Camp Chetek Iceberg & Blob
The new and improved waterfront at Camp Chetek has been very enjoyable for many campers this summer. One of the new features of our waterfront is the Iceberg. Standing at over 14-feet tall, it provides campers with a challenge to scale its climbing wall, and then enjoy a slide down into the lake. The Blob is another exciting waterfront adventure. With campers flying sky high after their friends “Blob” them, there’s no telling how many times you are going to want to try the Blob. The Blob tower was renovated this year for more stability and safety. Videographer Josh Luck shot this sunrise time lapse early one morning to truly capture the beauty of the lakefront God has given Camp Chetek.
Chetek Sunday at Spooner Baptist Church
Today was an exciting day as the summer staff all loaded up the van and busses and headed down to Spooner for one of our Chetek Sundays. During the summer, the entire summer staff have the opportunity to partake in a weekend trip to a local church for music ministry, testimonies, teaching in Sunday School and Junior church, and helping with the nursery. Pastor Frisby and his wife opened up their church for our staff to come minister with them during Sunday School, and the morning and afternoon service.
Several shared testimonies of what God during this past week, while a couple shared how God directed them to Camp Chetek for this summer of ministry. Josh Luck, media/videographer, put together a week-in-review video that was shown during the morning service. A meal in between the morning and afternoon service provided a nice time of fellowship for both staff and church members together. More testimonies, special music from the Ladies’, Men’s, and Mixed ensembles, and Evangelist Scott Sivnksty all made for an enjoyable afternoon service.
This evening, we will split up into our summer PACE groups (Prayer, Accountability, Challenge, Encouragement) to meet for a time of spiritual edification.
Please pray for the staff as we will be heading into Junior Week starting tomorrow!! We are all excited to see how the Lord will use each of us this week.
Junior Missions Week
The counselors and program staff finished training on Wednesday and got their feet wet that afternoon as 115 campers made their way through registration and to their cabins to meet their counselors. After lunch in the dining hall, orientation officially began the week. Swim tests, afternoon activities, supper, rally time with PR, Pastor Chromy, and others, all-camp game of freeze tag, and evening preaching with Scott Sivnksty on the gospel.
While the staff made efforts to build relationships with the campers, it was not always easy. Many hours of prayer, and time in God’s Word throughout were necessary for counselors as well as other staff to keep spiritually encouraged. This summer’s theme is “Prayer”, and hearing the testimonies on Saturday after the campers went home was amazing as we saw God change the hearts of the staff and cause them to realize their need to depend on the Lord.
Thursday morning, the fire truck paid us a visit for our favorite water game – “Tube Tug.” Dousing everybody with water as we played on two huge tarps, the guys and the girls split into two teams and faced off in an epic battle. The weather was a little chilly, but everybody made it safe and sound. After the competition, the staff all joined in for an all-out water fight with splash bombs, water guns, and buckets of water. Stay tuned for pictures from Junior Missions week.
The Lord was working in hearts on Thursday night as many campers accepted Christ as their Savior. What a privilege to be able to share God’s Word with these precious lives. After the service, Scott Sivnksty performed a karate demonstration that was exciting for all. Friday faced us with some difficulties, but the Lord was good and gave the staff wisdom to make necessary decisions. During the afternoon, the “Iceberg” was open, and campers attempted to scale to the top. Only a few brave souls made it to the top to enjoy the long slide down into the water. Friday evening was a highlight as we all gathered around the campfire for a time of singing and testimonies. Afterwards, the campers went to bed right away to get rest for the last day of camp.
Saturday began the last day of Junior Missions with a power fail for about an hour. That always makes camp fun! A morning activity session, devotions, preaching and lunch wound up the day before everybody headed to their cabins to pack up their belongings. Our staff was sad to see them leave after only a few short days, but Lord Willing, their lives were impacted. Several staff members mentioned how much God had done in their lives through prayer and placing their dependence on Him for wisdom to make proper decisions. Please pray for the churches in Minneapolis that sent campers this year as they will follow up with decisions made while here at camp.
Junior Missions Week/Minneapolis
The Lord has truly been faithful to Camp Chetek throughout the years! Beginning in the early 90′s, Camp Chetek hosted it’s annual Junior Missions week providing scholarships for 75 or more inner-city kids to attend a week of camp at Camp Chetek. Beginning in 2004, the summer staff would spend one day going down to the inner city for soul-winning as well as music ministry throughout a special service the staff would be a part of. Each of the past five years has been a special blessing to each of the staff members as they head down to the inner-city to get a glimpse of what life is like.
This year, we left early morning Sunday, May 31st, for the morning service at Gospel Light Baptist Church. The full choir sang, and several from the church gave testimony of how God was working in their lives. One particular gentleman was asked to share a testimony of how God had worked in his heart during the first year Camp Chetek ran Junior Mission’s Week. That Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed a fellowship meal, took a short “Bible Time Five,” and then headed out for an afternoon of inviting kids from the street to camp, which presented neat opportunities for soul-winning. Throughout the day, we were able to talk with many different potential campers for Junior Missions week along with the camp that Gospel Light puts on called “Camp Compassion.”
