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!

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.

Summer Camps 2012: Junior Camp #3

As has been the case this summer, each week has come with it's own set of challenges, this week was no exception. On Monday, I found myself wondering just what we would face this week. My question was very soon answered as I arrived at the Center to find that there had been a leak in the new water system. Todd Nielsen was up early in the morning and heard a gushing sound, a quick investigation alerted him to a separated pipe in the furnace room. He turned off the water main and woke Phil Welch to help sort out the problem. They cleaned up what could have been a much more serious problem had it occurred with no one around. What had happened was a pipe joint had broken loose in the new water system, it became apparent to us that these should all have been double clamped. As head of maintenance this week, Phil took care of that early in the week.


Some late nights early in the week took their toll on me physically, as I battled a cold and was greeted with a stomach flu on Friday I was forced to bed. The team at ANBC took over the reigns and finished up the day on Friday. After a restful weekend I am feeling much better and am preparing now to head down and meet with the team about our upcoming "Lil' Squirts Camp". Another challenge faced this week was the loss of our laptop (or at least it's brain), which was a bit debilitating as it contained all of my camp roster, staffing and camp program files. Not to mention all of our personal and ministry information. I do run frequent back-ups of the data, but haven't had opportunity since the beginning of camp. Thankfully I was able to find a company in Fredericton that was able to replace the hard drive in our machine and retrieve the data from the old drive. It will take some time to get things put back together, but we are up and running for the time being.

We have been tremendously blessed this summer with staff who love the Lord and with guest speakers dedicated to clearly presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We are so thankful for the truth that has been taught and the understanding that has begun to be seen in the lives of some of these young people. The success of our summer camp ministries is not based on numbers of professions, but on clear and complete presentation of the gospel and good relational discipleship. And those things have happened this summer at ANBC abundantly. It has been a joy to see the Lord work in the lives of campers, leading them to question their sin and recognize their desperate need for repentance and Faith! It has also been a joy to see the Lord work in the lives of our volunteer staff as they seek to serve Him... this summer has not been without it's challenges, but through everything, even through those things we might call problems, God has been Glorified - and that is indeed all that matters.

Below is a video put together by our guest speaker this week, Micah Hiltz. Thanks so much Micah for your attitude of service and diversity of ministry in speaking, music, games, sports and photography!

Is this your year?

Perhaps this is your summer to volunteer with us at Arrowhead for one of our summer camps? Perhaps you've served with us in the past and are considering returning for one or more weeks again this summer?

It's shaping up to be an amazing summer, and we can't wait to see just what the Lord is going to do among both campers and staff!

There are some changes to the program and schedule this year, and we are offering a brand new staff training weekend. If you are coming to be staff with us this summer, you will need to take part in our more extensive staff training program. This volunteer training will be mandatory for everyone, including former staff - so to try to accommodate everyone we will be offering it in Ontario and Maine as well as at ANBC throughout the month of June.

June 15 - 17 (tentative) - Staff Training weekend at Lisbon Falls Baptist Church, Lisbon Falls, Maine
June 22 - 24 - Staff Training weekend at Gorrie Bible Fellowship in Gorrie, Ontario
June 29 - July 1 - Staff Training weekend at A.N.B.C.

Our summer camps schedule is changing this year as well. Our teen camp is the first week this year and will be followed by three weeks of junior camp. At this point I have not confirmed all of the communities and which week they will be coming. I will announce that as soon as it is confirmed.

July 9-13 • Teen Camp (ages 13-18)

July 16-20 • Junior Camp 1 (ages 8-12)
July 23-27 • Junior Camp 2 (ages 8-12)
July 30-August 3 • Junior Camp 3 (ages 8-12)

A brand new camp that we are trying this year will be our "Lil' Squirts Camp" for children ages 5-7. This camp is just three days and we may have older siblings to come along as well.

August 6-8 • Lil' Squirts Camp (ages 5-7)

The discipleship week is a special week of camp when we will offer more one on one discipleship with campers who have shown an interest in knowing more about God's Word and how to study it further. This will be a small camp with greater opportunities for one on one time.

August 13-16 • Discipleship Week

If you would like to volunteer with us for one or more weeks, or are simply considering joining us, you can download our application form by clicking HERE. We look forward to hearing from each of you.

Our camp video from 2011! Looking forward to another fantastic summer.

rentals, repairs and reading

For those of you who have been asking about Liz and the baby, everything is going well. Liz is feeling great and we are very excited to meet our little girl in a few short months. As time progresses, the more it hits me just what is about to happen. It's both exciting and terrifying (a good kind of terrifying).

