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Staff
interview
get to to know our student
ministry director
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Program
previ ew
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Get updated:
cedar lodge project
property purchase
new intern staff
and more...
what campers can expect
1026 Camp Jim Rd SW Pillager, MN 56473 - (218) 829-6767 - [email protected]
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What’s the news?
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Director’s Notes
By Tony Masurka
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Other News to Check Out
New Property Named....................................pg. 4
Memorials.......................................................pg. 4
Cedar Lodge Project .....................................pg. 5
Financial Aid Report ......................................pg. 5
Wish List.........................................................pg. 5
2 Easy/Free Ways to Give............................pg. 11
Unsubscribe Form.........................................pg. 11
Living in light of a post-christian america
ixteen years ago when I started in camping, I would never
have thought that we would be living in such a post-Christian
environment. In a time where commonly held values are turned
upside down as hateful or antiquated, we are responding by
clearly defining what our values are. We are more involved with
our community reaching out, when possible, and we are focusing
on living the example Jesus gave us by sharing the Gospel as
opportunities arise. As a result, we see God at work here. In
2013, we started Community Day which has grown from 30 to
120. In 2014, we offered Snowmobile Safety training with just 9
attendees. This year we added Hunter Safety with 36 students-some of which traveled over 2 hours to attend. Our summer
discipleship program (DIT) for teens is so full that we are having
to look for new ways to house them. We are also prayerfully
considering a post high school discipleship ministry (gap program)
for 18-24 year old students. We see more campers are floundering
during those years spiritually with the majority not returning to the
church after college. In 2014, we were given a generous financial
gift to do outreach/evangelism, part of which we used to start new
outreaches. This allowed us to take over a dozen staff to do street
witnessing in the twin cities and several groups of campers to
S
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witness in the Brainerd area. We also purchased equipment that
has allowed us to be at a public school and work with 270+ people
that may not normally go to a Christian camp. God is already
growing this outreach for 2016. When I see God blessing like this,
I prepare myself knowing that He has even bigger plans. We are
asking you to join us in praising God for His faithfulness and pray
for His leading and continued provision as we as we look forward
to what He does next.
Picture taken from Northern Lights Lodge Dock
We need your help in getting
the Cedar Lodge Cabin project
completed. Cedar Lodge will
replace the remaining seasonal
cabins on the girls side. It will offer
8,900 square feet of lodging with
a chapel, warming kitchen, laundry,
storm shelter and 2 break out areas.
This 40-50 bed facility can host 300
people for meetings and provide a storm
shelter for the entire girls side of camp. The
Cedar Lodge complete cost of Cedar Lodge is $525,000.
Project
We already have $148,000 and have used that
to mostly enclose the structure. We are praying for
$27,000 in 2015 to finish enclosing the structure and an additional
$70,000 in 2016 to do rough-in plumbing, heating, and framing.
Please prayerfully consider giving towards this need. We are excited
to see this completed which will allow us to provide safety for summer
campers, year-round large group meeting space, and the chance to
minister with more people on a year-round basis. Please contact me if
you have any questions. To give, just use the enclosed self addressed
envelope, all gifts are tax deductible. Thank you so much for your
support. Tony
New property named -“Northern lights lodge”
Financial aid report
In August, we purchased the neighbors’ 3,100 sq’ house on 2 acres.
We will be renting this for guests as well as using it for events. This
winter, we are finishing the basement which will allow the lodge to
accommodate 14 guests with 3 baths & 4 bedrooms on 3 levels. We
wanted to give it a name
May Borg
that stood out. After
Her children, Wanita,
much
deliberation,
Ken, Kathy, Ruby,
Memory of
From
Mary Lou, Larry, Betty, Northern Lights Lodge
Chuck, and many
Ed Kallerman
really seemed to fit. If
friends
Lorraine, Pat, Allen
and family
you’re ever in the area,
Les Ash
stop by and check out
Friends and family
Marie Lowery
Dave Lowery
the Northern Lights at
Evelyn Knudson
Camp JIM.
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Memorials
Her children, Barb Setterholm, Judy Adrian,
Konnie Zommerman
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We are praising God and thanking you for providing so very generously
to the financial aid fund. Last year, we provided scholarships to all
campers who had financial need. This is such a blessing to youth who
normally cannot afford
to attend camp and now
have the opportunity
• 4x4 work pickup
• Tandem axle trailer
to experience not
• Hitch or tractor
• Canoe trailer
just camp, but learn
mounted sander
• Roll-in docks
and
experience
•
Golf cart
• Enclosed trailer
the love of God. If
•
2 calf hutches
• ATV
you feel led to give
•
15-passenger van
• Paddle boats
towards a potentially
• DSLR camera and
• PTO generatorlife changing week
lenses (est $1,200)
25-30 KW
of camp, we would
•
3-22 cal single shot
• Snowmobile (teaching
sincerely appreciate
bolt action rifles for
safety classes)
Hunter’s Safety
your support.
