Summer Round Up - Thursday

A light rain began to fall around 6.00 am this morning but soon gave way to a beautiful day! We have been blessed this year by the unusually good weather! And we are making the most of it! Each group heads out in the morning to focus on their major activity.

This year we had twelve people in our riflery program. Campers are taught basic gun safety, shooting through the peep sights and have various exercises throughout the day to help them develop their skills and keep them motivated. The head of our Rifle program, Dan Lee sits here are explains some of the things they will be involved with today!

Then they get to put into practice the things they have learned. Six campers at a time are able to line up along the firing line, where they are reminded of the safety procedures they must use before they shoot. Each camper is to check the safety and make sure the breech block is carefully inserted before they leave the line to check on  their scores. This has been a great experience for these campers!

A favorite for the campers is store time! The addition of our soft serve ice cream machine has been a great hit with campers and staff! The store stocks a wide variety of candy and ice creams but also has a wide assortment of t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies, bags, books, water bottles, mugs and inexpensive items to remind you of camp.  Many come straight from sports or the pool and are ready for something cold!

Tonight there were two exciting events. The camping group went on an off-site camping and canoe trip down the Allegheny River, stopping to sleep overnight on Crull's Island before returning to camp tomorrow. In the meantime, the rest of the camp is having an overnight up at Fort Seneca. They will have chapel at the Fort tonight, the sleep-over and then have breakfast delivered to them. Following breakfast, they will return to camp to resume the last full day of the programs!

Summer Round Up - Wednesday

The morning began cool and foggy but soon warmed up to a beautiful day. This is so typical of Sunfish Run Valley! Having a warm and sunny day allowed us to continue with all the activities the campers had started in the previous days.

The campers are attentive and engaged during our chapel and Bible study times, which also include some skits that help reinforce the concepts we are discussing.

Morning chapel usually includes the popular Choose the Right Door to find out how much we have remembered from the day before. It has also included our skits where the performers help dramatize the stories and help the Bible come alive to our campers.

Traditionally Wednesday evenings is our cook's night off, even though they still have to prepare everything for us beforehand. We usually have a camp picnic with cheeseburgers, hamburgers and hot dogs along with salad and chips.

A new feature of Round Up this year is our Archery Certification program. We have a number of interested staff members who are working towards their certifications and will become instructors later in the season and beyond. We are grateful for the interest and for the willingness to commit the time in order to provide qualified instructors for our campers in the future. Here a new instructor practices his newly learned skills on another staff member!

Summer Round Up - Tuesday

Another great day at the craft cabin! Each camper who signs up for crafts as there primary activity gets to spend at least three hours a day working on their crafts and some even add an additional hour during their optional time! There are some great projects being completed this year and enthusiasm is high!

The ropes course is also moving on to some of the more exciting events. In addition to the climbing tower, they have now moved up to the High Ropes and are also starting to add the Leap of Faith and Heaven Bound. But first they are called on to master the Wall of Jericho where the object is to get the entire team up and over the seemingly insurmountable wall!

One of the wonderful things about camp is the opportunity to make new friends. Sometimes it is re-connecting with old friends from other years or even other camp sessions. But many times it is getting to know people that were strangers on Sunday when they arrived! Seeing people learn to laugh and share the things that are important is very encouraging for all of us.

Check back tomorrow for more updates about the chapels and Bible studies...

Summer Round Up - Monday

Registration went well and by Sunday all the campers were hard at work taking their horse and swim tests to determine which activity they would be following all week. One of the first activities after registration is the Hazard Hike which explains the boundaries of camp and the rules of the pool and the waterfront, followed by the lowering of the flags.

We also met our speakers for the week, Eric Smith and Jon Benson. Eric will be taking up a number of chapters in the book of Daniel, while Jon will be leading the daily Bible studies focusing on the the Armor of God found in Ephesians 6. We are looking forward to seeing how these two topics come together!

Our riding program is now well underway with the campers spending time each day learning to feed and care for the horses, as well as also learn some more advanced techniques for riding and controlling the horses. Trail rides will be a little longer and a little more challenging than the rides in other sessions!

One of the favorite activities at camp is the Low Ropes events where campers are challenged to try things that are well out of their comfort zone! In this picture, campers are trying to get as many people as possible on a small wooden platform designed to hold just a few! It is called Noah's Ark and is also a great picture of working together to accomplish what God has planned! Other events will include the Wall of Jericho , Unequally Yoked, Heaven Bound and the Leap of Faith! More to follow...!

Our hummingbird feeders are emptied almost every day! Fortunately we have a number of dedicated staff members who have made it their responsibility to care for these delicate and fragile birds who have made camp their home!