Many testimonies were shared during the evening music service at Gospel Light, and the afternoon was an eye-opener to many that went. Praise the Lord for safety and protection throughout the day!
We are now preparing for Junior Missions week starting on Wednesday. Please pray for wisdom, guidance, and direction as we begin this week and bring these young lives in to Camp Chetek to be impacted by the Word of God!
Summer Staff Training
So…you probably haven’t heard from us in a while. Well, here’s the latest. God brought in an amazing summer staff for this summer 2009 – Wild, Wild West. Staff training began with just the Program Staff, Lead Counselors, Cook Staff and various other staff members. A few days later (Tuesday, 26), the opening banquet initiated the true beginning of staff training. Many training sessions, testimonies, activities, preaching, campfires, s’mores, singing, random games, fellowship, sleep, friendship, food, swimming, lifeguard training, pontoon training, prayer time, video editing, picture taking, twitter updating, brainstorming, soulwinning, laughing, more food, PR’s stick trick, music practice and recording, Scott Sivnksty, rainy days, “signs” games, and much more. To hear what’s happening when it’s happening, follow us on twitter at www.campchetek.org/twitter. We have been posting daily updates throughout training and they’ll continue throughout the summer!
Senior Saints Day
Senior Saints Day is going well today, and we’ve had a great turnout. Over fifty Senior Saints from the surrounding area have joined us for a special time of reminiscing camp memories, singing, and most importantly prayer time. This afternoon, the summer camp staff and permanent staff will participate in hourly prayer times around the camp as we prepare for the summer. We know that only through prayer will God be able to truly this ministry this summer. The theme for the summer of 2009 is “Prayer”. We recognize the importance of prayer, and today is a special day to take time and pray throughout the entire campground, in each and every pew in the chapel, as well at each bunk in order that our hearts may be ready to effectively minister this summer.
Also, this afternoon, camp tours will be given, along with boat rides to test out what the new Ski-boat is like this summer.
Work Week is off to a great start!
Work week is off to a great start here at camp. Several from the area as well as a few from a distance had joined us this year as we’re working on bringing camp up to par before the camp summer gets under way. The summer staff will be arriving in a few short weeks, and there is a good amount of work to do before the campers arrive in shortly over a month. We have lots of jobs-come join us even if you can only make it for a few hours. Hearty meals are provided to make it worth your while. Please gve us a call if you had any questions or just stop by with a pair of jeans and work boots and we’ll be more than happy to have you help us this week.
Welcome to 2009!
The Staff at Camp Chetek praise the Lord for a great year in 2008. We are anticipating another great year as we serve the Lord together. Thank you very much for your prayers and support!
Camp Chetek Staff
Teen 2 & 3 Review
The last two weeks of teen camp went great, and the Lord was working in several of the campers and staff as Mike Pelletier preached during Teen Week 2 and Dwight Smith finished the summer during Teen Week 3. Teen 3 was an exciting week as the Khusan pulled ahead in the competition for the victory during the week. Bring Home the Bananas was probably the best this week as the counselors joined their teams in a final round with Zulu bringing home the victory. Later that Friday the dunk contest became the main event as almost everybody joined in watching several guys and girls compete in the most amazing dunk extravaganza. With one of her campers riding the bike, Emily Kutz attempted a dunk from the pegs, but missed by a few inches. Next, followed Brad Harris, the winner of the contest with a sweet 360 slam from the side. Isaiah, Alex, and Chase pulled out some sweet air as they hopped over bicycles and benches with girls sitting on them. It was quite an event. After the service that evening, several campers made decisions to surrender their wills to serving the Lord and following the Spirit’s leading in their lives. The testimony campfire and singspiration was great as several campers shared the decisions they made while at camp.
These two weeks concluded our regular camping season, and we are already excited about several of the upcoming retreats, including Fall Festival (Sep. 20) and Truth Weekend (Oct. 10-11).
Week-in-Review Teen 1
Camp jumped into high gear with our first week of teen camp starting off with the introduction of our brand new Monday evening ACA, Kabila Moto (Swahili for “Tribal Fire”, in case you were wondering). Campers and counselors worked to build cabin unity as Zulu and Khusan raced to build the tribal fires at their respective huts. But that was only the beginning, as the week progressed with tons of fun activities, everything from the traditional favorites (blobbing, for instance) to brand new excitement with our Rally Time “Dark Continent Comedy Team” and everyone’s favorite, Homesick Camper. Of course, our African Adventure wouldn’t be complete without the biggest, best camp ACA ever, Bring Home the Bananas. (What makes this game so great? Come to camp to find out. ) But the highlight of our week was our special evangelist speaker, John Goetsch, Jr. With dozens of decisions made during the week, including over 12 salvation decisions, God was glorified during another successful week of camp.
