February 1, 2011
From: Spokane, Washington
Hello WARRIOR NATION! I hope you're doing well and enjoying a great start to the new year.
First, I wanted to let you know that this last weekend marked the Winter Retreat for the youth group at Cornerstone Church, in Spokane, Washington. Chris Pope, my friend and our Warrior Camp discipleship speaker, is the youth pastor there, and gave me the chance to participate and run games for their Winter Retreat at Chewelah Peak this year. (FYI: for me, running games at a God-centered event is like diving into a canyon of berry covered cheesecake :) There's some great stuff that could be said here, but the most important thing by far is that 6 students got saved! God is doing big things in that youth group, and He gets all the praise!
On another note, it has been a little while since we last talked, but I have 2 goals for this very special 1st kick-off update for 2011.
1. Keep it short(er) and sweet
2. Give you a quick snapshot of what’s new from 2010
Ready? Here we go…
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WARRIOR CAMP FEEDBACK . 2010
2010 marked the year in which Warrior Camp packed its bags and headed out for its East coast debut. We really welcome feedback from campers and their families, whether negative or positive. While we haven’t exactly done something like this before, what follows is a response from both an Idaho mom and a Virginia dad whose sons attended Warrior Camp in 2010. Both were kind enough to let us include their responses in this update. Feel free to check them out below.
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From an Idaho Mom:
http://kristencheney.blogspot.com/2011/01/warrior-camp.html
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From a Virginia Dad:
“Guys. Sammy and I went to Warrior Camp a week and a half ago. I'm still sore and Sam is still talking about it. Really, really good stuff! A day of field games, fireworks, blow-gun building, short historical and spiritual lessons, cooking over a fire, and wandering around in the woods with your son. Awesome! In addition, Jon Dupin, the pastor from Brentwood called out the dads (and a couple of granddads) and gave us a short, in your face kind of challenge about what dads are called to do and be...
There is a bunch here and I could go on and on but I want you to know that it changed me and created one super day filled with memories and lessons for Sam and me-one of those days that will never be forgotten. You know how they say your life flashes back in front of you just before you kick the bucket? Yeah, Warrior Camp will be one of those pictures for me.
Warrior Camp is a Christian based program put together by a guy from Idaho named Derek Bartlow. He is copied on this e. This was the first camp east of the Mississippi. Derek is living here in the burg with some friends from Brentwood for the next few weeks. I would very much like for a couple or all of you guys to get together with him and let him tell you more about it and possibly offer this to the folks at Blue Ridge. Also, they are having another one (sponsored by a different church) on the 13th at David Dudley's farm off of Leesville Road for 6-8th grades.
There are many, many great things about this program but I will mention just this one more: uninvolved dads! Unfortunately, it seems that no matter what we do as a church we can't reach some of these guys-they won't have an All In life for themselves. But their sons, now that is another story. They will run the wheels off a minivan making sure their kids get all the sports, education, and social life they can. Warrior Camp is a way to reach these guys or at least take another crack at them from a different angle.
Derek says he can meet with us on Thursday or Friday around lunch and if that doesn't work there is a possibility of meeting with him between services on Sunday. Please hit "reply all" and let us know.”
Warrior!
John Doe
Lynchburg, Virginia
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That’s all for now. Thanks to all the moms and dads who allow their sons to attend WARRIOR CAMP! Thank you also so much for your support, prayers, and encouragement. 2010 was our biggest year yet for Warrior Camp, and God gets all the praise! We’re excited about the year ahead, and some new ministry opportunities that seem to be opening up. God does things big, and we want to faithfully be apart of that in this new year.
Stay connected, and I hope you’re off to a great start to 2011!
All for Him,
Derek
Isaiah 40:28-31
