Bocce Ball Anyone?

Bocce Ball Invitational Tournament!
Yesterday evening the Arrowhead Shepherds Campers hosted the Bocce Bulldogs. Our 1st Annual Bocce Ball Invitational Tournament was PERFECT. The weather was great, we kept the bugs under control, the athlete were geared up, and the crowd was excited.

Through a few contacts and conversations God has begun a great relationship between Shepherds Camp and the Special Olympics. We praise God for His leading as we continue to fulfill our vision of making an IMPACT on our local community.

The Special Olympics has just introduced bocce ball and we are their very first tournament site. Local Special Olympic athletes and their families came out to camp for this very special event. We also had a few friends and special guests who came to enjoy the games. One of the special guests was Peter Quinn a reporter from News Channel 34. He got great footage of the tournament and included a few interviews. Check out some of the tournament action below...

Spiedie Fun

We have a new family tradition starting. Check out the caricature Natalie and I had done at Spiedie Fest.

Natalie is just as cute as a cartoon.

We're Still Kick'n...

It's hard to believe that McKenna is 2 weeks old already. We had her 1st check-up today and she weighed in at 7lbs.5oz. (she was 6lbs. 13oz. when she was born). She is a very good natured baby. She sleeps well and when she's awake she's very content just looking around and soaking up her surroundings. Natalie is adjusting well. She still needs to be reminded to be gentle with McKenna, but overall you can tell she loves her little sister. Here are some recent pictures of our girls...


It's a rough life sunbathing by the pool all day!



1st Family Photos...

Over the weekend, my sister Megan and her husband, Aaron were here visiting. While they were here, we made a trip out to the annual Speidie Fest and Balloon Rally. Natalie enjoyed seeing all the hot air balloons and is still talking about them today. As you can see from the pictures, McKenna was less than impressed and decided to sleep through the whole event.



And for those of you who haven't heard, we did decide on a middle name for McKenna. Her name is McKenna Joy!

It's AMAZING.

3:30am - "Ben, wake up I think it is time to get packed."

4:15am - "I think we have everything...let's go."

4:30am - "Watch out for that deer! Woah, it's was a buck."

5:00am - "On a scale from one to ten, are you sure the pain is an eight? You seem way too relaxed."

5:30am - "Alright Mrs. Myers we need to fill out a some forms before things get started."

6:00am - "What? You're ready to start pushing. I'll call the doctor."

6:06am - [the doctor] "I hope I don't get towed...I parked in the President's parking space."

6:26am - "Here's your baby girl. Does she have a name?" "Yes, McKenna.



10:30pm - "What a day! Praise God! Enjoy the pictures."

Half Way Baby!

Summer Blitz!
Things here at camp are absolutely crazy! Here's a quick run down of the past few weeks to keep you up-to-date.

Natalie's Big Month of Milestones:
Natalie turned 2 years old on July 11th. We had a small party with cake and ice cream. Natalie was more excited about the food than the fact that she turned two. Just a few days ago Natalie moved across the hall into her new room, which we have dubbed her "big sister room." That same day we sat down as a family and had a discussion about how big sisters don't use pacifiers. As the discussion came to a close we took Natalie's pacifiers and threw them in the garbage. Since then Natalie has only asked for her pacifier a couple times...and she hasn't cried or thrown a fit about receiving "No" for an answer. This parenting thing is pretty easy [sarcastic grin]. We will see how it goes with two kids at the same time...which should be any day now with a due date of August 5th.



Day Camp
Our first week of day Camp is here and gone. It was a wild and crazy week full of activities, special guests, awesome food and some amazing presentations of the gospel. We were blessed to have a Drama Ministry team with us from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Each day they preformed dramas and mimes giving a tremendous presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then, each afternoon the campers went to Drama Class. This was hands down the most enjoyed program element. The campers asked about Drama Class every day. They could not wait to learn the dramas they were seeing each morning. I was blessed to hear that many of the campers were going home each night to perform the dramas and mimes for their parents. Some families even worked together making up their own dramas. It was great to see the gospel presented in a dynamic way each day...building on the day before...and then become a very tangible activity that our campers took a hold of and made their own.
We also had some very special guests and friends from the community like: Sign Language Class with one of our past staffers who is deaf, Horses from the therapeutic riding center just down the road, and our local meteorologist Steve Prinzivalli who came and shared about storms and bad weather. We also had a surprise visit from Samantha Hensell (from the local tv station) who brought a camera and did a story on Day Camp. Needless to say it was exciting to have such a great outreach into the community through the media. Oh yeah, the campers also went nuts over the fact that they were going to be on TV.
Most of all though, we are praising God for a fruitful week of ministry. Through God's grace we were a part of one young camper's decision to receive Jesus as his Savior. What a celebration to see God's love and mercy take away darkness and usher light into a life. Please join us in praising God for the great things that only He can do.

Special Olympics at Arrowhead
Construction of our new Bocce Ball courts is underway. At the tail end of this week we are going to be putting up two Bocce Ball courts. The courts will have two purposes. The first is the addition of a new program element for Shepherds Camp. The second is preparation for a Bocce Ball Tournament that we will be hosting for the Southern Tier Special Olympics. That's right, the Special Olympics are coming to Shepherds Camp! We are very excited and thankful for God's leading as He continues to give us success in meeting our goal of reaching out to our local community. What a blessing to be able to invest in the lives of our neighbors and friends.

