News from Camp & Retreat Ministry, Central PA Conference, United Methodist Church

S'more Camp and Retreat News

Greetings!

Greetings to each of you:

The Winter Thaw is on the way!?!? At least this southerner hopes it's on the way, as I've seen and moved enough snow to last for the next 5 years. It definitely looks like a "Marshmallow World in the Winter."

Summer Camp registration is open. We have over 250 folks signed up for the summer. This is exciting news! Make sure you get your registration in soon. Great fun is in store for all who come to camp this summer.

As we move into a new year, the Camping Office would like to say THANK YOU to the churches who have paid 100% of their Shares of Ministry in 2009. We are giving a 20% discount toward lodging on your next retreat at any of the four Camp & Retreat Sites in the Central PA Conference. You will need to make your reservation between now and May 31, 2010.

Some ideas for Booking:

Confirmation Retreat Family/Couples Retreat

Youth/Children's Retreat Men/Women's Retreat

Disciple Bible Study Closing Sessions

Day Meetings

For questions or to make a reservation contact the Camping Office:

1-800-874-8474 or via e-mail camps@cpcumc.org.

In looking towards the Fall, there are many groups that like to gather for a meal during the Holidays. We hope you will consider booking your Holiday Meal at one of the Three Camping Sites--Greene Hills, Mount Asbury, or Wesley Forest. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the holidays. More information will be out about the holiday meals this June.

Grace and peace to you as you make a difference in the lives of people you meet in this new year.

Anne

Anne Horton, Director
Camp & Retreat Ministry

York City Day Camp

This past January, I had a chance to encounter Jesus in a small village in Southern India. Going to Carmel Orphanage and School is only a piece of my faith story but it has shaped the way I see Jesus and His love for us...and all of His children. It has made me realize that I carry His precious love with me wherever I go and that we all have the opportunity to have others encounter Jesus in us.

Just a few months before heading to Carmel we learned that M. Karthick, the boy that we sponsored, had left the orphanage. This was devastating to my husband and me because he was a HUGE reason why we were going back. We were given another little boy to sponsor, his name is Santhosh and he's 5 years old. I worried about what it would be like with him. We had an instant, amazing relationship with Karthick and I wanted the same with Santhosh.

When we arrived at Carmel all the sponsored children, almost 300 kids, were lined up to greet us one by one. Since he's a little guy, Santhosh was right in the front. We were so happy to see him finally, we went over to say hello to him and he OBVIOUSLY did not share our excitement. I don't know if he was scared, unimpressed, confused....I don't know, but I felt sad. He wouldn't even look at me.

We took it slow. It was very difficult because I would look at him from across the room and smile and he'd leave, just walk away! But little by little, smile by smile, then tickle by tickle he warmed up to me. Days later, he was asking for me to pick him up or to tickle him or was just content standing snug to my leg. I was very happy that he was accepting the love I wanted to give him and he was loving me back.

Well, the last evening of our stay came and they had a farewell for us in the chapel. It's a very emotional time. If you've been to summer camp, it's very much like the goodbyes we experience there. Santhosh sat through the farewell seemingly unaffected by the emotional outpouring, after all, he's only 5 and new to this whole scene.

The next day at the orphanage, we spent some time with Santhosh playing, telling him we'll miss him and that we love him, and giving him the last of our bubblegum stash. I don't know how much he understood because English is his second language. Then we all went to the school to say our last goodbyes. The students, almost 1,000 kids, went to their classrooms and our team went in small groups to each room and said our goodbyes.

I walked into Santhosh's kindergarten room and among those 40 little tiny faces was that one face, with great big eyes, flooding with tears. Santhosh was sobbing, his lungs were heaving. I asked the teacher why he was crying and she said it was because we were leaving. He understood. I asked if I could take him out of class and she agreed. I picked him up and just hugged him, and loved him.

This is the moment that I encountered Jesus in a very real way. And he told me that just loving and caring for another person, even in a very short time...makes a difference; a difference to me, to the other person and to Him!

I've been involved in our camping program for 23 years, as a camper, counselor, dean and director. I know that kids are kids and people are people no matter what country you're in. We all have the capacity to love someone, to give our time. I can't say enough about our Camp and Retreat Ministry. I have encountered Jesus so many times there as well...whether it was being loved by someone or loving them. With 4 residential sites and a city day camp, there are opportunities for each of us to encounter Jesus, young or old...just by loving people. I challenge you to get involved with Camp and Retreat Ministry...to put yourself out there enough to encounter Jesus yourself or help someone else encounter Jesus.

Check out my pics below!

On the journey!

