Crafts for a Year!

I bet you can vividly recall some of the crafts you made as a kid at summer camp.  I can still picture the flower pot soldier I made at Camp Pamadeva.  I had that thing sitting on my window sill for years.  Unfortunately, it’s premature demise was the collateral damage from a Nerf gun battle between my brother and I.  I remember being sad about my broken artwork.  It was pretty good for a kid who was fairly impatient and not so crafty.

The pictures above show the calendar craft we are doing this summer at Arrowhead.  Our 13 day program is a perfect fit for this project and we are thrilled to have a craft that will be used all year long.

This is a great family project too.  Grab some 11” x 17” paper and make your own.  You could make a themed calendar or a calendar for each of your kids.  Don’t forget to fill in your calendar with important upcoming dates or use it as a journal of what you have done together as a family.  What a great way to look back on a year gone by.

You can also check out our website to download a pdf of the calendars we created for camp this summer.

This summer we will have hundreds of volunteers coming through the doors here at Arrowhead.  For some, it will be their first time serving with us.  For others, they are celebrating another “summer notch” in their belt (number four or five for many).  We also have Arrowhead Alumni returning to serve with us again.

One such volunteer spent this past week with us, helping in the kitchen, doing a ton of landscaping & gardening as well as spending time with campers and counselors.  She had been here at Arrowhead as a child (back in the 50’s).  A few years ago she reconnected with camp and has been volunteering every summer since.

The James Project continues to be a huge blessing… to us, the campers, the counselors AND to the missions teams that arrive each week.  This past week 20 James Project group members clocked in over 600 hours of service.  That’s the equivalent of you working for the next four months!  What a blessing!  And on top of all their hard work they were able to spend time with campers and counselors, hangout as a group and enjoy the camp.

This week we are excited to welcome back a James Project group from southern PA.  They will be arriving soon with a few dozen students and leaders.  It is going to be a big week of ministry!

What would you do with a pile of money?

I bet your first thought was, “Where would I get a pile of money?”  Someone recently sent in an investment for camp in the form of a pile of money.  Over time this individual had been saving her $1 and $5 bills.  I suspect that like most of us she typically uses a credit card, but from time to time receives cash at the drive thru window, the convenience store or while shopping at the mall.  She had been saving those 1’s and 5’s with the desire to invest them here at Arrowhead to support the camp and our program for adults with developmental disabilities.

So, I bet you are wondering what Arrowhead would do with a pile of money.  Well, the timing is just right for this investment to have a huge impact.  Last month we were blessed by a team of skilled volunteers who came to camp and replaced the roof on our maintenance building.  Not only did they do a great job, but their home church sent us an investment that purchased all of the roofing material.  Next week we have another group of volunteers who are coming to paint the exterior of the maintenance building.  But that is not all.  One of the roofers from last month’s project is coming back to camp (he happens to be a professional painter) to work with our volunteers.  He will be leading the painting project which will ensure quality work and give our volunteers a great learning experience.  This pile of money will be used to purchase paint and supplies for the project.

What a blessing!  Arrowhead does not run with a few full time employees.  The ministry is staffed, operated, managed, cared for and moving forward because of hundreds of staff and volunteers who dedicate themselves to the mission of Arrowhead and sacrifice their time, energy and talent as worship to God.  We are so grateful and want to say “Thank You!” to all of our supporters.

Renovations: complete

Our camper bathhouse has been completely renovated and is now open for business.  This picture was taken yesterday as the guys finished putting the last board on the privacy fence outside the girl’s side of the bathhouse.  

The project started a few months ago with a crew of guys from First Baptist Church in Johnson City.  A small army of guys came out week nights and weekends to gut the inside, frame new walls and ceiling, run new plumbing and electrical, hang board, install showers, sinks, toilets, mirrors and much more (including a lot of painting). 

We are very grateful to the crew from First Baptist and a number of other skilled volunteers who gave their time and energy to bring this very big project to completion.  What an impact it will have this summer as our counselors and staff care for over 250 adults with developmentally disabilities spanning eight weeks of camp.

Staff Training 2012

Staff Training is complete… and tomorrow is the first day of camp!  This past week we focused on REDEMPTION through a flower pot project.  The staff divided into small groups and spent time painting/decorating their pots.  With great care and attention to detail they created some very handsome flower pots.  Then, I had each group break their pot into pieces.  Throughout week of Staff Training the groups spent time together fixing their flower pots with super glue in an effort to redeem their flowery purpose.

We used this shared experience to unite them as a team and discuss the parallels of God’s redemption story (The Bible).  The staff dispensed the same diligence and attention to detail as the renewed their flower pots.

The flower pots are being proudly displayed over the fireplace.  Even with their cracks, missing pieces, obvious flaws and general messiness… the flower pots have new life in the life, literally!

As we embark on summer 2012 with all of our defects, glue marks and messiness we are excited to see how God gives us purpose and makes new life in and through us!