Spring Work Week 2016

Every spring we are blessed to have a team from Peterborough Free Methodist Church join us to help us be good stewards of the property here at Arrowhead. This year we had 10 people join us, as well as Greg and Colleen Kent from Prince Edward Island and a number of men from our local church here in Cumberland Bay.

We had a fantastic few days together as the team applied over 100 litres of stain to 6 buildings on our property including several cabins, the book shop and the lodge! They also built for us an archery/tomahawk enclosure and we plan to launch a brand new archery program this coming summer for our summer camps!

We will be hosting a one day property clean up in May if you'd like to get in on the action!

Some of the gang getting the stain on "The Craft Barn" 

So thankful for these folks and their desire to serve the Lord. 

These lads built our safety fence for the tomahawk throwing gallery.

We repurposed the old raft and used it as the floor for this archery enclosure!

Truth and Consequences.

The Tension

At Arrowhead we hold the Gospel high, we value the message, and we value those who will receive the message. We do the work of presenting the Gospel in such a way that honours God first and foremost. Following a chronological Gospel model, we avoid man centered teaching, and focus on the central figure of the Gospel, Jesus Christ. We do not manipulate or cajole, we do not build up emotional situations and "count heads". We measure success here not by numbers but by engagement with the teaching. Our two big questions at the end of every week of camp are:

1. Was the Gospel clearly taught effectively?
2. Was the Gospel understood as it was taught?

We teach the Truth of scripture, and the profound tension presented in the Gospel with every non-Biblical worldview reveals the work of the Holy Spirit, allowing us to serve God in His command:

"but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you."  

1 Peter 3:15

In confidence that it is a work of God, we rejoice in every single person who is saved.

The Conundrum

Every year about this time we begin to feel some tension as we strive to connect with a suitable number of volunteers for our summer camp programs at Arrowhead. It can sometimes become a battle against the flesh to worry about just what the summer will bring. 

Will we have enough staff? Will we have enough funds? Will we be able to make the camp available to lots of campers?

These are questions I wrestle with every Spring. We are working to partner with solid Gospel centered churches in Atlantic Canada with a passion for the Gospel. We want to serve the church as an opportunity to effectively share the Gospel, cross-culturally, right here in New Brunswick. This is a ministry of the Church, and it is my hearts desire to see the ministry here thrive. 

The Consequences

I know a lot of pastors who are passionate about evangelism and the Gospel. But they cannot do the work alone. Every Christian in the pew is meant to be an "Out of the pew Christian" as well. 

Volunteering at Arrowhead can be a challenge, it can be hard, it can mean giving up personal time. It can have eternal impact.

The simple fact is this; at Arrowhead we require a minimum number of volunteers to safely and effectively run our programs. We are only ever able to operate our summer camp programs in the labour of love effected by committed Christians. 

Consider it. Prayerfully.