The End of the Summer is over

Alright Jonah Lovers,

I just said goodbye to the last of the staff for the summer of 09’. No, literally less than a minute ago. I sure am fast aren’t I? Well, anyway it has been a truly great summer and God has done amazing things. We had an incredible staff that was pushed to love Jesus and served Him a lot through a lot of work.

This was our first year with the Dream Team and it was great to see a bunch of High School ageish staff keep the program of every camp running. They did everything from games, ropes course stuff, slip and slide, and food to doing great skits. They loved Jesus and served him.

We had a great group of counselors, which I liked to call the Dutch, who were pushed all summer and a lot of them counseled every week, meeting true exhaustion at the end and realizing they could only do anything if Jesus did it through them.

We also had a QuadCore this year. They were the leadership team of the staff and kept everyone going and being mentored. I thank Jesus for them and was proud to be a part of them.

Jesus made a bunch of camps happen and I saw, on more than one occasion, things working because Jesus made them work. Jesus was glorified through our first ever 4Track camp (Steaks and Sewing!), the classic JVC (Jesus is King), Missions Camp (people who love Jesus are persecuted), and Adventure Camps (This is the Hunt!). It was an incredible summer and I was honored to be a part of it and to be worked through as God did some sweet stuff.

I would like to say goodbye to all of you now. This is my last week here at Jonah. I will be moving on to the next chapter of my life, serving Jesus and being amazed by His grace in Portland. God has taught me a lot here and I am glad to have spent the past 64 weeks here. I have seen much of God’s grace and it has been a blessing to share in it.

Never forget to love Jesus because He is the King and we are His blood-bought servants and for that we should worship.

We are Inadequate, but we got the Ghost,

Signing out,

Soka

The Blog was Down and 4Track happened

So apparently Blogger thought we were a spam blog so they shut us down, but we are back up and I don't know about you guys but I love Jonah Spam, so let the fake meat begin.

Well blog readers, get ready for a packed run through of our first camp of the summer: 4 Track.

This was the first time we had ever done this camp and Jesus made it happen for sure. We had 4 tracks: Jr high and HS girls and Jr high and HS guys. We kept a lot of the Home Ec traditions for the girls and added a lot of Man Camp activities for the guys.

Guys learn how to play poker, change tires and oil, shoot a spud gun, and cook meat.

Girls learned some cooking skills, made jewelry, decorated cakes, made lotion and had a sweet tea party.

Everyone made hemp stuff, tried out sewing, climbed the rock wall and learn how to climb a rope, tried out the zip line, played field games, made cookies, had an ultimate relay… and the list goes on.

But most important than anything else Jesus was preached and campers and staff alike learned what it meant to be men or women for Jesus.

Oh yeah and we milked a goat.

For great pics check this out

Further Developments and 75%

Hello Jonahites,

All is quiet on the Western Front here at the Big Fish. Cool things are beginning to happen for Summer and that is really cool. There is officially 75% of the QuadCore (Program Staff) here at Jonah and we are pumped to complete that number in the next week are so. We are all working hard to get camps planned and staff training ready to go and we are pumped to have the staff arrive and see campers have a blast at all of our camps, but we are also bummed that the other 25% is not here yet.

Be praying for our planning and leadership as we get closer to the beginning. We need to be Christ-centered to be good leaders so my biggest request is that we would be focused on Christ more than anything else. Also pray for the directors of each camp as they hammer out the details for their camps and that they would have Jesus-focused camps so that campers will hear about Jesus.

Well, tell people about Camp and staff (we still need dudes) because we want as many people to hear about Jesus as possible.

Have a good week and worship Jesus because He is cooler than you will ever be, 

Soka the Program Guy

The Big Fish from the Sky

Let us commence to blogging.

There has been a little bit of a hiatus since we last conversed, but I am sure you will forgive and continue to read with vigor whatever is put up on the Blog that is Jonah’s.

Well, what has been happening at the Big Fish (this is what I started calling Jonah)?  Well, we had two retreats in the last two weekends. Hmm, that is nice. One of them was the First Christian group and the other was the infamous scrapbooking getaway, led by the world renowned Harmony. Yeah, that’s right, world renowned. Basically, we had a bunch of ladies here scrapbooking until all hours of the night, making great creations of past memories. If you haven’t gone to a scrapbooking getaway you should come to the next one. Unless you don’t like to scrapbook then maybe you shouldn’t. But anyway it was great. 