Oh Baby?
We're heading into turn three. It is the proverbial Thursday of summer. We have less days left and more days done. Even though things are going to get busier there is the anticipation of "the best is yet to come." We have four weeks of Shepherds Camp ahead of us. We also have a baby coming VERY soon. Don't forget the Spiedie Fest and the Bocce Ball Tournament...and those are just the things we are expecting.
Stay Tuned, we will keep you up-to-date.

Summer...

Ready or Not...Summer is Here:
After a week of Staff Training our first group of the summer has arrived here at camp; an inner city ministry from Washington D.C. The leaders have a clear passion and vision for the youth in their community and they have been thoroughly enjoying their time at Arrowhead. Their program is focused on the spiritual formation of students in the face of the cultural influences of media. Beside the normal camp stuff like tons of good food, swimming in the lake, foosball, and basketball in the gym; they have program activities revolving around the media. The group leader wrote two plays which the campers are practicing and will perform tonight for the whole group. All of the campers have broken into groups which have been spending time creating inspirational films for their peers. Their films will be shown tonight after the plays. They have been a pleasure to serve and a joy to partner with. It is exciting to see believers who understand their community and are seeking to meet their actual needs. The interesting thing about it is that even though this group and camp are very different...we are like-minded and our passion is much the same.

Shepherds Camp is Just Around the Corner:
Sunnnnday! Sunnnnday! Sunnnnday! (for those of you who know the Buck Arena down in Harrisburg) Shepherds Camp begins on Sunday with our first two-week program. You can't get any more excited than this. We passed last year's numbers a few weeks ago AND we have over 35 new campers! With a total of six weeks of programming we have closed the first two programs. We are praising God and watching the third program increase. Just the other day I was talking with the mother of one of our campers. She said her son David already had his bags packed and they were sitting by the door. What an amazing IMPACT camp has the lives of so many individuals in our community...who otherwise wouldn't hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Let me again encourage you, thank you, and implore you to join us - by praying for Shepherds Camp and by praising God for all the amazing things He is doing the lives of the developmentally disabled.

What's New at Camp:
This year's newest and hottest activity is down at the lake. We have replaced our diving board with a two-tiered jump tower. That's right! Looming tall above the dock, campers soar through the air screaming with joy as they plummet to the water below. The new jump tower is a very exhilarating method for getting wet and cooling down in the summer heat. Of course you can try it when you come to visit.


Baby Report: It has been two years since I started writing this "camp correspondence" which has come to you in several different formats and frequencies. Remembering back I think one of the primary reasons for starting News from Arrowhead was the Baby Report. Well, here we are again. We officially have 43 days left until our second little girl is due to arrive. That's only six weeks away. Kelly and I are feeling the days count down and waiting has lost its luster. We are both ready for her arrival. The sooner the better I say. We will definitely keep you updated.

GoodSearch Update:
We just passed 10,000 searches for Arrowhead. Just by using GoodSearch as your search engine, GoodSearch will be donating over $100 to camp. That's not too bad - $100 in seven months. Thanks to everyone who has been GoodSearching for Arrowhead.

Never a Dull Moment

This past month we have definitely enjoyed the warm (sometimes HOT) weather. Natalie absolutely loves being outside. Some of her favorite activities include: kicking her soccer ball on the blacktop, throwing the Frisbee (which she can throw perfectly about 15 feet...but you never know which direction), riding one of her cars, tricycles, or wagon and SWIMMING in the lake. Last week we jumped in the shallow end together as a family. Natalie was jumping around, laughing, splashing, and kicking. She was all over the deep end running back and forth from me to Kelly. The water was certainly chilly, but refreshingly fun. In the past few weeks we have been blessed to have many family and friends come up to camp to visit. In fact, we've had visitors the past three weeks. The weather has been great and nothing beats sharing the ministry of camp with loved ones. Natalie loves having guests at our house. On the weekend the Grandma and Grandpa were visiting...Natalie (feeling a little spoiled) got carried away with licking the chocolate-beaters. We were standing in the kitchen talking and in just a few short seconds I turned around to see Natalie attacking an empty bowl. When she came up for air she just smiled with wide eyes and dove back in, licking the inside of the bowl clean.

We're Having a Picnic
This past Saturday we had our 3rd Annual FREE Picnic. In the past it has been a great source of exposure, hospitality to the community, and a great way to build relationships...and this year was no different. We had about 85 people in attendance for a very beautiful and sunny afternoon. Everyone had their fill of Hamburgers, hot dogs, cole-slaw, seedless watermelon, and few other fixings. Then families and friends scoured the camp playing table games inside, basketball outside, swimming at the lake, and even a hayride. This year we were blessed to have a large number of our campers and their care-providers at the picnic. We also met several families from the area who came to see to the camp. It was a great turnout for a great day.

Summer is Coming Soon
Well, if you didn't notice...it's June. Summer is definitely here. Our Staff Training starts in just two weeks. Then begins a jammed packed summer of Loving & Serving at camp. In the meantime we've got a big wedding back home in the Hanover area. Then we'll be hurrying back to put the final touches on camp and working with some of the leadership staff.