Teen 2 - Friday

Last day of camp! These are always bittersweet days as camp draws to a close but it has been a great time. The campers have bonded well together and both cabins and teams are working well! Our final chapels were Standing Firm in your Commitments where campers were asked to make covenants or promises to God about how they would live their lives. Then they were asked to share that with someone else who would be willing to help keep them accountable. Our speaker Sam Butler and our Assistant Director Jeremy Bodder also worked hard to provide the music that would support the messages during our week!

A highlight of our last afternoon is our canoe races where teams compete a course across the lake, picking up additional passengers along the way before racing back to the beginning. This is always an especially competitive race and was followed by a staff canoe race as well!

The final night of the week also included a banquet! This week was an International Fiesta. The main courses were all Mexican food, with tostadas, homemade pico de gallo and chicken and pork. The desserts included Tiramisu from Italy, Baclava from Greece and Crepes from France! Campers were encouraged to dress the part!

 

During the day, each team had a prepared a skit for the group that would demonstrate through drama some of the man lessons learned through the week of messages. One group did the Life of Joseph demonstrating how a believer could Stand Firm in the face of obstacles. Another did the story of Nehemiah and several others focused on the Standing Firm in your Testimony with the help of good Christian friends who would help keep you accountable. They were all well planned and well performed!

The evening ended with a bonfire during which a number of campers and counselors shared what God had done in their lives. Many shared of the great struggles they had endured and others talked about how God had brought them through difficult events in their lives. It was a great way to end the night and the week! See you next year!

Teen 2 - Thursday

Today is double points Thursday where teams who have fallen behind have the opportunity to come back strongly! Every team has a chance to succeed! There are extra team points for memory verses and for giving correct answers in chapel as well as the sports event. In fact, the line of campers at the left are all waiting to say their memory verses to the verse judge! Five out of our six teams have now had their entire team learn their verses and many are working on bonus verses as well! Great job!

Sam has continued his studies on the life of Nehemiah with an encouragement to Stand Firm in God's Word. His evening chapel focused on Standing Firm in Obedience. The lesson we learnt was that faith is always followed by obedience. First believe, then do! Good challenges about doing the right things and being faithful to God's Word.

Two of the biggest competitions of the day were the finals in our swim relays and in our ongoing soccer tournament! Both were hard fought to the end with victorious teams earning plenty of points to assist their team challenges. Many points were racked up and almost changed the team point race!

Several other events like Trash Can football were played but did not make the same changes to the overall points score!

One of the highlights of the evening was our chocolate fountain for late night snack! Campers were able to hold strawberries, pineapple, marshmallow, angel cake and a few other items on the chocolate waterfall for a sticky but delicious late night treat! On the other side of the lodge were a variety of ice cream floats using Root Beer, Cherry Soda or Orange Soda to build their own floats!

But by far, the biggest highlight of the night was the meteor shower! Jim Lehmann was our resident astronomer who took groups up to the hillside to lie on tarps and gaze at the sky. What a beautiful night! The sky could not have been clearer, which was a real answer to prayer. The Milky Way was spread out before us and every constellation and star shone bright while we waited for the meteors! We were not disappointed with over eighty sightings in just over an hour! God is truly an amazing God!

Teen 2 - Wednesday

Another great day at camp! The weather has been perfect and it is great to see everyone appreciating the outdoors. Our campers are enjoying the team games as well as their individual electives. Our chapel times have also been well received by both campers and staff. We have enjoyed hearing more about Nehemiah and the way God worked in his life to help him Stand Firm in his Faith.

One of the great lessons of camp is a population of hummingbirds. There are dozens of them around the porch each day enjoying the specially prepared hummingbird food! They all jostle for position, hovering in place waiting for their turn before flying off at high speed. Every now and then, one of our hummingbirds will get inside by mistake and will fly around until exhausted. One of our bird lovers will usually scoop him up and help him rest and eat until ready to take off again. What a great example of the care of our Father, who sees us often flying aimlessly until exhausted before helping us back to strength again!

Wednesday is a special day for food as well! Our cook Pam, becomes Princess Pambo in her Pizza Palace! A wide variety of pizza's and salads are made for us to enjoy, including her signature Buffalo Wing pizza, her Pirogi pizza and her newest Big Mac pizza! There was no shortage of food and no shortage of fun!

Wednesday has also traditionally been the evening of our BBQ Picnic when the men do the cooking! Of course all the food has been prepared and packed by our kitchen team! We head down to the picnic area near the creek and enjoy hamburgers, cheeseburgers, salads and chips together under the trees. And our cooks finally get a chance to rest!

We rounded out the evening with a video from Louie Giglio called Indescribable, where he helped us understand the awesome enormity of our God by considering the universe he made for no other reason that to show us His glory. The pictures coming back from the Hubble telescope are truly amazing and reveal the creative power of a God who loves us!

Tomorrow we will be back in the book of Nehemiah again!

