Rick Grover, the featured speaker for the 2007 Christian Heritage Conference held here over the Memorial Day weekend, said, “When we see as God sees, we will do as God does.” The theme of the conference addressed reaching out to meet the physical and social needs of those who are hurting in our communities. It was touching to hear how Christians respond to those in distress around them; sheltering the homeless, counseling women in crisis pregnancies, operating a food cupboard, offering assistance after a disaster.
It is refreshing to consider what God sees when he looks at Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp. I am sure He sees the individual campers coming to a place where they can experience His love and respond to His call upon their lives. Do you suppose that He looks beyond the clothes, the hairstyle, the attitude, and the behaviors to look upon hearts open to receive Him? I think God also sees a community of people from Camp staff to a host of volunteers who work hard to find ways to present the Gospel of Christ significantly to a fresh generation. Also within God’s range of vision is certainly the hearts of those who faithfully hold up the Camp with their prayers and with their gifts.
1 Samuel 16:7 says, “The LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” May God help us to look past the outward appearance to see and minister to the hearts of those who come to this place.
We are in the midst of the summer camping season with about 500 registrations so far. Time is counting down to the remaining Family and Adult camps and conferences. We do appreciate your prayers and enthusiasm for what God has yet to do in the remaining weeks. Please continue to pray for us that having seen what God sees, he will strengthen and equip us to do as He would do.
We would like to also announce that a basic design for the Missions Building has been agreed upon. A sketch will be portrayed in the Windchime coming out in the next two weeks. We are also evaluating bids for a geotechnical survey of the building site. This survey needs to be done to prepare for the blueprints. About $169,000 has been received so far towards the Missions Building project.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Irrational Loyalty to Jesus & Over-the-Top Concern for Others
I came across an article from the Christianity Today email newsletter titled, The Cost of Christian Education. Since Camp is about Christian education what really caught my eye was the tag line, “Getting schooled in the faith is more unnerving than I care to admit.”
When I read this paragraph I thought, this is what Camp is supposed to be like.
The educational system of Jesus was rooted in an utterly different approach: living in and with a community, so that theology was not only taught but also lived in the context of community prayer. Jesus' educational system is not objective in the least—it is decidedly not interested in knowledge that helps us remain unbiased and neutral about life. Instead, it is profoundly subjective, that is, concerned with creating an irrational loyalty to Jesus and over-the-top concern for others. It is not the mind that is the center of attention but the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—and the whole person in community.
This approach depends not on teaching technique but on people like you and me who strive to live our lives in Jesus' name. While it's nice to have saints to emulate and great teachers to learn from, most of us on most days simply need fellow believers to help us walk the walk.
Then the author goes on to acknowledge that this is the type of Christian education experienced in Christian summer camps!
So, when we are thinking about the ministry of Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp and the possibilities it holds for developing faith in Christ refer to this article. Follow the link and read the whole thing. If you are on a camp staff, share some ideas about how this looks in your camp setting. If you are thinking about sending some kids to Camp, ask yourself about the value of this kind of experience.
I think I am going to try to work some of these phrases – “irrational loyalty to Jesus” and “over-the-top concern for others” into my conversations and plans for Wi-Ne-Ma.
When I read this paragraph I thought, this is what Camp is supposed to be like.
The educational system of Jesus was rooted in an utterly different approach: living in and with a community, so that theology was not only taught but also lived in the context of community prayer. Jesus' educational system is not objective in the least—it is decidedly not interested in knowledge that helps us remain unbiased and neutral about life. Instead, it is profoundly subjective, that is, concerned with creating an irrational loyalty to Jesus and over-the-top concern for others. It is not the mind that is the center of attention but the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—and the whole person in community.
This approach depends not on teaching technique but on people like you and me who strive to live our lives in Jesus' name. While it's nice to have saints to emulate and great teachers to learn from, most of us on most days simply need fellow believers to help us walk the walk.
Then the author goes on to acknowledge that this is the type of Christian education experienced in Christian summer camps!
So, when we are thinking about the ministry of Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp and the possibilities it holds for developing faith in Christ refer to this article. Follow the link and read the whole thing. If you are on a camp staff, share some ideas about how this looks in your camp setting. If you are thinking about sending some kids to Camp, ask yourself about the value of this kind of experience.
I think I am going to try to work some of these phrases – “irrational loyalty to Jesus” and “over-the-top concern for others” into my conversations and plans for Wi-Ne-Ma.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Christian Camping and Pole Vaulting
My youngest son competes on the track team for his High School. His favorite event is the Pole Vault and he just placed third in the District Track meet and had a personal best. Now the interesting thing about pole vaulting is that in order to be successful there are a number of different elements that have to happen just right. It begins with the momentum gained during the run down the track, a successful pole plant and leap, synchronized pull, twist, and turn as you reach for the bar, coordinated release, and finishes with a clean follow-through that leaves the bar in place. If any one of these things is not performed just right the vaulter misses the mark and fails to overcome the bar.
