Midway Through

It is the halfway point of the summer, and the days are flying by! Two remarkable camps that happen each year around this time challenge us to renew our focus for the rest of the summer.

The first camp group is the Riviera Baptist Church Youth Group. This year, twenty-five youth and adult counselors left the heat of Bullhead City to work and sweat in the cool pines instead! They have a number of projects on their list, including painting the Maintenance Shop and a portion of the Kitchen that we are remodeling as a part of the Dining Hall construction project. Both the Kitchen and the Dining Hall will match – a minor miracle in the camping world! The Riviera group always does an impressive amount of work during their visit to camp, and inspires us with their energy.

The second camp is our annual Angel Tree camp ministry, a program where we partner with Calvary Chapel in Phoenix to give the children of inmates a chance to go to camp. As you may already know, the Angel Tree program is a part of Prison Fellowship’s ministry. This program connects the families of inmates with churches who can help them. Dan and Susan Olney, the faithful leaders of the camping program at Calvary, say that the ultimate goal of the program is reconciliation – reconciling the inmates to Christ and the families to each other upon the inmate’s release.

Angel Tree camper Chyann with her new friends

Prescott Pines has the honor of having 46 Angel Tree campers with us this week, supporting Calvary Chapel’s valuable ministry. In many ways, this is the most difficult week of the summer. These kids are some of the toughest, neediest kids we will encounter all season long. However, in many ways, this is the best week of the summer. There are always a number of salvation decisions, and that is just the encouragement we need to keep on serving.

As we enter the second half of our summer, please pray for our staff and campers to remain healthy and uninjured. A few bumps and bruises are inevitable during the course of a summer, and we are grateful that we have not had any significant injuries thus far. However, some of the summer staffers are starting to get sore throats and we do not want illnesses to develop that would take our staff away from the ministry opportunities before them. Thank you for your prayers!

Surprised?

Prescott Pines Camp was surprised recently to receive a donation of $500 from the men’s group at Calvary Chapel in Surprise, AZ. This is the first time in recent history that a non-SWCBA church donated to the camp! We enjoy hosting this great group of guys annually, and greatly appreciate their investment in "their" camp.

Our second week of Frontier Village Camp saw ten children make first-time decisions for Christ! While we are very excited for these new believers, these decisions are not a surprise. We have designed the Frontier Village program very carefully to help kids hear the voice of God, and every child who attends camp has an opportunity to respond. Year after year, God has used the ministry of Frontier Village to speak to children and draw them to Himself. We are humbled and grateful to be a part of His work in these children’s lives, and while we expect to see God work, we never take it for granted.

Surprise! There are no pictures of the dining hall again this week! Rest assured, we are making progress on the project. Workers are putting up drywall on the inside of the building and applying wood siding to the outside. Stay tuned next week for new pictures – we think you will be surprised at what you see!

Sometimes it seems like all of the good surprises only happen at camp, but we know that God has special blessings for each of us, even in our everyday lives. We challenge you to watch for God’s surprises this week as you serve Him faithfully. Please feel free to post your surprise as a comment on this blog - we would love to hear from you!

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime!

Summer is in full swing, and for many churches, summer means not only camp, but Vacation Bible School too. First Baptist Church of Page decided to make the Prescott Pines Camp Dining Hall their missions project this year, and the kids raised money to help defray the cost of the construction. Last Sunday, four boys from FBC Page came to Prescott Pines to attend Frontier Village and presented the camp with a check for $153.84! Way to go, kids! Moreover, a big “thank you” goes to FBC Page for giving your kids the opportunity to participate in the Dining Hall project.

Last week we had a huge number of campers in Main Camp. In all, 265 people were here for the week! While this would be a big number for the camp to host normally, with the Dining Hall under construction, it is even more of a challenge. Half of the group ate in the tent, while the other half ate in the Ramada and on the Patio. Happily, it turns out that less than ideal dining conditions are not enough to stop kids from having a good time at camp and hearing the message of God. While we (and our groups) will certainly enjoy the new Dining Hall when it is completed, it is good to know that God’s word is still going out, despite the challenges we face.

In all of the talk about the Dining Hall construction, you may not know about the latest addition to Prescott Pines’ recreation offerings. Each year, we try to add a new activity to the campus such as Human Foosball or a Zip line. This year, we are adding a BMX racing track near Gould Chapel.
In case you are not familiar with this sport, BMX racing started when a group of kids in California modified their bicycles to navigate jumps, sharp curves and drop-offs. According to the American Bicycle Association (http://www.ababmx.com/), BMX racing is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States and Canada and even debuted at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing!