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Wish list
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Staff Interview with our Director of
Student Ministries
What is your Name?
My name is Aaron Howard
and I’m the Student Ministries
Director here at Camp JIM.
What are you doing this fall
to keep busy?
Although we are not in the
summer
camping
season,
there is still a lot that I get to be
involved with. This is the season
for sharing about camp, meeting
families and sharing about the
programs we provide. We are
helping out at local schools to build our
relationships with our community and
share God’s love with others. We are fundraising to add more programs to our ministry
that we can use year-round and we are planning and
gearing up for our winter retreats and next summer’s camps!
What would you say is the biggest part of your job?
A big part of my job is to follow up with both campers and with our with
our DIT junior staff (Disciples in Training). I’ve been able to connect
with campers, as well as churches that are local to our campers who,
made decisions to follow Christ this summer. Camp is a great place
for people to hear about and start a relationship with Jesus Christ, but
we know that being involved in a church family throughout the year is
the place where they can truly grow in their faith! I’ve also been able
to stay in touch with a lot of our D.I.T. staff. I love to encourage them
in their faith and see them even stronger in their relationship with
Jesus than they were last summer! God has opened up a number
of opportunities for this. I was talking about churches with one of
our DITs that lives in the area and found out that he isn’t able to get
rides to his church he was attending. Now he’s joining me at church
and youth group! It’s fun to see how he understands that he is a part
of the same family as other believers and longs to be in
community with them.
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Meet the 2015-16 Interns
Hi! My name is Sarah Gerten and I’m an intern at Camp JIM. I started
counseling during the
summers three years ago and I just couldn’t stay
away! I grew
up with my parents and two brothers in Excelsior,
MN. I am currently finishing my schooling online
through the University of Northwestern, St. Paul.
This December, I will be graduating with a Spanish
Major and a Youth and Family Ministry Minor.
I am thoroughly excited for this year and what God
will do with this internship. I am hoping that this
year will give me an opportunity to grow in my faith,
as well as my leadership skills. What I love about this
internship is that we get to do a little bit of everything.
I am
hoping that through this, God will show me what my
strengths
are so that I can better serve Camp JIM and ultimately
the Lord and
His Kingdom. This internship has been a huge blessing
during the two
months that I have been here, and I’m looking forward to
seeing how God will
use my experiences here to prepare me for other ministry
opportunities in the future.
Hi! I’m Zach Northenscold. I grew up in Nisswa, MN and graduated from
Pequot Lakes High School in 2013. I am currently enrolled at Crown C ol l e ge
studying Social Studies Education, with the hopes of becoming
a teacher. Prior to the internship, I was a full-time on-campus
student, but when God’s plan brought me to camp to intern,
I decided to remain enrolled and take some online classes.
How I became an intern was very sudden and unexpected
for me. I counseled at camp this last summer, and before
I even got hired back, I knew that I wanted to go back to
Crown, finish up my last year of college and graduate. No
way was there time for me to do an internship. Almost as
soon as I got done telling someone that, who asked if I would
be interested in interning, I felt God convict me almost to say,
“Who are you that your plan is better than mine? Is your time so
precious that you can’t take a year and do My work?” And so now,
I’m an
intern at Camp and loving it. I enjoy being able to impact camp and the kids/groups
that come through here. I really enjoy the serving and I can’t wait to see what else
God has planned for the rest of the year.
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This summer’s theme is Bath
to the Past, a spinoff of the
“Back to the Future” movies.
A boy moves to a new town,
new school, and a new house.
Little does he know that his
new home has a bathtub that is
a time machine. Now he doesn’t
like to take baths--what boy does?
He likes to be dirty. He finally
takes a bath and finds himself at
Jesus’ birth. He doesn’t know who
Jesus is, but he takes more baths
in order to go back and find out
more. He eventually ends up at the
resurrection and finds out that baths
and Jesus have something in common.
They both can cleanse him from being
dirty. The boy recognizes the truth in 1
John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He (Jesus)
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
CLEANSE us from all unrighteousness.”
