Bethel Camp Times

Thanksgiving Issue 2007

I wish you could have been there

We experienced many mighty spiritual victories during this summer as the Spirit of God called campers to himself, but none was like the one we experienced Thursday night the 19th of July. It was during Junior 2 Camp (for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade campers). All week we had sensed that something was keeping the campers from truly giving themselves to God. There was hesitancy to worship in song, campers were distracted during the Bible Teaching time, and even during the game times something was holding them back from really having fun. We had been praying for God to "break through" all week, but we hadn't seen his answer yet. That Thursday evening before chapel time, the staff gathered at the front of the Chapel and prayed together, and something started to happen as some campers asked if they could join the prayer group. The staff members normally took places in amongst the campers during the chapel service, but this evening they went and formed a circle around the whole room like a wall of prayer protecting the young people from the attacks of the enemy. Real enthusiasm started building that evening during worship, and even before we normally ended the singing time, Mark Driskill one of the Bible teachers that week got up and shared that God was speaking to him about a yoke of bondage. He asked the campers if any of them wanted to be free from some bondage that was holding them captive. Even before he had finished asking the question, young people started coming to the front of the chapel. Some came to the front alone, others came with friends. While counselors and the Bible teachers prayed with campers, the worship leader led us in some more singing. I saw one camper who had experienced freedom come back and almost pull one of his friends to the front so he could pray with him. There was a lot of crying by some as they released things to Jesus. There were others who met with God in a fervent quiet spirit. And there were others who had big smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts as they saw God drawing their friends to Himself. It was about 11:00 when we finally asked campers to go to their cabins that night. Chapel had started at 9:00 that evening and normally would have only lasted an hour. I usually walk around the campground after everyone is in their cabins and make sure doors are closed and lights are turned off. I started to be a little frustrated when I saw a group campers (who should have been in their cabins) still standing in the gazebo on the playground. When I got closer I saw that they were not fooling around or trying to find an excuse for staying out late but were praying for one of their friends. When they saw I had joined them, they had a bunch of questions for me, and I tried to give them wise counsel that would help them through the issues they were facing. They wanted to keep praying for each other, and I was more than glad to join them, so I waited until about 11:45 and then told them that we really needed to get some sleep so that we could receive even more from Jesus tomorrow. I won't soon forget the experiences of that evening.

- written by Roger Voth

Bethel Camp Benefit Auction 2008

Saturday, August 16, 2008 -- Start Planning Ahead

You can take donated items to Becky Stoltzfus or Mary Eash at any time. We're looking for lots of good handcrafted items as well as other like-new items that could be auctioned off with proceeds going to help the camp program. By doing fundraisers like this we can provide low cost, affordable camping to young people in our area. We want the 2008 Benefit Auction to be the best one yet.

Thank you to all who made the 2007 Benefit Auction a success. In that one day, $6,400 was raised to help the Bethel Camp ministry.

From the Camp Kitchen

Harvest Stew

1½ lbs. boneless pork, (cut into 1-inch cubes)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 T. butter or margarine

3 c. chicken broth

¾ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. dried rosemary, crushed

¼ tsp. rubbed sage

1 bay leaf

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed (3 c.)

2 medium apples, peeled and cubed

In a large saucepan, cook the pork, onion and garlic in the butter until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the broth, salt, rosemary, sage and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add squash and apples; simmer uncovered, for 20 minutes or until squash and apples are tender. Discard bay leaf.

Yield: 6 servings

This is one of our favorite autumn meals. Just before the frost settled over Bethel Camp this fall, Roger harvested an abundance of butternut squash from our garden, and I believe he looks forward to eating this soup quite often.

Try it out -- I think you'll enjoy it. I've never served this to anyone who didn't like it.

(Or if I did, they did a very convincing job of telling me how good it was!)

-Submitted by Ruthie Voth

Wilderness Survival Camp

New for 2008

Are you interested in a new, different camping experience?This will be Bethel Camp in a completely different format!

You could be an inaugural member of Bethel Camp's first Wilderness Camp

This new camp will be offered to high school students(those who have completed 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade)

Activities include:camping in tents, cooking over campfires, survival skills, orienteering with a compass and GPS devices, day trips away from base camp to test your skills.

More details to follow in the Spring Newsletter.

