Camps, Camps, and More Camps!

Moving on to two more new camp offerings...

INspire Camp - This camp is offered for GIRLS ONLY in grades 7-12 and will be a time to talk about all those things important to girls. Today’s young women face many challenges as they transition from childhood to adulthood. Depictions of women in the media and throughout our culture challenge both parents and their daughters to find positive models of womanhood. Young women will learn more about themselves, growing into women of God, and building relationships that enrich their lives.

Eco-Camp - is for 3-5 graders who love being outside and learning about nature. We will study plants, animals, insects, and the geology of Manidokan. This camp will be very hands on, so be prepared to get dirty! Campers will learn about God's creation and how to be good environmental stewards.

As always, volunteers are needed. Please contact the camp if you are interested in helping with either of these camps.

New in 2008

This post is the first of several that will describe the new camp offerings at Manidokan in 2008.

Late Night Adventure - This camp is for night owls. Campers will stay up late and sleep during the day. We will play fun night games like glowstick ultimate Frisbee, flashlight tag, hide and seek games, and more. Plus we will still go swimming, night hiking, have Bible study, worship, and other standard camp activities. I am also planning on bringing in someone who can bring the stars into focus with some astronomy lessons. Late night adventure camp is for campers in grades 7-12.

Wet & Wild - You WILL get wet at this awesome new camp. For campers in grades 3-5, this camp will surely get your fingers pruney! Everything we do will involve water. We will go swimming and boating, plus we will play water games and even have Bible studies involving water! If you love swimming and playing in the water, this camp is for you!

Special note: I am still looking for volunteers to work with these, and all the other specialty camps at Manidokan in 2008. If you would like to volunteer for a week, please contact the camp. Even if you cannot commit to an entire week please consider sharing your talents by helping lead a specialized activity such as astronomy, environmental studies, metal detecting, horseback riding, or other specialized skills during the week. We need your gifts and talents to make this summer successful.

Some People

Rock was a great success for camping! We had over 300 people attend the workshops about camping. We played games, sang songs, talked about summer camp, retreats, working on summer staff, and heard from Andy Thronton about CCYM's challenge to youth groups. CCYM is challenging youth groups from around the conference to to raise money to help build the new dinning hall at West River. The will be prizes for the groups that raise the most money.

We also had hundreds of people stop by the camping table in the Rock Shop to request a camping brochure and register for a chance to win an Ipod Touch. The drawing has been done and we are just waiting to validate the entry before sending the Ipod to the winner.

The keynote speaker at Rock, Grace Matthews, spoke about "some people" who brought the blind man to Jesus so he could be healed. She talked about the importance of having "some people" who will take you to the place where you can receive help. Sometime we cannot see that we need help, or what will help us, and that is when we need others to guide us.

You can be "some people" for someone. Be "some people" and bring a friend to camp. Be "some people" and raise money at your church to send someone to camp who can't afford it. Be "some people" and volunteer as a director and bring your friends to be counselors. Camp may be just what someone needs, but they will never know until they have "some people" to bring them.

Camp at ROCK

The retreat and camping ministry will be well represented at ROCK this coming weekend in Ocean City, MD. There will be a table set up in the ROCK shop with information about the upcoming summer at Manidokan, West River, and Harmison! There will also be brochures and other materials you can pick up getting a group together for a retreat at one of our 3 sites. Remember our camps are open all year! I will also be there to answer questions about retreats and summer camping.

WIN AN 8GB IPOD TOUCH!

Oh, and one more thing...sign up to receive the summer camping brochure and you will be registered to win an 8GB Ipod Touch!

Plus I will be leading a workshop about camping during both of the workshop sessions at ROCK. We will sing some camp songs, play games, make a craft, and learn about summer 2008 at each of the camps.

See you there!

Blog - Take 2

This blog got off to a roaring start at the end of the summer, but as you can see it has laid dormant for several months. Well no more! Since we have started a new year I need a new year's resolution. Since I am already trying to loose weight I needed to find something else, and this blog is it. With the help of reminders in my blackberry hopefully I can stick with it.