I was reminded of all things that need to come together for significant camping ministry – facilities that are safe, comfortable, and conducive to live and ministry together and the people who build, clean, and repair them; food service providing enjoyable meals that lend themselves to table fellowship; program staff to plan and oversee experiences to usher others into a place where they can learn of Jesus and respond to His call upon their lives; administrative staff to keep communication flowing and the organization running smoothly.
When it all comes together, whether pole vaulting or Christian camping, it is a beautiful, grace-full thing to see and experience. But, when one element fails, the result can be a “crash and burn.”
Yet, we realize that God’s grace is not contingent on our perfect performance. Another interesting aspect to pole vaulting is that the competitor always finishes with failure. Even the first prize winner ends his or her competition by missing the next height above. At Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp our prize is not the ribbon handed out because we have performed at a certain level. Rather, our prize is experienced as God’s grace is revealed through the Christian camping experience, as people who are trying to honor Christ with their lives and service reach out to another generation to know and embrace Christ as Savior and Lord. There is no excuse for us not trying to do the best we can, but we rejoice that God provides the ultimate lift that helps us reach the bar.
I was reminded of all things that need to come together for significant camping ministry – facilities that are safe, comfortable, and conducive to live and ministry together and the people who build, clean, and repair them; food service providing enjoyable meals that lend themselves to table fellowship; program staff to plan and oversee experiences to usher others into a place where they can learn of Jesus and respond to His call upon their lives; administrative staff to keep communication flowing and the organization running smoothly.
When it all comes together, whether pole vaulting or Christian camping, it is a beautiful, grace-full thing to see and experience. But, when one element fails, the result can be a “crash and burn.”
Yet, we realize that God’s grace is not contingent on our perfect performance. Another interesting aspect to pole vaulting is that the competitor always finishes with failure. Even the first prize winner ends his or her competition by missing the next height above. At Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp our prize is not the ribbon handed out because we have performed at a certain level. Rather, our prize is experienced as God’s grace is revealed through the Christian camping experience, as people who are trying to honor Christ with their lives and service reach out to another generation to know and embrace Christ as Savior and Lord. There is no excuse for us not trying to do the best we can, but we rejoice that God provides the ultimate lift that helps us reach the bar.
Monday, April 9, 2007
A Christian Camping Experience
We have as our purpose statement the phrase, “Providing a Christian camping experience for youth and adults through Christian education and fellowship in the surrounding beauty of God’s creation.”
When I have the chance to talk about Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp I like to unpack that phrase starting with what we mean by a Christian camping experience. When people use the terms “Christian” and “camping” they can mean a lot of different things by those words.
Here we use the word Christian to help describe the kind of camping we offer. We want the experience here to be modified and described as “Christian.” We want all the activities, experiences, and relationships to connect somehow with Jesus Christ reflecting His message and His purpose. At the heart of the camping experience needs to be a significant connection with the person and work of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures and reflected in His church. This sets Christian camps apart from other camping experiences. While we might include sports, outdoor activities, arts, or some other skilled activity in the camp program, learning about or experiencing those activities are not ends in themselves. They are useful and beneficial to us insofar as they help communicate the Gospel of Christ and create a setting in which people might come to know and confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
We can fill a lifetime with what it means to be “Christian,” but what do we mean by camping? For some, camping is what happens when you set out into a wilderness with a backpack carrying the essential stuff to meet your needs. The person gets to the spot by a secluded mountain lake, sets up the tent, builds a fire, and perhaps miles from the nearest road declares, “Now, I am camping.”
Another person rolls into a nicely manicured RV park, carefully levels her RV, connects water and electricity, rolls out the awning, positions the slide outs, and when she sets the satellite dish up to receive the signal, then she sits back and declares, “Now, I am camping.”
At Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp, the image of camping as setting up a tent or of really “roughing it” does not hold true. But, the other image of camping in a destination resort type setting is equally off the mark. Here, campers stay in barracks style housing. Ten to fourteen people in a room with bunk beds. All the rooms have bathrooms, some have showers in them as well. So, if it is not the lodging that makes it camping, what does?
Camping has been defined as living in a temporary community. Follow this link to the Christian Camp and Conference Association website to pursue this further. The Bible is filled with temporary communities. From Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness (leading to the observation that Moses was the first and perhaps the greatest camp director), to David and his followers camping out to escape Saul, to the people of the Exile, to Jesus with his disciples, to the nature of the Church, we see that temporary communities are formed in which people build special relationships and find themselves open to learning new lessons.
In John 1:14 it says of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” It is not much of a stretch to translate “made his dwelling” read “He came and camped for a while with us.”
Christian Camps, like Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp, can be place to experience living for a while with Jesus apart from the distractions, responsibilities, and blinders of everyday living. And, perhaps by experiencing Him, you may be able to follow Him more closely out there.
When I have the chance to talk about Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp I like to unpack that phrase starting with what we mean by a Christian camping experience. When people use the terms “Christian” and “camping” they can mean a lot of different things by those words.
