ANCB On-Site Camps 2015

This year we hosted 3 weeks of camp here on site; a teen camp (ages 13-18) and two junior camps (ages 8-12). I would love for us to have four weeks of on site camp, but there are some challenging circumstances that make it difficult to maintain three weeks of junior camp at this time. Arrowhead operates as a support ministry to Church planting ministry, and the simple fact is that there are just not enough missionaries in the field, here in Atlantic Canada, to support. With that in mind we are hosting a Summit here in October, that I hope will be well attended by local lay people and Church leaders who wish to see the Gospel go out among the First Nations people of Atlantic Canada. We have run into some challenges with respect to band funding as well, some changes in community leadership can make dramatic changes for the ability of young people to get to camp - one huge measure that directly affects getting these kids out to camp to hear the Gospel taught is camper sponsorship. If you would like to know more about that please feel free to be in touch with me.

This year we were so thankful for our three weeks of on site camp. They were a tremendous blessing. As is often the case, they were fraught with those challenges that God saw fit to teach us with. But I am so happy to report that the Gospel was clearly and comprehensively taught, and from our observations, clearly understood but many of our young people. As a measure of success, I can tell you that the Gospel was a central focus to our camps and handled well by both our guest speakers and our cabin leaders and volunteer staff. Plus... it was a blast. Here are a few pictures from our summer.

We enjoy sweet fellowship during our summer camps.

Bruce Steeves and a couple of the lads helping get our Friday "breakfast in bed" ready for the campers.

Relationships forged.

Tuck is a huge part of camp!

We had two challenges with our lake this summer; firstly we didn't have a lifeguard, this alone was unfortunately enough to keep us out of the water. However, our second problem was the closure of Grand Lake due to a "blue green algae bloom". So slip-n-slide was one way we kept wet!

Teen camp challenges are always fun.

Tuck Time!

 

Gathering time is twice a day, and is the center around which the rest of the day rotates. We were blessed to have teachers this summer who, not only loved the Lord, but taught the Gospel so clearly.

Teen Camp 2013

It was a remarkable week at ANBC this week! It was one of those week when God reveals Himself to us in such abundantly humbling and amazing ways. It is so clear after a week like this that the work is God's work and we are simply His servants, and as long as we remain submitted to His will we need not fear, worry or have concern.

A friend of mine sent me the following verse tonight, and I think there is a poignant truth that is very applicable to the ministry we are engaged in at summer camp.

"Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." ~ Zechariah 4:6

This week we had a relatively small complement of volunteers. It is not something that I allow myself to be overly stressed out about; our key positions are filled and we rely on the Lord to work in the lives of those He would have join us. And that is exactly what happened. A couple of days before the camp was to begin, I received an eMail from a young man from Ontario who has served with us in the past, and has already gone through our training program. He had thought his job would prevent him from serving at ANBC this summer, but it just so happened that there would be a down week during our teen camp. So, he wanted to know if we could use the help. I simply replied to him; "come"! Another gentleman that is planning to serve with us this week as our medic, felt compelled to join our ranks for the teen camp as well. And a friend of mine from Nova Scotia, felt led by the Holy Spirit to contact us and come to join us for a couple of weeks!

We were expecting about 12 teens for our teen camp. By Monday evening we had 33. What a blessing! The vast majority of the campers were girls, and we simply did not have enough female staff to serve as cabin leaders. I did a reshuffle of the job roster for the week and we had some very humble and servant hearted folks willing to be cabin leaders (including Liz, who did an amazing job of being a cabin leader and keeping the kitchen stocked and caring for Ivy). I called up a good friend who is the director of a Bible camp about an hour away, and he just so happened to have an extra cabin leader who was willing to come and serve with us. She had been through his training program and has had a heart to reach out to First Nations people.

It was absolutely amazing to see God put the week together. I have never seen the teens at our teen camp as attentive to the teaching; or as interactive with questions and comments in the cabins, as they were this week. There was a real sense of the work of the Holy Spirit as we laboured together for the sake of the Gospel.

We were without a camp speaker until the last minute, one had been scheduled, but due to some overbookings was unable to join us. Thankfully Todd Nielsen was prepared to serve for us in that capacity and brought the Gospel chronologically and clearly throughout the week!

Chicken Burger Day! Always a favourite.

Teens enjoying the new tuck shop!

On these HOT July days, the waterfront has been a HUGE favourite!

sorry for the delay...

To all those of you who faithfully read my blog, I must apologize for the long delay since my last post. It has indeed been a busy couple of weeks. Camp finished up with Teen Camp at the end. We had a great time. Our guest speakers were from Maine and did an excellent job of presenting the gospel both practically and clearly. We very much appreciated their ministry with us. The theme of the camp was "The Amazing Race" and was followed throughout the week with challenges and games. It was a lot of fun.

Chapel time with Dale & B0b

"A Needle In A Haystack" challenge!

Team X-treme!

Some awesome opportunities to chat with the guys!

A speed challenge... wonder who won this one?

After camp was over we busied ourselves with clean-up and preparing for the Eastern Field Conference to be held at Arrowhead. Len and Lorrayne, our field directors, arrived a week early to help with preparations. They did a fantastic job of running a great field conference this year! Mike Matthews of WRG was our guest speaker as we reconnected with and fellowshiped with our Eastern and Eastern Arctic missionaries. There were about fourty people here for the conference.

As always, we were truly blessed by the ministry of Mike Matthews.

Now that conference is over we'll be preparing for a missions conference in Maine followed by the Ladies retreat in October. We have some winterizing and clean-up to do after conference, but we're looking forward to a few days of rest next week.

We just sent out or most recent issue of our prayer letter, if you haven't been receiving it and would like to, please feel free to drop us a line. We'd be more than happy to add you to our mailing list.

Stay tuned, I promise not to leave you hanging for so long this time :0)