CMU and Camps with Meaning prepare leaders of faith
Summer may be a distant memory at this time of year, but Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) student Jonas Cornelsen fondly recalls how he spent last July and August working as the Bible instructor at Camp Koinonia, one of three run by Mennonite Church Manitoba’s Camps with Meaning (CwM) ministry. Cornelsen had never worked at camp…
Camp installs ‘green’ roof
Last fall, workers installed a “green” roof over the Stonehouse meeting room at Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp. The old flat roof was in need of replacement and while it would have been easy to simply replace it with the same materials as before, the Hidden Acres board and staff are always looking for ways to…
‘God has a vision for Shekinah that’s exciting’
It’s not the kind of news Shekinah Retreat Centre executive director Nick Parkes likes to share with his constituency, and it’s not the kind of news the constituency likes to hear. In a statement to Mennonite Church Saskatchewan dated Feb. 9, 2016, Parkes announced that Shekinah is in a deep financial crisis. The trouble, says…
Fertile environment for God’s good news
At Camp Squeah, we care a great deal about our young adult staff. We believe that a community of staff that cares for one another and treats each other as Christ-like as possible creates a fertile environment for campers to be affected by God’s great love and good news. To allow for this great change,…
Peace is possible
I love camp. I love the silliness, the excitement and the community. Most importantly, I love the learning opportunities and teachable moments that camp can offer. Camp provides an atmo-sphere for growth: budding friendships, self-discovery and confidence-building experiences that young people carry with them throughout their lives. At Peace Camp, based at Conrad Grebel University…
Making ripples
Like ripples flowing from the point where a stone hits the water, the choices we make everyday spread out from us and impact others. John shares a story in his gospel that exemplifies this. A boy committed a simple act by giving his fives loaves and two fish, which gave an opportunity for Jesus to…
Looking back and looking up
This coming summer is a milestone in my camp career, being 10 years since I started spending my summers in leadership at Shekinah Retreat Centre’s summer camp. There are a lot of memories here, and a lot of these revolve around a circle of loving women who have guided and supported me over the past…
‘Raise the peace’
As summer staff, part of our job was planning and implementing a peace camp titled “Raise the peace” in the Meadowgreen area of Saskatoon last August. This area is home to many newcomer families from about 20 different nations. The focus of the camp was peacebuilding and restorative justice, with a specific emphasis on using…
The sound of the soul shifting
To feed our mind we go to school, to fix our body we go to the doctor, to feel our hearts we go home, and for our soul to flourish—that is when we go to camp! Camps with Meaning is a space where we leave the ordinary routine of life and take a week or…
Transformed in the wilderness
This year marks 60 years since Fraser Lake Camp began in a farmer’s field northeast of Bancroft, Ont. Since then, the camp has evolved and now covers 105 hectares of forest, field and lakefront. As a staff member at Fraser Lake, nature has always been my primary conduit to God, although for many campers this…
