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Newsletter 2012: Mission Possible: The Pavilion Project

How has BBC touched your life?

It would be interesting to gather all the stories and memories made by different people at camp. We became involved when we took some young adults from our church to camp for a service weekend. Then we took our family and volunteered for a week, and then volunteered this summer for a week as camp shepherds.

The theme for this summer was “Inside Out” and one of the daily themes was “Big Things in Small Packages”. As we stood inside the pavilion with over fifty 12-14 year olds, we all shared how BBC is a BIG thing in a small package. It is BIG because it is a place where kids feel safe and loved. It is BIG because it is the first place campers learn of God’s kingdom and unconditional love. It is BIG because of the positive impact on everyone there, from the campers, to the staff, to the volunteers. It is BIG because it continues to offer opportunities for these kids to come back time and time again. Did you know that many of the staff are former campers? Do you know how many families send multiple kids there, for many years?

The pavilion needs help, and soon you will hear more about MISSION POSSIBLE: The Pavilion Project. There is a group of people who have volunteered to help on the funding side, and we are called the Resource Development Team (RDT). Our charge is to help keep camp going for another 50 years, by supporting a campaign to fund a new pavilion. The “pavi” (short for pavilion) is the heart of BBC facility, and it needs help. Each person on the RDT has already made specific time and monetary commitments to this campaign. We can’t call others to do the same until we’ve put our money where our mouth is!

Consider how BBC has influenced you… your family… your own journey with Jesus. Think and pray about how you can commit to support camp and its campaign for the Pavi. Talk about it with your family and friends. As Tuna says, nothing at camp has been accomplished alone… it takes a village to raise a Pavi.

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Beth Goshow (alias: Flo)

Final Auction Numbers & Pictures!

Last year, the 9th Annual Benefit Auction happened less than a month after Tropical Storm Irene brought devastating effects to Vermont. The Auction Committee had a brief meeting to decide whether to continue on with the auction. We decided to give it a try… the auction raised $31,869 (gross) in 2011. That was an amazing for the camp auction! The highest auction number before 2011 was in the mid $20K.

I think auction success in 2011 owes thanks to a gift certificate program to help local business, stirred emotions from things like power outages and road closures and a lot of generous people.

To what does the auction owe it’s success this year? Over $33,000 was raised (gross) – $33, 538 in fact! If you were at the auction or inspired by it in any way and have some insight on how this year’s auction raised even more money than last year leave a comment, please.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all those who gave generously to support the mission of Bethany Birches Camp and help subsidize camp programs so any camper can come regardless of financial reality!

Quick Links

Some pictures of Irene destruction
2012 Lot list with prices written in

Pictures from the day

Auction Item Prices

I love the Annual Benefit Auction! Thanks to Phil, Billy and Mary, (Lapp, Sneed & Moyer) we had about 370 doughnuts available at no charge. There were something like 30 left at the end of the day. There were about 120 there. Do the math. Almost 3 doughnuts per person!

There will be more to say about it, but right now, I just wanted to highlight an interesting document – the lot list with prices. It’s astounding. When I read through this I think – WHOA – what a faithful group of supporters!

Here’s to all of you that help make the camp happen 😀

2012 auction lot list with prices

Mark your calendars for next September!

Tuna

Online Bidding Almost Closed

The annual Benefit Auction happens tomorrow! IF you can’t make it, get your online bid in by 7pm tonight! That’s the last chance – after that, it’s closed down so we can take the bids with us to the auction and bid on your behalf.

For those of you that are coming, or could come, here’s what you can look forward to:

World-change. Seriously. Supporting the auction is supporting a program that is doing it’s best to change the world by helping young people develop a relationship with the only World-Changer there is – God!

Other reasons to come if world-change isn’t enough:
. Fresh-squeezed cider
. Free lunch
. Chance to win a Jeep
. Home-made doughnuts and potato chips
. Bid while facing an incredible view complete with colorful leaves

Each year, the BBC Annual Benefit Auction helps pay for lots of kids to get to camp. All Proceeds go to help kids who can’t pay, get here. World change or not, that’s pretty cool.

Details here.

See you tomorrow at 9!

Tuna

Jeep: A Benefit Auction Raffle

If you haven’t heard, the camp was given a Jeep and it’s being raffled off to get the Benefit Auction started on the right foot (I’m OK if it gets started on the left foot… I guess. I just prefer the right).

Tickets are selling like mad! There’s only 120 tix total.

Here’s the page with details and tix: www.bethanybirches.org/jeep

Here are some pics:

Fire Marshal and Cabin Update

We’ve been hard at work! So many volunteers have lent a hand as well as paid help. Paul Derksen of Turning Leaf Houserights

Paul working on exit stair from loft

has been running the construction side of the project and putting paid and volunteer labor to work. Mike Bryan (electrician) has been working with Harold Bergey and Herb Frederick of Bergey’s Electric to get the necessary electrical work done and Jim at Royal Alarms has been making things happen on the fire alarm side! We’ve had so many helpers to date and it’s so encouraging. When this project is finished, we’ll list all those involved.

Something amazing – the giving toward this project. We’ve had two gifts of $20,000! Thanks so much to Doug and Becky Clemens and also the First Congregational Church of Woodstock. It’s just amazing how God moves through people to accomplish things. Many have given besides these two very large gifts. We’re so thankful we can keep moving, buying materials and getting everything in place because of this financial support. And on top of that, Goodro Lumber is giving through a 15% discount on materials and A.M. Goshow and Son supplied the windows for the project. Robert Buchan Architect has given quite a discounted rate on services.

Pray with us that we’ll be ready for a final inspection by the week of June 11 and that we’ll have necessary lodging for staff and volunteers this summer. Pray also for wisdom! We want to make good choices about the Bethany Birches facility – choices that will be cost effective but durable and long-lasting. Choices that will serve the program of the camp extremely well and allow us to continue to create a facility that accomplishes the unique mission God has given to Bethany Birches.

