Hello Friends!
Here we are in March! How excited are you that this weekend we get to turn our clocks ahead and get another hour of daylight in the evening!! Some people mope about 'losing an hour of sleep' but man-o-man, the 'hour of lost sleep' is nothing compared to what we gain I think!!
SO... today is about camp stuff! 

MARCH CAMP
So far we have a smaller number of you coming this month than we have had so far this year (but really, we used to think that 12 was a lot on a weekend!) and so are going to be teaching you as one big group. The focus for the weekend is on what Easter is really all about and what that has to do with us. In all honesty, I really didn't know that it had anything to do with Jesus until I was somewhere around 20!! I am actually really excited about this weekend! In preparation I  recommend that you spend time in the Gospels between now and then in your personal quiet times and devotions. (And if you haven't been taking personal quiet times now is a PERFECT time for you to start!) 
This is my encouragement: read the following passages in the Gospels - all are having to do with the Crucifiction. Don't pass them off as being the same - all have a different element and voice to them.
- Matthew 26-28
- Mark 14-16
- Luke 22-24
- John 13-21


A Jesus video for you: 
http://www.youtube.com/user/theskitguys?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/0/nhxHZjUSA4E

TITHING

We are thinking of ways to assist those of you who are trying to live up to offering your tithes as an act of worship. There are several different views as to how and where to tithe - some feel you should give to your church 10% of your income (I know many of you don't have a job, but where else do you gather cash? Babysitting? Allowance? It is all income!) and then anything after that given elsewhere is an offering. Some people believe that the 'church' extends beyond the building and that we can tithe by giving our 10% to where we feel God is calling us to do so in His name. At any rate, one place you can tithe or give and offering is camp itself. We are a non-profit organization and depend on rental groups and donations in order to keep going, hire staff and run camp. You can donate to any of these aspects of camp:
- Camper Assistance Fund (helps kids whose families can't afford camp fees to still come to camp)
- Staff Bursary Fund (for college students working at camp the wage starts at $100/week. Paying for school is super hard so this fund is collected throughout the year and split up between eligible staff)
- General Fund (Helps pay for things like repairs, bills, wages, the day to day stuff)
- Building Fund (We are hoping to break ground in September for the new lodge!!)
Remember guys, every little bit helps!

Also we have been thinking of adopting a sponsor child in the name of CLTD. You can help this child gain the basics for life, send pictures and love to them and change their entire life. Phil and I went to a conference in December where a lady was sharing her story of how her sponsor parents allowed her to break out of poverty, attain a college education and work to change the community she grew up in. Let us know your thoughts on this. If you are interested we can do this. We need to decide as a group how we would do it, but if everyone brought as little as $5 to each School Year Camp it would cover year-round for this child. Please remember if we agree to this and don't live up to it, it means us leaders have to shoulder the costs and tasks. I think it is an amazing opportunity to change the life of a child. I know we hear it in the commercials and it seems like the lyrics of a forgotten song, but it is the truth!! how amazing!! Serious, if you have thoughts on this, drop me a line!!


A tithing video for you:
http://www.youtube.com/user/theskitguys?blend=1&ob=4#p/u/5/yb6EbzT_leI

MENTORSHIP CAMPING IDEA
Alright, this is for those of you who are heading into Apprenticeship this summer! We have been toying with the idea of heading out into the woods the last weekend in May for some time together without all the noise of things like electricity or flush toilets! We'll cook around the fire, play in the out doors and sleep in tents! Again, let us know your thoughts on this. We think it could be a blast but if no one is interested we won't put the time into building it, so again, drop me a line and let me know what you think!

It is Friday, so I am wishing you all a great weekend!! ONLY 2 WEEKS TILL THE NEXT CAMP!


Love and blessings to all!

- shelley