Here we use the word Christian to help describe the kind of camping we offer. We want the experience here to be modified and described as “Christian.” We want all the activities, experiences, and relationships to connect somehow with Jesus Christ reflecting His message and His purpose. At the heart of the camping experience needs to be a significant connection with the person and work of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures and reflected in His church. This sets Christian camps apart from other camping experiences. While we might include sports, outdoor activities, arts, or some other skilled activity in the camp program, learning about or experiencing those activities are not ends in themselves. They are useful and beneficial to us insofar as they help communicate the Gospel of Christ and create a setting in which people might come to know and confess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
We can fill a lifetime with what it means to be “Christian,” but what do we mean by camping? For some, camping is what happens when you set out into a wilderness with a backpack carrying the essential stuff to meet your needs. The person gets to the spot by a secluded mountain lake, sets up the tent, builds a fire, and perhaps miles from the nearest road declares, “Now, I am camping.”
Another person rolls into a nicely manicured RV park, carefully levels her RV, connects water and electricity, rolls out the awning, positions the slide outs, and when she sets the satellite dish up to receive the signal, then she sits back and declares, “Now, I am camping.”
At Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp, the image of camping as setting up a tent or of really “roughing it” does not hold true. But, the other image of camping in a destination resort type setting is equally off the mark. Here, campers stay in barracks style housing. Ten to fourteen people in a room with bunk beds. All the rooms have bathrooms, some have showers in them as well. So, if it is not the lodging that makes it camping, what does?
Camping has been defined as living in a temporary community. Follow this link to the Christian Camp and Conference Association website to pursue this further. The Bible is filled with temporary communities. From Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness (leading to the observation that Moses was the first and perhaps the greatest camp director), to David and his followers camping out to escape Saul, to the people of the Exile, to Jesus with his disciples, to the nature of the Church, we see that temporary communities are formed in which people build special relationships and find themselves open to learning new lessons.
In John 1:14 it says of Jesus, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” It is not much of a stretch to translate “made his dwelling” read “He came and camped for a while with us.”
Christian Camps, like Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp, can be place to experience living for a while with Jesus apart from the distractions, responsibilities, and blinders of everyday living. And, perhaps by experiencing Him, you may be able to follow Him more closely out there.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Looking Ahead to Summer 2007
The 2007 summer camping season is fast approaching. Even now the youth camp directors and the conference program planning committees are working to craft significant Christian camping experiences that will honor God and encourage us all to deeper faith and service as disciples of Jesus Christ. The ministry of Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp means to be an extension of the Church’s ministry. The Camp’s ministry reflects the thousands of hours contributed by hundreds of program volunteers from the Churches who see their participation at Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp as a way of faithfully serving Jesus Christ. They want to be obedient to the Great Commission to “make disciples.” They want to communicate the Gospel of Christ with love and grace. They want to make a difference in the world for Jesus.
We believe that even now God is preparing the young people in your congregation and even their friends and acquaintances to experience His love and hear His call upon their lives in a youth camp session this summer. We trust that God will use the resources of your congregation to help get the word out about the Camp’s opportunities and encourage people (young and old) to seek Him in the various events at Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp.
We believe that even now God is preparing the young people in your congregation and even their friends and acquaintances to experience His love and hear His call upon their lives in a youth camp session this summer. We trust that God will use the resources of your congregation to help get the word out about the Camp’s opportunities and encourage people (young and old) to seek Him in the various events at Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp.
Friday, March 9, 2007
A Blog for Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp
Welcome to the Wi.Ne.Ma Web Windchime! I want this to be another way for the Winema Christian Camp community to interact with each other. I am very interested in how to enhance the Camp's ministry. We have a number of conversations about the Camp. We hear lots of stories about how God has used the Camp to change lives. Over the years I have been encouraged to see a span of young people grow from 3rd grade First Chance campers to become counselors, teachers, and other servant-leaders in later camping seasons. The significance of our family confernces focusing on churches of the Restoration Movement, on Missions, on Family life, and more is deep and powerful.
What do I want for this Blog . . . Let it be a place to share our thoughts, stories, observations and concerns about the ministry of Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp. It can also be a place to catch up on announcements and get more informed about the Camp's ministry. I would like this also to be a place to record our growing understanding of Christian Camping and God's purpose for this place.
I invite you, if you have a particular concern, question, or issue to contact us at the Camp Office. You can find the contact information through the Camp's website www.winema.org , email to winema@winema.org, or call (503) 392-3362.
What do I want for this Blog . . . Let it be a place to share our thoughts, stories, observations and concerns about the ministry of Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp. It can also be a place to catch up on announcements and get more informed about the Camp's ministry. I would like this also to be a place to record our growing understanding of Christian Camping and God's purpose for this place.
I invite you, if you have a particular concern, question, or issue to contact us at the Camp Office. You can find the contact information through the Camp's website www.winema.org , email to winema@winema.org, or call (503) 392-3362.
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