Information for next summer is at the graphic designer being prepared for the summer brochure which should be mailed in about a month. Over the next couple blog posts I will detail each of the new camps being offered at Manidokan in 2008 as well as some of the other changes at camp.

Right now I am looking for volunteers, nurses, and staff for the summer. If you want to get involved at Manidokan contact me ASAP! Next summer will only succeed if we have the right staff and volunteers to provide a safe and quality camp experience. Can you believe it's January 4th and I am talking about the summer already?! It will be here before you know it, get on board today!

Retreat Season Underway

The retreat season has gotten off to a wonderful start with Cabin John Chinese American UMC visiting over Labor Day weekend. They were followed by Mclean Presbyterian Church who used camp as a staging point for doing mission work in the area. Both of those groups were coming to Manidokan for the first time. We hope to see them in the future. Limited space still remains for your group to experience Manidokan yet this fall. Contact the camping office for availability at 800-922-6795.

School has just started, but at camp planning is already underway for next summer. Summer 2008 at Manidokan promises to have exciting new camp opportunities for campers of all ages. Some of the ideas being kicked around include: girls only and boys only 3/4 and 5/6 adventure camps, Wet and Wild camp involving all things water, Appalachian Trail hiking, Treasure Hunting camp, Late Night Adventure camp, Eco-camp, A girls empowerment camp, Christian Friendship camp for those with special needs, and many many more! Be sure to check back here to find out what camps make the cut and ways you can get involved.

If you would like to get involved with Manidokan on a volunteer or financial basis please contact the camp we can talk about options for you. Thank you and God bless.

Chris Schlieckert
Director

Summer's End

The summer camping season officially ends today. It has been an amazing summer at Manidokan, one full of transition, of laughter and tears, with many challenges and praises. Summer camp gives us the unique opportunity to work with kids for an entire week with no distractions from the secular and material world in which we live. No other experience is quite the same. As a result, with the last campers leaving and the remaining summer staff packing, the most conflicting combination of emotions overwhelms me. On one hand, after 12 weeks of non-stop work, a slower pace is welcomed and needed. On the other hand, camp will soon be eerily quiet and it will be 9 long months before the energy and excitement of summer returns. I want to thank everyone who helped make this summer such a success: volunteers, staff, campers, and parents. I hope to see you at Manidokan next summer, if not before!

Manidokan Rap

One of our senior high campers wrote and performed this rap about camp at last night's talent show.

M-A-N-I-D-O-K-A-N
Mani-Mani-Mani-Dokan

Together we practice being grateful, hope and love
Praying to God in the heavens above
Away from the city I know God is with me.
I have peace to share, the woods I can bare.
Cause my God, my Lord and Savior mine
Doesn’t give me the spirit of fear
But of love and of joy and of sound mind
So I kick back relax, unroll my sleeping bag
I know that he is there, and I am in His care
Wit’ out Him I wouldn’t be here
Jesus, Hosanna, Jehovah, God
Holy Spirit – Great Spirit
King of all Kings
Maker of all things
The bugs and the deer and the trees
The air we breath
At Manidokan we laugh, play, mess up
Do good deeds and all thanks and praise go to the King!

M-A-N-I-D-O-K-A-N
Mani-Mani-Mani-Dokan

By Diamond Powell

Thank you Diamond for using your talents to glorify God. If anyone else out there has a literary or artistic work that is about camp or inspired by camp please contact Manidokan so we can share it on the blog.

Open Year-Round!

Many of you have had the joy of spending beautiful summer days at Manidokan, but have not expereinced camp during the retreat season. The beauty of God's creation is evident at Manidokan all year and we invite you to visit Manidokan for a retreat, meeting, sabbatical, family reunion, wedding, or other special occasion. Please consider us when planning your next event. We will work with you to meet your group's needs and expectations. For information please contact the camp at 301-834-7244 and to book a retreat call the camping office at 800-922-6795.

Camp Photo Gallery!

Manidokan now has an online photo gallery at http://picasaweb.google.com/CampManidokan check it out for cool pictures from camp. Who knows, you may even see yourself.