Teen 2 - Tuesday

Our chapels have been great with many commenting on how practical they have found them. Sam has asked us to Stand Firm in our Testimonies and highlighted the importance of being consistent in our Christian walk. He also commented on the fact that Nehemiah was a man of prayer and encouraged us to Stand Firm in our Prayer Life. Last night he reminded us that if we make a stand for the Lord, we are likely to be mocked, discouraged and even persecuted. We should take comfort in that fact that all faithful believers will face these things!

What a great first day! There were so many different activities for everyone. Some of the teams have played 'sports' like whiffle ball, cage basketball, blind volleyball or even ladder golf! If these are not sports you recognize, take a look at these recent pictures! Ladder Golf is played with two golf balls on a string!



Blind Volleyball is played with an oversized ball and a giant parachute covering the net! None of the players know when the next ball will come across the net or from what direction! It adds a new dimension to an old game!

Whiffle ball is a great favorite and allows any of us to play without too much skill! This year we have taken the whiffle out of whiffle ball and are playing with a soft nerf ball! In addition all of the regular games like soccer and basketball are being played.

Teen 2 - Monday

Teen 2 got off to a great start! This is generally a smaller camp with quite a number of stay overs from the previous week. As a result, registration is faster and camper orientation is much smoother. We have already discussed many of the do's and don'ts from the prior week. Our speaker this week is Sam Butler, who will be taking up the topic 'Standing Firm in the Faith' using Nehemiah as our text for the week. There are some great lessons to be learned from Nehemiah and his willingness to faithfully serve the Lord, in spite of the many obstacles facing him and his people. We serve a faithful God!

The early mornings are still a great time for devotions and spending time with the Lord. Seth Hogan, our Teen Director has prepared a handbook for each camper to help develop good habits and practices regarding our early morning prayer time. Each morning the cabins split up and spend a short time in the Word before heading up for breakfast!

There were a lot of campers who were getting to know each other for the first time and there were a variety of games to help everyone learn something new about their friends! There will be also be some brand new games this week that should be a lot of fun!

During chapel our team of skit players will be acting out the story each day, trying to stay as faithful to the Word as possible. Many of the stories come to life on the stage, sometimes with a little creative license!

Our introduction to Nehemiah also introduced the fact that he was a taster for the king, so a new element added to our Choose the Right Door section is the mystery cup of unknown liquid! It could be something like root beer  or it might be vinegar. It will be interesting to see the wide variety of liquids that can be tested this week!

Check back to hear what Sam is sharing with us from God's Word!

Teen 1 - Friday

Well, the week has flown by faster than we could have imagined. The weather has been great and there has been fun in every corner of the valley! We had our last Choose the Right Door, where campers answer questions about the previous lessons for prizes and surprises! The lessons in Joshua are winding down, with a challenge from Jeremy to not give the devil an opportunity to gain a foothold in our lives. Our prayer is that each of us will leave camp more determined to serve the Lord faithfully in every area of our lives. Our battles against sin and sinful behavior are not battles we have to fight alone. The Lord hates sin more that we do and is ready to work with us to rid it from our lives.

Our bunny campers have enjoyed their week, with a full program of activities overseen by our Bunny Camp Director, Kia Edsall and her willing helpers! This was one of the largest groups we have had in bunny camp for a while and keeping them all occupied, entertained, engaged and accounted for was a full time job! Thank you to Kia and her team! If not for Bunny Camp, many on staff would not have been able to serve this week. One of the highlights of their week was the hay ride!


The last full day of camp allows us to complete a couple of great camp traditions. The first is the canoe races between teams! Each team paddles a course using only their hands, with very strict rules for safety. Every lifeguard in camp is on duty for this event to make sure it is not only fun but safe, while all the their team members shout encouragement and directions for their team. What a great picture on living the Christian life! While we try to navigate through the chaos of life while receiving instructions that pull us in many directions, we need to listen for the voice of that One who will lead us the right way!

Some years we also end the week with a large campfire after chapel. After rain on Thursday night we weren't sure if it would happen this week, but were happy when we were able to get together around the campfire on Friday night to sing songs and to listen to the testimonies shared by many of our campers. About half a dozen campers shared their stories with us about how they came to know the Lord. Many had heard the gospel when they were quite young and recognizing their need for salvation, turned to the Lord Jesus Christ. But they also shared the struggles that they had dealing with sin in their lives or working through trials that strengthened their faith. It was very encouraging to see the Lord working in the lives of these believers. Following our campfire, many of the campers returned to their cabins and spent time talking about their own struggles. It was good to be able to pray with one another about these things.

Another year of Teen 1 has finished. We pray that the thoughts that have been shared will find a place in the heart of each us and we might seek to serve the Lord with all our heart. One of the common thoughts expressed through the time of sharing was the need to surround ourselves with good friends who will hold us accountable and encourage us through the difficult times that will come. Making friends is one of the great benefits of camp and we hope they will keep in touch throughout the year!

Have a great year and see you next summer!