2008 Summer Camp Schedule

Spring Youth Retreat

Spring Jr Youth Retreat

Jr. 1 Camp (grades 4-6)

Jr. 2 Camp (6-8)

Youth Camp #1 (grades 9-12)

Special Needs Camp

Day Camp (grades 1-3)

Jr. 1 Camp in July (grades 4-6)

Jr. 2 Camp (grades 6-8)

Youth Camp #2 (grades 9-12)

Fall Youth Retreat (grades 7-12)

April 11-13

April 25-27

June 2-6

June 9-14

June 16-21

June 23-27

June 30- July 4

July 7-11

July 14-19

July 28-Aug 2

October 10-12

NOTE: campers attend camps which correspond to the grade they have completed by the end of the 2007-2008 school year.

Find out when your friends are coming and sign up for that week soon. Or... come a different week and force yourself to make new friends.

50^th Anniversary Celebration

Bethel Camp turned fifty this year! To honor the occasion, we invited anyone and everyone who had ever attended, worked at, or just heard of Bethel Camp to come and camp with us for a weekend. Over one hundred people took us up on the offer and together we celebrated Bethel Camp's birthday.

The celebration included the usual camp activities: waterslide, capture the flag, a hayride and a cookout at the campfire. And, we also enjoyed some less traditional activities - a silent auction, hymn sing, concert from Touch of Home and of course, birthday cake! But the most important parts of the weekend were the friendships rekindled, the stories told, and praising God for the rich heritage he has given us.

With so many campers and staff representing so many decades of camp, the memories were abundant. Some of the stories had been collected ahead of time in the "Bethel Memories" booklet, others were told spontaneously when a picture in the slide show jogged someone's memory. All of the memories shared helped bring the camp's history to life and enabled new generations of campers to appreciate the long tradition of camping that they are now a part of.

Other highlights of the weekend were the many pictures of camp and campers. Attendees were able to find themselves, their friends and sometimes their parents in the pictures shown in the slide-shows and prints spread around camp. We laughed at old camp crafts and marveled at how much had changed over the last fifty years.

We thank those of you who made the time to come celebrate with us. We were honored by your presence with us that weekend, and throughout the years. And we look forward to camping with you for another fifty years!

-written by Wendy Davis

2008 Summer Camp Theme

"Called Out"

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

I Peter 2:9

Valentines Banquet

Good Food,

Good Fellowship,

Good Fun

Mark your Calendars

Friday Evening, February 8^th

Summer Camp 2007

Summer Camp here on Little Buckhorn Creek is always a flurry of activity. With an average of 45 campers here a week and about 20 staff (counselors, cooks, worship leaders, Bible teachers, maintenance personnel, and directors) there are a lot of mouths and spirits that need food. We had our biggest summer yet as far as numbers go. A total of 361 campers came to a week of camp this summer. Of those, we had 67 campers who indicated that they had accepted Christ as their Savior that week. Looking back on the summer, you always have perfect 20/20 hindsight. It is easy to see how God was working among us (and through us) to accomplish his work in the lives of these young people who are so hungry to truly experience God.

But… in the midst of all the activity, the challenges, the things that go "wrong" or not according to our plans, it is easy for me to become disheartened and wonder if anything good can come out of this. Now if you didn't know me well you probably wouldn't think I was wondering that at all. My struggle would be invisible to the physical eye. I would be smiling, joking with the campers, or playing a game. I might be yelling my heart out to encourage my team or sitting down and talking with that camper who looked like he or she felt "left out." But underneath that outward guise of enthusiasm, Satan loves to plant those seeds of doubt that desire to choke out my faith. Under the weight of those vines I feel like I am being covered by spiritual kudzu (you know, that non-native species that can grow up to a foot a day and is able to wind its way up trees and break them down under its weight). For me it is not the single powerful attack of the Devil that defeats me, it is the slowly growing, ever increasing weight of being busy, trying to fix things on my own, and then feeling guilty that I am not getting more done than I am.

One of the powerful spiritual weapons that God used this summer to strengthen me was our staff prayer times each morning. We got together to discuss the plans for the day, but then often spent quite a bit of time talking about our spiritual needs and the needs of the campers. We always finished with a time of prayer, asking God in many specific ways to work his miracles among us. Those times of prayer are such a refresher for me. Bowing my head before the Father along with those who are fighting in the same spiritual battle is something that pulls out those weeds of doubt. It tears the spiritual kudzu off my branches and allows me to stand strong because Christ is for us and nothing can stand against us.