Michelle Schwartzman

Director--York City Day Camp

717-841-5203

michelle@cpcumc.org

1st day

I met Santosh for the first time. He wouldn't even look at me!

last day

On our last day, you can see we have bonded! Can our smiles get any bigger?!

...Enlarge My Territory

Mount Asbury.....................................................................................by Daphne Orr

Recently I was asked to serve as a Director from the North East Jurisdiction on the National United Methodist Camp and Retreat Committee (NCRC). I'm still not sure why my name got thrown into the mix of people to potentially serve, let alone how I was actually chosen. But it never ceases to amaze me how God always leads us to things that will challenge us, enrich us, and strengthen us. Just when we start to feel comfortable with where we are, He in His infinite wisdom, gives us opportunity to expand our horizons.

I left January 31 to spend a week at beautiful Lake Junaluska in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina with other Directors serving their jurisdictions on the NCRC. We were coming together as one to not only deal with business on a national level for United Methodist Camp and Retreat Centers, but also to plan the bi-annual National Camp and Retreat Leaders event, to be held in February 2011 at Lake Junaluska. The event chair had placed me on the Worship Committee, whose job it was to plan meaningful worship experiences, opportunities for spiritual guidance, resource musical talent, and create a worship setting. I'm thinking : "Worship? ...... What?!?"

I've participated in bible studies on knowing one's spiritual gifts. And I can say for certain that my gifts were better suited for me to serve on the Hospitality Committee, or even the Volunteer Committee. But Worship? That's not where I felt as if I could contribute much at all. I was seriously thinking that I had made a mistake in agreeing to serve on the NCRC. I was suddenly experiencing a bit of anxiety over this area of my ministry, but decided to pray about it and place it in God's hands. I knew that God has often called me to step beyond my comfort zone and to experience something new.

The week of planning at Lake Junaluska flew by. I found myself surrounded by people who knew and loved the camping and retreat ministry just as much as I did. People who shared a true passion for everything from ministering to children and adults, to food preparation, hospitality, and even fixing broken septic pumps. These were my kind of people. And as I stepped into my role on the Worship Committee, I found myself offering suggestions and making plans, and helping to shape an event that would be host to 350+ camp and retreat leaders from all over the United States.

God knows that we have hidden talents that, if given the proper venue, can be unearthed, and we become richly blessed in our new discovery. Sometimes all we need is to be pushed out of our comfort zones. As I share this story of what is currently happening in my ministry, I am reminded of the Prayer of Jabez, found in 1 Chronicles, 4:10.

And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain." So God granted him what he requested.

God has indeed enlarged my territory so that I now have joined my brothers and sisters in camp and retreat ministry on a national level. It's an incredible responsibility to serve at this level. But it is one that I am willing to do, for I realize that God has gifted me with the abilities to do so, and has called me to be in leadership, even on committees where I thought I would have nothing to contribute. And His hand has been with me, every step of the way.

Greetings!

Greene Hills.................................................................................Denny Flaherty

Greetings from Greene Hills! I would like to introduce myself, my name is Dennis Flaherty, everyone calls me Denny, Greene Hills newly appointed Site Director. I have been married to Melissa for nearly 18 years. We have four children; two at home Connor and Liam, David and Heather live back in Indiana. We are most excited about being here and look forward to glorifying Jesus here with our works. I have been in the camping ministry for going on 10 years and have been going to camp since I was 11 years old. I love camp and the people that come to camp. I do consider camp life a call to the ministry for the United Methodist Church and will do all I can to edify our Lord with the gifts He has entrusted to me.

We moved in the old Iron House on the 22^nd day of January this year and already we are making improvements to the property and seeing God's grace and blessings being bestowed upon us. The staff has been hard at work clearing old briars away from the summer camp area around the cabins and it is looking good! Our Lords hand is upon us here at Greene Hills for we really do have a staff that loves this place. From the kitchen, housekeeping to the maintenance, they love working for the Lord here at Greene Hills. Thank you staff!

Old nature has been with us in a loud way since we moved in as well. The Juniata River has been a little upset, rising above the RV sites to cause a little damage to the grounds. Nothing though our amazing staff cannot fix, with a little help from our friends in the area. We have also just received a huge blessing of that white stuff; close to 20 inches I am told. So ,we spent a big part of the day shoveling it away so everyone can get around the property safely.

My family and I look forward to meeting all who come our way, and would love chatting a while with you. So, give us a call and make a reservation for the Manor, and have a beautiful time here in this place we now call home!

Blessings, The Flaherty's

Honey, I'm Home!