Thanks be to God for all the wonderful people who are coming together to help make this building safer!

And no matter what happens in the cabin, summer 2012 is on and only three weeks away!

Tuna

Leon working on the exit from the loft

Inside Out: Beauty from Rain

I love the sun! For a few days in April I got to experience plenty of sun. The weather at camp was warm, sunny and felt like summer! I was ready to invite campers to the hill and get camp rolling. When the sun is out I want the hill to be full of youth and staff running around outside enjoying the wilderness. When the sun is shining and temperatures are above 65 I can think of nothing I’d rather do than roam around 100 acres exploring the wilderness with others.

Then came the rains. The past few weeks have been damp, rainy and cool. My shoes get wet each time I go outside. My body gets chilled when I have to get something from the pavilion or the craft hut. I have nightmares of campers who run out of socks. The more it rains the more I frantically search for indoor pavilion activities. A counselor who worked here in 2004, 2005, and 2006 told me she just recently stopped having nightmares about camp in the rain!

Camp in the rain can be fun, but I prefer the sunny skies. Dampness at camp is easily cured by a warm fire, but I prefer warmth from the sun. One of our former staff/campers recalls her favorite memories of BBC during rainy days in the pavilion. Campers don’t always notice the rain. I do.

Last week as I sulked about the rainy days and lack of sun I noticed the grass turning a darker, luscious shade of green. I noticed the flowers by the steps of camp shooting higher out of the ground. The rhubarb in the garden is much closer to picking! I remembered a counselor who took her campers puddle jumping. I appreciated the warmth of the woodstove. I enjoyed the sound of the rain dripping off the trees.

The rain brings the beauty. I like the sun much more than the rain. I like the beauty surrounding me most. I wouldn’t really like a world without rain. So much beauty would be missing. It’s inside out. What we don’t like brings the beauty we do!

Rain coming off the Pavilion

Fire Marshal Update: Call for help

It’s been about two months since the fire marshal’s visit. We continue to be thankful for the way their office is working with us and helping to make the building safer.

Here’s what’s happening this month (May):

Electricians are working on the smoke detection system
Egress windows being installed
Cutting trees for a neighbor to earn cash for the project ($5000!)
Stairways being upgraded (smoke proofed)
Exit from loft constructed
LOTS OF CLEANING afterward!

Will you join us? Here are some ways to help:

Carpentry, building trades – May 21-June1. We need at least 2 volunteers each day.
Cleaning – we’ll need help with this from June 4-8
Cooking – particularly things that can be frozen. Baked goods too. We need some lunches for people working the last two weeks of May.

You can let us know when you’re available and what you can give by filling this form out. Again, here are the dates:

May 12: Spring Workday – come one, come all!

May 21 – June 1: Carpentry and building help

June 4 – June 8: Cleanup and prep for summer

Once we hit June, we hope to have occupancy. We expect to begin a small addition project that will finish the requirements for the building. But, because of time, we need to postpone that till August and the fire marshal has been gracious in helping us get a timeline that works.

Join me in praying and hoping for a fun-filled, safe, eternally impacting summer!

Tuna

Kids Need Summer Camp

Kids need summer camp

“America needs to send all of these kids to camp this summer before this generation loses the values that have driven our country since the beginning,” says author Marc Joseph, CEO and founder of DollarDays International Inc. In a Huffington Post blog entry, Joseph points out that Generation Z (children born since the late 1990s), has never known life before Internet and online connections. Many of these children communicate by text messages more than talking; they spend little time outdoors and have a very different worldview than the generation before them.

Joseph urges parents: “We need to get these kids out playing and communicating and winning and losing so they can take our place in getting this country back to leading the world in economic and ethical ways. Help send these kids to camp this summer.”

You can read the entire article here.

Source: HuffingtonPost.com

Inside Out: Like a Child

Cheeks and Katelyn, BBC Fall 2011

It’s amazing what you find when you look for it! More themes of inside out continue to run through every day life.Last weekend I found a sampling of the inside out theme in Pennsylvania. Tuna and I made a quick trip south for a bridal shower for my soon to be sister in law. We had a great time catching up with family, hearing the latest news and telling lots of people about the latest happenings at BBC!

My favorite part of the weekend was sitting next to my almost 5 year old niece in church on Sunday morning. After the service it dawned on me yet again why God calls us to be like children. It doesn’t make sense. We spend our entire lives growing out of our childhood and yet Jesus states that we should become like little children. On Sunday, sitting next to my niece who was learning how to sit like a 5 yr old in church (Butt on the bench or feet on the floor), I was reminded again why Jesus values children:

She was quietly coloring for most of the service. It seemed like she was paying zero attention to the message the pastor was sharing. But every so often she’d look up at me and ask something related to what the pastor was saying. “What’s doubt?” The pastor had just mentioned Thomas’s doubt. So I tried to whisper an answer she’d understand and she went back to coloring. A few minutes later she looked up at me and said “what’s the least?” The pastor had just mentioned how God was always using “the least.” Again, I tried to put myself in her shoes and give an answer that would make sense. A few minutes later she asked, “Did anyone else die on a cross?” So I told her that other people had been punished that way. She responded with, “Did they come back to life?” I just shook my head. After looking at me for a few moments she went back to coloring.

All the questions. All the inquiries. Asking about whatever we hear. I believe God wants us to do more question asking and more clarifying. Jesus invites us to spend more time with children and be like them. It doesn’t make sense for us to be more like children or to accept children the same way we do adults. But after hanging out with a 5 year old in church, I’m reminded yet again of the goodness of a young spirit and am excited to spend time with kids all summer long!