It has certainly been a busy start to a great year. It is encouraging to be hearing back from many of those I have contacted about serving with us at ANBC in various ways this year. And it is exciting for us to see who the Lord is bringing to us and the team that he is putting together for the various ministries. God is so Good and Sovereign.

The ANBC advisory committee is beginning to take shape, as well as many of our critical roles for our summer camps and retreats. Liz and I are planning to take teens to one of NBBI's teen retreats, so please be in prayer about that as we approach teens about coming. If you have been thinking about serving at Arrowhead in some capacity please prayerfully consider it, you just never know what the Lord will do.

We had a rental at the Center this past weekend, and we have another one next week which is great for ANBC. It is a great facility and is available, so it's good to have it in use throughout some of the quiet months.

I've had a few unexpected repairs to make in the past week as well. The transformer on the furnace died, and I was forced to replace it - it wasn't a huge expense, but at this time of year in the cold it is vital and was unexpected. As well, on the weekend during our rental I went to the upper dorm to get a cot and discovered that in the big wind we'd had last week one of the thermal sliding windows had blown out and was in smitherines on the floor. So, with the help of a couple of guests we covered the hole with plywood and cleaned up the glass. A new window should be here next week.

I've also begun to make plans for our newly energized staff training program for this coming year. Staff training will be mandatory for all staff this year. It is new and incorporates a great deal of very beneficial information, so even for returning staff it will be important. There is some new material that I am investigating with respect to the staff training, including a book that I am hoping to be able to furnish each staff member with. I'll tell you more about it once I've finally decided on it. I am also investigating a cabin devotion booklet that I am quite excited about. A fellow missionary told me about it last week and I am hopeful that it will suit our purposes. Again, this is just a teaser, I'll fill you in once I've decided on it.

Well, that's a pretty good ol' Monday ramble, have a great week yourself!

Announcing 2012

We've already been receiving questions about what the schedule for next years summer camps will look like. We've worked out a schedule and communicated with our leadership about it, and have it here for you today!

There are a few changes to this years schedule and we will be initiating some new staff training in accordance with NCEM's policies. If you have any questions about the schedule or would like to take part in any of the ministries this coming year, don't hesitate to get in touch. We will be contacting former staff and seeking to fill key roles in the New Year - the staff application forms will be available at that time as well. We're looking forward to a fantastic year of ministry at Arrowhead and can't wait to see many of you again, and some of you for the first time!

March 30 - April 1 - Mawiomi: the gathering, ANBC's 2nd annual Men's Retreat

April 22 - 28 - A.N.B.C. Work Week
If you would like to come out and join us for some Spring clean-up or renovations or construction, we have work projects that suit everyones skill level. It's a great week of fellowship and a great opportunity to serve in a very practical way.

June 29 - July 1 - Staff Training at A.N.B.C.
If you are coming to be staff with us this summer, you will need to take part in our more extensive staff training program this year. If you would like to arrange a summer ministry team and feel that you are too far away to come for the weekend, please communicate with me and we can perhaps arrange to come and offer the weekend locally. This staff training will be mandatory for everyone, including former staff.

July 9-13 • Teen Camp (ages 13-18)
July 16-20 • Junior Camp 1 (ages 8-12)
July 23-27 • Junior Camp 2 (ages 8-12)
July 30-August 3 • Junior Camp 3 (ages 8-12)
August 6-8 • Lil' Squirts Camp (ages 5-7)
August 13-16 • Discipleship Week
The communities that will be coming during each week has yet to be determined. I will announce it when I have further details, but please do not let this delay your application as staff, as you may find we have filled all of our staffing needs by the time we have this detail ironed out.

Teen camp will be the first week of camp this year. As it tends to be a high impact week of camp, this will allow us to all come full of energy and ready to engage in the programs. We have added two new programs this year. The "Lil' Squirts" camp is a pilot this year to see how it works out. It will be for younger children, but will allow for those children to bring their older brother or sister as well to help keep them from becoming homesick. The discipleship week at the end of the summer is also a new addition to our programs at ANBC. It is a program that has been piloted by another NCEM camp in the west with success. This week will be for a limited number of staff and campers who have expressed a desire to know more about things of the Lord. With a small group setting, it will involve activities and time in the Word in a more focused environment.

September 21-23 • ANBC's annual Ladies Retreat

November 24 • Christmas Dinner
It is our hope to put on a Christmas Dinner for families in communities that NCEM has been working. It will be available free of charge with a suggested donation of non-perishable food items for the food bank.

If you have any questions about the programs or schedule, please don't hesitate to drop us a line - we'd love to hear from you.