To really have fun with this year’s theme, we are starting a fun new activity
called Bubble Soccer. Imagine being in a bubble and the only thing sticking
out are your legs. Then, play soccer and you get to run into and bounce off of
others. The cool part is that it will create times of laughter and conversations
that will help relationships to grow and create opportunities for our staff to
share about Jesus. We already have planned events at churches using this new
activity to help them to create opportunities for youth outreach.
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This winter we will be having two main activities--one for 7-12 graders and
another for those ages 18-29. “Arctic Blast” is the new name for our winter teen
retreat. Please be praying for snow this winter, because it makes it so much
more fun tubing with snow instead of mud! This year we will be adding a huge
bonfire on the lake. Space is limited, sign up online now at campjim.org.
“Ascended Rally” is our young adult retreat, which we held last year for the
first time. Young adults are an age group that we have not been reaching
out to, so we are excited to continue that ministry and make it even more
effective. Last year’s retreat was well received. We had over 40 attend and we
are planning on doubling that this year. Register online at campjim.org and
check out its own site at http://ascendedrally.wix.com/campjim.
If you any questions, or would like to be a volunteer or join our summer staff,
please contact us. You can also apply online to be on staff at campjim.org.
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2 Easy Ways to Give
Spring garage sale; taking donations now!
Summer Staff Stories
“During Jr. Camp, God blessed me with a great cabin of girls. During this
week, God worked in everyone of my campers lives, especially one of them. Every
time she prayed, she would get this glow around her and a huge smile, as if she was
talking to God face to face. All week, God used me to speak to the good news her.
When I’d talk to her, she would never take her eyes off me; no matter what was going on around her, she would just keep listening. She wanted to know more. Then
I asked her if she had ever accepted Christ in her life. She had said, “no.” Then I
asked her if that was something she wanted. She said, “yes.” Then I prayed with
her and then told her to sleep on it, and pray about this commitment. Then, if you’re
ready, come find me the next day and talk to me about it. The very next day, she ran
up to me during free time all excited and said “Willy, I’M READY!” I had asked a few
more questions, then I prayed with her, and she accepted Christ into her life for the
very first time.”
-Willy Gerdes, Counselor
“I had a camper during Jr. Camp who had Brittle Bone Syndrome. He was
only seven, but had already broken/fractured 19 bones in his life. He had every right
to be upset and put out about life, but instead he was on fire for God. He wanted to
use his issue to glorify God and help other people towards Christ. One night, while
everyone was getting ready for bed, I was having an impromptu one-on-one with
him in the cabin. I asked him if he was a Christian, to which he replied excitedly,
“Yes!” I asked him how he knew, and instead of just telling me, he decided to tell the
entire cabin and essentially layed out the Gospel for everyone who was there. It was
fantastic! A camper of mine actually came up to me later with questions, because of
what he had heard that night. God has a plan, and it was great to see Him use my
camper that way.” -Zach Northenscold, Counselor
“I had really great cabins all summer long and then, junior high camp came.
During this week, the last week of camp, I only had four campers, but they just went
back and forth on whether or not they would get along. It always really depended on
the day and the situation on whether they would get along with each other or not.
Fast forward to banquet night. The last night that these girls would be together. I had
been praying for unity in my cabin all week long and this was the night that I was
really hoping that they would come together, as a cabin, and just enjoy each other’s
company. This is exactly what happened. They all helped each other with hair and
makeup and they were giving each other compliments. I knew that this was totally a
God thing. I hadn’t really expected them to get along as well as they did. They were
laughing and just having a great time. God had fully and completely answered my
prayers from the week about unity in my cabin.” -Christina Resnikoff, Counselor
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This coming May, we are having our 2nd annual camp garage
sale. Take a look around the house--There may be a few
things you would be able to donate. We plan to put this year’s
proceeds towards youth ministries. Things that sell the best:
sporting goods, tools, good bikes, mowers, kitchen items,
equipment, children’s items... To donate year-round, contact
camp and we can set up a drop off time. Keep in mind many
items are tax-deductible.
Giving through amazon smile
You want to help out, but don’t have the financial means to do
so? Here are a couple of options that are free ways for you
to support camp without having to spend extra monies to do
so. If you use Amazon, just look up Amazon Smile and select
Camp JIM as your charity and then shop like normal. Camp
will receive a % of your purchase, costing you nothing, but
blessing us greatly.
Unsubscribe Form
If you would like to be removed from the Camp JIM mailing list,
please fill out the following information and mail this slip to:
1026 Camp JIM Rd SW, Pillager, MN 56473
Please remove me from all Camp JIM mailing lists
Name:______________________________
Street Address:_________________________________________
Phone (____)____________
-orYou may contact us at (218) 829-6767 or [email protected]
with the above info. Thanks!
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