In other news, summer is quickly approaching and we are still looking for THREE guy counselors. If you know anyone that could work at camp or should work at camp you know the drill. Also, the QuadCore (program staff) starts arriving on Monday! As the program director, I can’t tell you how exciting this is. So be praying for the planning of staff stuff (by the QuadCore) and the completion of the staff for this summer.

Here is a little extra tidbit. I flew to NY last week and on my departing flight I saw some great views of Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, and our beloved Mt. Adams. After some good observation, I realized I was looking at the Trout Lake Valley and I am 98% sure I saw Jonah from the plane, so that is cool.

Enjoy the pic.

 

Soka

Hot Wings for Program Staff

Hello Camp Lovers,

Well, it has been a little stretch of time since you were last updated so let me see what I can do.

On the current news, we are hosting Vancouver Christian High School from, you guessed it, Vancouver. It is their junior/senior retreat so they are chilling, eating good food, and having a good time here at Jonah.

This weekend we had a work group that got a lot of stuff done around the grounds. They raked the field, got the plastic off the windows and cleaned up the remains of the Igloo (may she rest in peace). Igloo 2 is bought and ready to go, but we need to fix up the asphalt because it is not good enough yet. So if you have some extra cash and you have been thinking, “hmm, I sure wish I good buy some asphalt,” well, here is your chance.

In other news, the QuadCore (also known as the Program staff for this summer) was able to hang out for the first time as a group. The four of us went up to Olympia for the Program Advance which is an opportunity to hang out and learn from a bunch of fellow program people. It was a really good time that got us pumped up for this summer and we began thinking about our mission for this summer. Also, I had really good hot wings.

Well, keep us in your prayers. We still have a lot of retreat groups and summer is coming up fast and we are really excited about it.

Proud to do Kingdom Work,

Soka

Warm Weather to Keep Climbing

Hello, Hola, Hey, Greetings, Hi, Howdy, Aloha, Shalom,

Well, there is a few ways to say hello, but regardless I hope you all are doing well and worshiping Jesus. And if you are not… What are you doing?

It has been a good week here at Jonah. We have had the privilege to look at some more summer staff application stuff and we are praying that God will provide some dudes for His service this summer. God is a good God and I am confident He will provide all that is needed. 

On other news, the JBC men from Jefferson, OR came up for a quick (20 hour) retreat and left exhausted because of all the activities they crammed in. They played dodge ball, ate brownies, went caving, jumped off a 50 ft. platform, and went rock climbing, not to mention enjoying two meals from Grandma’s kitchen.

They went rock climbing? Is that what you are asking? That’s right, Jonah now has a portable rock wall with four routes to climb. It looks like real rock and has plenty of holds. We are currently raising money to purchase it. So if you are interested in supporting a great activity for campers of all ages call us up.

Also, it is beginning to warm up here at Jonah which gives me a hint that summer is coming with all of its warm weather, serving staff, and excited campers. Keep all of these things in your prayers so that Jesus is glorified through Jonah’s efforts.

Proud to do Kingdom Work,

Soka

Igloo to be Replaced while Grandma become world famous

Alright Ya’ll,

Things have been plugging along here at Jonah. The well known Jeff is currently in Colorado with Blade (A previous summer staffer) and they are picking up the NEW lawn mower with snow blower attachment. As you should know, our old one was burned up in the misfortune that was the Igloo Fire of 2009. Praise God that we found a nearly new one for a great deal.

Also, our new igloo is on the way and picnic tables are being made so we have a place to eat during our great summer camps. There is nothing like eating in an igloo that is not made out of snow.

On the group side of things we had a college group from Corvallis here for an extended weekend. The group was full of international students who were able to enjoy the many great activities here at Jonah and also some good American food from Grandma. My hope is that they heard about Jesus this weekend.

Keep Jonah in your prayers as we are getting much closer to summer and are still working on filling up the rest of our staff list. I am pumped to see how God provides for and works through our staff this summer.

It’s all about Jesus.

Soka