Camps with Meaning aims to raise $8.6 million
Things are heating up as Mennonite Church Manitoba’s camping ministry gets set to launch its “Light the Fire” capital campaign. Camps with Meaning aims to raise $8.6 million for projects at its two camps: Camp Assiniboia, located 40 km outside of Winnipeg, and Camp Koinonia, located 285 km southwest of the city. The projects include…
Remembering the early days of Camp Valaqua
George Heidebrecht fiddled with the knobs of his slide projector in anticipation of a morning of storytelling. Stories about Camp Valaqua. Stories of adventures he had carried for decades. Stories of boys — now men of retirement age themselves — sleeping in lean-tos, getting rain-soaked, eating over an open fire. Stories of tying their provisions…
COVID camp closures
Camp Squeah of Hope, B.C. has cancelled its 2020 camping season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a May 15 statement, camp director Rob Tiessen wrote, “In order to best ensure the health of our campers and staff, we have made the difficult decision to cancel our 2020 summer camp session. This applies to all…
Nisbet reflects on 33 years of camping ministry
After 33 years as the executive director of Hidden Acres Mennonite Camp, Campbell Nisbet is grateful for all the growth he has witnessed. Whether it is the trees he planted on the camp property or the spiritual maturing of young adult leaders he mentored, Nisbet sees it all as signs of God’s blessing. And he…
Squeah paddle-a-thon switches to fall
For the first time in more than two decades, participants in the annual Camp Squeah paddle-a-thon will be navigating the Fraser River in the fall instead of the spring. “Whereas, traditionally the paddle-a-thon has been a pre-summer event, typically taking place in early spring, when the weather is often wet and cold, and the river temperatures…
Making a Mennonite
I did not grow up attending a Mennonite church. Growing up two hours southeast of Winnipeg in Piney, Man., I attended International Christian Fellowship, a small congregation that includes an interesting mix of people and theological backgrounds. It is an international amalgamation of American and Canadian churches on the U.S. border, officially under the Evangelical…