The Prescott Pines track is designed with the novice rider in mind. With our track, kids can sample this extreme sport in a very safe environment, riding one of our six 20” bicycles over berms, off drop-offs, and around hairpin turns, racing their friends to the finish line. You will want to check out this exciting sport the next time you visit Prescott Pines!

Partnering Together

Imagine… sitting on the patio sipping a cold drink from the Hungry Bear Cafe, looking out at the beautiful forest and having a great conversation with new friends. Your kids are in the gym playing Foosball or basketball having the time of their lives! You’re at camp!

This is exactly what we want to bring you – purposeful, multi-generational spaces where you can build relationships throughout Prescott Pines. We want to create places where ministry can happen and lives are can be changed so you will leave this place with a sense of renewed purpose and deep commitment to grow as followers of Christ.

We look forward to offering you these things at Prescott Pines, but we need you to partner with us to make it happen. Would you consider joining us in creating a unique, purposeful and powerful camp experience that will last a lifetime? Would you consider partnering with us in ministry by becoming a monthly Giving Partner! God can use any amount, By giving $5, $25, $50 or more a month, together we will see things begin to happen at a much faster pace at camp. It’s easy. Join us today by calling the camp office at 928-445-5225.

Let the Good Times Roll!

It has been a very good week here at Prescott Pines!


Frontier Village had a very successful weekend of Primary Camp. Forty-one campers attended, and ten of those campers made first-time decisions for Christ! Katie Hanus, a Primary Camp attendee, wrote to tell us, “Hi Prescott Pines Camp, I had fun at camp. I had fun swimming, hiking and at chapel. Please tell (staff member) Pearl Heart that I liked when she sang silent night. Please tell (staff member) Kit Karson I liked when she ate with us.” Her younger sister, Anna, also wrote, saying, “Hi Prescott Pines Camp, I am looking forward to coming to camp next year. My sister has been telling me all about camp and it sounds like fun.” It is clear that the summer staff is doing a great job building relationships with their campers. We are looking forward to having both girls here at camp next year!

Please consider joining us in praying for the ministry in Frontier Village on Sundays and Thursdays. Sundays are a big day, as the campers arrive and make those critical first impressions. A smooth arrival sets the stage for a good week of camp. Thursdays are also very important, as that is the day that we present campers with the gospel message and give them an opportunity to make a decision in response to the message. Pray that nothing gets in the way of a clear gospel presentation on this day.

The other big news around here is that there are shingles on the dining hall! Several sections of the roof are now completed. Pray for favorable weather while the builders are working on the exterior of the building. Rain would really slow down the work, and monsoon season is just around the corner.

Spring Has Sprung!

The snow has melted. Birds are singing. Animals are running through the woods. Trees are coming to life. You can see and smell the newness of spring at Prescott Pines. It’s beautiful!

Alongside the changing weather comes a new season of guests, energy and programs here at camp – Summer! The excitement is mounting as we continue to prepare for the busiest season of our year. No matter the season, the purpose of Prescott Pines remains: to see men & women of all ages come to know the Lord. What a huge privilege for each of us to be a part of this!

Whether you are a staff member, guest, donor, volunteer, prayer partner or church leader you are a valuable member of the Prescott Pines team. Without you we could not carry out the call God has given to help men, women, boys and girls to truly encounter Christ.

I pray that the arrival of spring reminds you of your newness of life found in Christ and that you are able to go forth and further the Kingdom of God for the good of this world.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 1 Corinthians 5:17

And it Begins!

The first of the summer campers have arrived at Prescott Pines Camp! Each year we kick off the summer with a very special weekend camp just for our littlest campers. Primary Camp is for second and third graders only, and this year we have 41 of these little ones joining us for the fun. It is so much fun to introduce the little ones to camp. The excitement in their eyes when they see the teepees for the first time is contagious, and it is the perfect way to launch our busy summer season.

Up on the Main Campus, the staff is looking forward to hosting some big groups this summer. Many of the groups are 225 people or more! It will be quite a challenge to feed such large groups with the Dining Hall still under construction. Our food service professionals will need to use every ounce of creativity and flexibility they have to make sure that every guest has hot, fresh, delicious food each meal. We are up for the challenge, knowing that we can do it by using both the tent and the Hungry Bear Depot seating areas.

Speaking of the Dining Hall, construction is progressing rapidly. The builders have put the trusses on, and it is starting to look like a building again. Generous donors have already contributed about 45% of the money needed for this project, praise God! If you have not yet donated to this exciting project, you may do so by clicking here. Gifts of $500, $1000, and $5000 will receive special recognition on a plaque inside the Dining Hall once the building is complete.