Wesley Forest..................................................................by Pat Sullivan

For the past 5 years Linda and I have been building ourselves a little place to one day call home, and this fall that day finally arrived. Many of you have asked about our progress along the way and some of you have stopped by to check on the project. A few of you even helped. To all of you we give our sincerest and deepest heartfelt thanks. Even though we've anticipated the move and looked forward to living there, it took a long time before the Site Director's Residence at Wesley Forest no longer felt like our home. I'm not sure when that moment happened for Linda but I can remember when it happened for me.

I'll never forget first time I visited Wesley Forest back in 1975. That day I saw a place of wondrous beauty that could only be created by the hand of God and from that day on I have always appreciated the beauty of the site. Yesterday, a few days before Christmas, we got one of those really nice snowfalls. No freezing rain. No heavy wet snow. Just 6" of fine, powdery, pure white fluff that gently fell all day long and most of the night. I left home and drove to the camp early the next morning to begin the plowing and clearing of the camp roads and walkways. The awesome sight of the fresh, unblemished snow with the sun rising in the cloudless sky greeted me as it had done many times before in the twenty some years that we lived on site. But something felt oddly different this time. I had often been the first to break trail to leave the camp but this was the first time I broke trail to get in.

As I drove to the Site Director's residence I saw several deer that had began to move about after spending the snowy night hunkered under the protection of the white pines. When I pulled into the driveway and got out of the truck, two grouse flushed from the bushes where they had spent the night sheltered from the snowfall. Regardless, I felt strangely alone in a place where I had lived for so many years. In my mind I expected to see the kids and dogs playing in the fresh snow and smoke rising from the chimney. But there were neither kids nor dogs in the yard and the chimney cap was cold and snow covered. At that moment I realized that this was no longer my home. I don't know how long I stood there in the silence of the snow covered landscape but it was long enough recall almost every day of the past 22 years that we lived there and raised our two kids.

I may have initially felt sadness but it was quickly smothered by a feeling of genuine thankfulness and the awesome sight before me mentally transported me back to that first visit in 1975. I realized how much I truly appreciated this place and it's easy to understand how so many people feel the same way and continue to return over and over to the beauty and solitude they find here. Just like so many others, I realized that even though I didn't live here, it was still a great place to hang my hat.

If your retreat group hasn't been to Wesley Forest for a while do yourselves a favor and get a retreat together again and rediscover the wondrous beauty that God has provided for you. If you've never been here, all the more reason to get a retreat together. After a weekend or two of exploring over 400 acres of God's creation or huddling up with some friends by a cozy woodstove, you'll soon appreciate everything the site has to offer. Either way, it won't be long before you'll pull into the campsite and say to yourself, just as I did yesterday morning, "Honey, I'm home."

Pat Sullivan
Wesley Forest Site Director

Following In My Dad's Shoes

Camp Penn............................................................................David Hykes

I could have been a school teacher. By now, I would have 33 plus years of teaching children important lessons that would help them to survive the curveballs life can throw at them. Not knowing God's plan for me as a young adult, I did not follow my dad's path of becoming an educator.

Well, yes and no! I did however follow my father in his work at camp. I am grateful that both my parents saw the powerful ministry and experiences children and adults had while spending a week at Camp Penn. This job has given me many titles over the years, caretaker, grounds superintendent, site manager, site director and even teacher. Through God I have come to realize that which I care for can provide the backdrop to teach life altering changes in all who are open to His Word. Church camp is one of the lifelines of the United Methodist Church. It certainly has been and is for me!

The following are brief excerpts from Dr. Paul E. Horn's "Camp Penn-A Brief History":

"The handy boy was the person whose name became a part of the total history of Camp Penn. Robert Hykes was 16 years old that first summer of Camp Penn. He did everything from washing dishes, pots and pans to cleaning the toilets. He was the whole staff of workers. He worked under my direction and I had the responsibility to transport him from his home in Shippensburg to the camp. Our first trip was a memorable one. Bob was a large young man and with his belongings my old 1939 Chrysler was filled. In the mountain we had a flat tire (on his side) and had to unload to make the change. Much more needs to be recorded about Robert, his lovely wife Helen and their two sons."

"The Hykes name has been associated with Camp Penn from its very beginning until the present time. As has been recorded earlier, Robert as a sixteen year old was employed as the first handy-boy for the first camping season. He continued in one capacity or another, from one year to another. When he married Helen Faust, she too became a part of the summer staff. Their two sons were reared at Camp Penn during the summer months. Bob became manager in 1957 and continued until his health no longer permitted him to do so. His mantle was then picked up by his son, David, who continued to serve up to the present time."

Thank you Mother and Dad,

Your son

Volume 4, Issue 1

In This Issue

York City Day Camp

Mount Asbury

Greene Hills

Wesley Forest

Camp Penn

We have something new

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