - and as we prepare the Center for our summer camp programs it was a huge blessing to have my mother and sister come for several days and help us with cleaning and sorting and organizing in the main lodge. I can't even imagine that we would have been able to get those things done at all without their help.

We are always grateful to have people come alongside and labour for the Lord here at Arrowhead. Time is getting short and I think we are ready in most respects for camp. Now a huge prayer request is for the Lord to bring those kids that he would have here with us. We are also hopeful to see a number of teens to go with us to Cape Breton this year! Please continue to keep ANBC in prayer as the summer rapidly descends...

Bridgewater Open Bible

It was a tremendous blessing, this past Saturday, to be able to be in Bridgewater, NS at Bridgewater Open Bible Church to meet with a team that they have put together that will be serving at ANBC this coming summer during one of our Junior Camps. It was a full day and we took the opportunity to go over a large amount of material. It's always a full day with lots to think about - but we had some good discussion and challenged Worldviews just a little bit. It's great to see young people who are interested in things of the Lord and communicating that in discipleship to others!

It was exciting to discuss the Gospel with these teens, and to see that they have a firm grasp of it already! We look forward to having them join us this summer.

Fair Havens Community Church

Last week we had a ministry team join us from Beaverton (and greater Beaverton), Ontario; from Fair Havens Community Church. They came ready to work, and work they did. It was their primary intention to complete the "adopt a cabin" project that they had begun last year, and not only did they accomplish that, but they helped complete several other projects as well. I had been feeling the pinch to get the property ready for camp - but by the time the team was ready to leave everything looked fresh and ready for campers. It has been a wonderful blessing to have them join us this year.

Heather & Ashley never seemed to stop working... and they became experts in a wide variety of jobs this week!

Thumbs up from Chris & Joe! Everyone worked so hard to complete these cabins!

Marilyn & Melanie kept everyone well fed for the entire week!

Andrew, Chris & Joe... put some finishing touches on the staff bathrooms - now we can use them again! (Don't tell the staff...)

What a fantastic week we had with these servant hearted folks!!

The team from Fairhavens Community Church. We had a fantastic week having these faithful folks with us!

Andrew did a mighty lot of yard work this week... betweel he and Marilyn they raked most of our leaves on the property!

a new camp out wagon!

It is with great thanks that ANBC has received this custom made trailer for camp outs and canoe trips. Thanks to Jamie Weber and Weber Welding in Wroxeter Ontario for making this wonderful tool a reality for ANBC camping programs. The racks on the side will carry our camp out barrels and there is space for 4 canoes on the top. Inside of the trailer is more than sufficient room for the remainder of our camping gear!

Last summer when Jamie was with us at camp we discussed the possibility of this trailer - and just what it might entail. On our behalf he acquired the base trailer and spent his own time and shop time and supplies to bring it to life. We are so very grateful for this wonderful gift.

Stan, Samuel & Jamie building the trailer for ANBC!

This is the crew that worked so hard to build the new camp out trailer! Left to Right is Jamie Weber, Stan Skipper and Samuel Cook.

Cabin Leadership and Discipleship

Well, here we are — in that final stretch before our summer camps. June 1st... it's hard to believe it's here already!

There are (what at times seems overwhelming) numerous logistics to consider when it comes to planning our summer camps. It is during this time of year when we really feel the crunch of seeing all of these moving parts come together. It is certainly a process that has taught us the importance of relying on the Lord! One of the areas in which we strive diligently is in connecting with Gospel grounded and Gospel committed people who are available and qualified to serve as volunteers during our summer camps in any number of areas. As seems most often to be the case, it can be quite challenging to find enough qualified volunteers who are willing to serve as cabin leaders. This is not a role we fill lightly at Arrowhead, serving as a cabin leader is one of our most key roles; and it is not simply a job we assign randomly. Ideally, as challenging as it might seem, we like to see an adult serve as the senior cabin leader; committed Christians of 20-50 years of age are most effective in this discipleship capacity. It's no secret, it can be very draining to keep up with a cabin full of energetic youth, but this shouldn't scare you away from this opportunity to build into the life of a young person and actively share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You might be amazed to discover just how much energy you really have when it comes to camp.

We've begun to strongly encourage families and adults to come and serve during our summer camp programs; and we've seen great results in both the ministry and in the stretching opportunity it gives to the family as they serve together; and there are a number of ways that a family can come and serve together.

This year at Arrowhead we do have a number of volunteer teams coming and are excited to see folks coming out to partner with us in ministry. But we're still in great need of some cabin leadership for some of our camps. We need some male cabin staff for our teen camp (July 7-11); as well as a need for both male and female cabin staff for our last two junior camps (July 28 - August 1; and August 4 - 8).

We have a wonderful (and mandatory) volunteer training component that will help to prepare you for serving at Arrowhead; and hopefully challenge you with some of the aspects of communicating cross culturally in an effective, God honoring way. This training is taking place here at Arrowhead from June 27-29, accommodations and meals are provided. If, however, you are entirely unable to be here for this weekend - please don't let that discourage you. We are going to be offering modules of the training throughout the summer and may still be able to accommodate you.

It is a sacrifice to give up some of your summer vacation, but what better way to do that than for the sake of the Gospel; seeing it communicated clearly to young people; and building new relationships grounded in discipleship.