We're Still Here!

We've had some major trouble with our internet service provider over the last month or so. Sadly, DSL is still not available in our area, so we have to make things work with less reliable means of accessing the internet. Camp, though, is still rolling along very well!

Camp-out was a blast. All of our groups were playing together after dinner and we will have pictures to share in an update after our connectivity issues are solved. Last night we had a pretty decent thunderstorm with lots of lightning. It forced us inside for the evening, which led to an energizer marathon the likes of which haven't been seen in years. Remember, look for an update to this post later today which will include group pictures!

Edit: Added pictures 6/25/2010 4:56 PM

Tuesday was a great day at camp! This was the last full day for our half-week Tiger Camp and just the second of our full week camp also going on. We've had clear, but very hot weather. The heat doesn't slow us down, but we certainly are more thankful for shade and water games when we can have them!

Check back early tomorrow morning for pictures from Wednesday night's camp-out.

Tuesday's theme was "Jesus Shows Compassion". The scripture is Luke 5:17-27.

"17 One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting nearby (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. ¹⁸Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; ¹⁹but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. ²⁰When he saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven you.’ ²¹Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, ‘Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’ ²²When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, ‘Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? ²³Which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven you”, or to say, “Stand up and walk”? ²⁴But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the one who was paralyzed—‘I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.’ ²⁵Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. ²⁶Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen strange things today.’ "

Another Great Week Underway!

This week is off to a fantastic start. We have a fairly large group of kids at camp this week, especially through Wednesday when our half-week Tiger Camp heads home. Campers are 3rd-6th grade, and we have a lot of first timers.

Among the activities from yesterday were Bible study, swimming, creek discovery, recreation with the LIT's, and nature study. The temperatures are high, but the aren't slowing us down. Every camper has a water bottle and we have water coolers outside both dormitories.

Monday's theme was "Jesus Listens". The scripture is Mark 10:46-52. "46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ⁴⁸Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ⁴⁹Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ ⁵⁰So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ ⁵²Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way."

Here are a few pictures from Monday:

Mid-High Camp is coming to a close. Today was a great day of Bible study, swimming, challenge course, and many other activities. The sun was blazing hot with temperatures well into the mid 90's. Here are some pictures of our groups this week.

First is the group "Lemons Who Aren't Limes"



Next are the "Melon-head Explorers"


And last but not least are the "Golden Gryphons"

It's really been a great week with these campers, and we look forward to seeing each of them next year. Christ's Peace be with you all!

It's HOT Now!

This has been a great week for our campers. We have 3 groups of great campers and a load of staff sharing their summers with them. The blog has been a little slow this week due to some tech issues, but camp is still rolling right along!
Camp out last night was fantastic. Groups cooked out over the campfire and then enjoyed sunset worship on the bank of the creek. Campers woke up and had Bible study before coming up to camp for brunch, a long rest time to recover from camp out, and then a blazingly hot afternoon of archery, arts and crafts, and then Mission Impossible! The outcome of tonight's Mission Impossible was too close to call! We will have a load of pictures on tomorrow's post to catch you up on the week's events. Please bare with us as we keep trying to blend together a busy camp day and slow technology!

We're Back!

Welcome back to the Dwight Mission Blog! We now have updated internet that will hopefully be more reliable for us in the future. Mid-high Camp is well under way now, and we are having a blast this week!

Among the activities we've done so far are Bible study, Morning Celebration, big group games, and archery. Here are a few pics from the first two days of camp!

Hello Friday!

It's hard to believe that today is the last full day of camp for the week. It has really rushed by! The end of the camp week is an interesting mix of being very tired from the constant activity and hot temperatures and trying to squeeze out every last bit of fun left to be had. I personally can't remember a year growing up when I didn't sleep on the way home from camp.

One of the great activities that we do on the last few days of camp is the high elements on the challenge course. One of our facilitators took a camera up with him this morning and got some great pictures of what it is like to experience the high course. Note: I may add a video later today depending on the video quality.




Tonight we have small group closing times, a talent show, and our last evening worship. I'll leave you with today's scripture: Luke 14:12-24. "

"12 He said also to the one who had invited him, ‘When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. ¹³But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. ¹⁴And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’

The Parable of the Great Dinner

15 One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, ‘Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!’ ¹⁶Then Jesus said to him, ‘Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. ¹⁷At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, “Come; for everything is ready now.” ¹⁸But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my apologies.” ¹⁹Another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my apologies.” ²⁰Another said, “I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.” ²¹So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.” ²²And the slave said, “Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.” ²³Then the master said to the slave, “Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I tell you,none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.”

Busy Thursday

Today was a very busy day for campers and staff. We all had to clean up after camp out and find time to rest while fitting in a full day of activities. The evening was highlighted by one of our favorite games: Mission Impossible.

Mission Impossible is somewhat similar to capture the flag, only instead of a flag, players look for envelopes containing "missions" (doing the chicken dance 10 times for example). When a team (boys and female staff vs. girls and male staff) finds all three missions, they open the envelopes one at a time and whoever performs all three first wins the game. Shockingly, tonight's result was a tie!

I wanted every camper to have a picture on the blog. I hope you enjoy them!

Great Camp Out

Last night was a great camp out! The two younger groups slept in tents (a.k.a. Tent City) on our main site while the older groups spent the evening and night at our campsites just east of our main campus. The weather was mild and the rain stayed away for the most part. We had two worships that were both fantastic.
Worship at the creek was particularly beautiful because of the lightning bugs that were flickering all around the creek. One counselor said it looked like flash bulbs at a major sporting event. I wish we had a camera capable of capturing that scene. I took some video of the worship just to capture some of the singing we did.

Thursday will be a day of rest and recovery in the morning and early afternoon, and then a day of excitement as we play one of my favorite games: Mission Impossible! Look for some pictures from the game and the rest of the day later this evening.

Edited to include video.

Hello All! Sorry for the delay with the Tuesday post. Camp on Tuesday was a blast. We had plenty of sunshine and warmer temperatures. This was great for lots of campers enjoying the creek and the beginning of groups going to the low challenge course.
All in all, it was a pretty typical camp day. The highlight for many may have been S'mores for an evening treat.

We are very excited that our pool is once again ready for use after some emergency repairs forced us to drain it entirely. Look for another post coming later this evening as campers head to camp out. For those of you concerned about the weather, we monitor it constantly and will not leave campers out in severe weather. Thanks for reading!

Camp Has Begun!

After a small speed bump caused by our web host being down, the Dwight Mission Blog is back in business. Our first week of camp is underway! This morning we had what looked like a scary storm move into the area, but we only got some heavy rain and thunder. This is a picture of the clouds as the rolled into camp.

Soon after the rain came a nice cool, cloudy day of bible study, games, initiatives, and fun at the creek. We are looking forward to worship tonight led by the Yellow Group.

Be sure and make contact with others that have campers with us this week using the comments section below. Also, follow us by subscribing to our blog and becoming a fan of our Facebook page. God's blessings to you all!