WINTER WIPE OUT RETREATS

These last two weekends were our Winter Wipe Out retreats for youth.  Great worship times and messages as always.  It's always hard to quantify the eternal impact of the weekend as most great conversations happen in breakout groups and one on one times.  We just do our best to create spaces and times for that to happen.  Each year many give their lives to Christ or make a big step in their spiritual journey.  

Every time a kid comes to camp, we want them to experience things they can't do every day.  Sometimes that's a ridiculous game in chapel <below> or maybe getting the chance to climb the ice tower.

We also want to help them build relationships, we just want to create shared experiences.  Things they will look back on months and years later and say... Oh man, you remember when we... or whatever.  In typical Minnesota fashion, we should mention the weather.  It was pretty cold but that doesn't stop us.  We do tell everyone to bundle up and we do adjust times for outdoor activities but they still have a blast.  

That's the great things about Minnesotans, they are tough.  <insert pat on back as you read>  So good job!  

This coming weekend is our Father & Son retreat so we will have some red meat (game feed), build stuff (crafts) and cut a hole in the ice and jump in (polar plunge).  

I always look forward to summer weather and summer camp is the best!  It will literally be 130 degrees warmer on some days than it was the last couple nights.  Wow.  Makes me ask every year, why do we live here again?  Well look around.  It's great people, God's country and an amazing camp that God uses to do his work.  So glad to be a part of it!