FBC Meridianville Children's Ministry Campout

Weather ... rain, rain and more rain ... caused a lot of cancellations for the end of February/early March, but the weather this past weekend was perfect!

The Children's Group from First Baptist Meridianville came out late Friday afternoon and got settled in the cabin. This was their second overnighter with us.  We had a fire going for them in the pavilion and the heaters turned on in the cabin! 

Friday evening they had dinner and a sweet time of Bible teaching . . .

Saturday morning was chilly, but they stoked that fire quickly and served breakfast.  From there they had a Bible study, did a little exploring and hiking, came back to the pavilion for more Bible study and then did an early lunch.

We hope they enjoyed their visit as much as we enjoyed having them out!

Trail Life Troop AL 1613

We thoroughly enjoyed hosting Trail Life Troop 1613 out of Whitesburg Baptist this weekend! They were troopers, coming in and setting up camp in the main campground, late in the afternoon on Friday.  

The temps were cool, but not bad ... definitely great campfire weather! They got their "camp kitchen" set up just how they like it.

And were quite prepared to sit and enjoy their surroundings!!

A special shoutout goes to Christian Phillips, who contacted Todd to make the reservation and to organize a service project for the group to complete.  For us it was a no-brainer! Todd needed the limbs and small trees/brush overhanging into the main road to be clipped, trimmed and cleared.

The guys did a great job and worked through most of Saturday afternoon and had it looking real good when they finished up!

We hope to see them back again soon . . . maybe when it's just a tad warmer?!  :)

Work Day!

We could not have asked for a more beautiful day for a scheduled work day!  It's always rather iffy in February -- snow, sleet, rain, and painfully cold temps have all plagued scheduled days in the past -- but this year we had clear skies and temperatures that were just about perfect.

We opened the day at 8:00 a.m. with prayer and instructions under the pavilion.

We had right at 50 volunteers on hand that morning!  That's really exciting to see.

The work day was scheduled primarily to take care of the downed trees from Disaster Relief's Chainsaw Training in the fall.

That wood was hauled by tractors . . .

. . . to one of two locations and teams split and stacked (and restocked our firewood supply). 

We had one team at the pavilion and one in the main campground.

Other teams cleared brush and hauled it up to the field for burning.

Pavers were laid at the bottom of the deck steps. Don't they look great?!

Limbs were trimmed from the roadways, to make it easier for trucks and RVs to travel through easily.

The flag pole was cleaned up and repainted.

Cornhole boards were painted and sealed.

And a new sign was painted and readied for installing.

Lunch was provided at noon, and workers gathered and fellowshipped over hotdogs and chili.

Soon it was three o'clock and time to wrap things up.

We managed to stock about seven or eight cords of firewood!  We know that the groups who camp up here in the next ten months will *really* appreciate that effort.

We really appreciate all the hard work and time that each volunteer gifted to the camp that day!

Family Fun Day

This group really enjoys coming out and utilizing the woods and trails for an epic air soft rifle battle!

It's a great way to spend a sunny Saturday. They had a relatively small group (which included the new youth pastor from Whitesburg, Tyler Holland) this time compared to their December visit . . .

They had close to thirty participating in this outing in the latter part of December!  It's a great group and they really have a blast (no pun intended)!

See ya' next time, guys!

Pack 391 Winter Freeze Camp

Pack 391 absolutely picked the right weekend for their Winter Freeze Camp.  Friday and Saturday were rather mild -- though wet and a little wild during the night -- but Sunday temps were expected to drop into the 20's!

Everyone seemed to have a great time, in spite of rain and damp.  The group stayed near the pavilion for the majority of their stay, and even brought additional tarps to hang to keep out the wet and cold! Lots of great time for all kinds of activities . . . 

And you know it can't be too bad when the kitchen crew is all smiles!

We enjoy having this group at the camp and hope to see them again, soon!

Troop 4

Our first group of the new year!  Troop 4 is one of the camp's regular groups.  They came out on Friday afternoon and stayed through Sunday.  They had pretty terrific weather, considering it was January!  Unfortunately, we didn't get many pictures, but the one we did get was a doozy . . . 

They were trying their hands at smelting, of all things!  They worked really hard to try and get the fire in the brick pit hot enough to melt whatever metals they had.  Not sure if this was for a badge or what, but you know boys and fire; they had a blast working on it!

We hope they come back and camp again soon!

Busy as a Bee . . .

This past weekend was a busy one at the camp.  On Friday, we had the Whitesburg RAs in overnight. The group makes a regular appearance in both the spring and the fall, and we always enjoy hosting their campouts!  You can count on the group doing some kind of a craft:

And there's a lot of games, devotion time, hiking, and laughing going on! Plus food ... the grills are working overtime ... or in this case, the griddle . . .

And this year, they gifted us with a three-burner camp stove, which we really appreciate.

This will come in so handy at the next fish fry!

The guys stayed through Saturday morning ... they even got a good tour of the new cabin.  By noon the camp was quiet . . . for a little while.  Late Saturday afternoon, the camp played host to a special two-year-old's birthday party!

Everything was set up perfectly for this sweet little girl's "Busy as a Bee" themed party.

The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time.

The new deck is a real asset to the pavilion, and parents love to be able to let their kids 'go'!  The new permanent counter has also proved to be a tremendous asset, well-appreciated by all our guests.

And was a great place to receive lots of fun birthday presents, too!

After an afternoon of lots of good food, fun, and birthday cake, this group called it an evening and the camp was quiet once again.

That changed on Sunday afternoon, when Union Grove Baptist Church held their evening service up at the pavilion!

They had a terrific crowd show up, and enjoyed what was probably the best weather of the weekend.

We sure enjoyed having all three of these groups at Camp MACOBA and hope we'll see them all again SOON!

Alabama Campers on Mission

Do you know what a blessing it is to have a group of campers come out for the sole purpose of doing ministry? We sure do! During the first two weeks of May, Camp MACOBA experienced that blessing first hand, thanks to a group from the Alabama Campers on Mission, led by volunteer Wilton Whigam.

The campground filled up with all types of RVs -- more than we've ever hosted at one time -- as the volunteers came in and set up camp. What a joy!  

On Monday the work started in earnest.  The first big project?  Building a 16' by 70' deck onto the back of the pavilion, complete with rails, steps, and flood lights. You know how "they" say it's going to get worse before it gets better?

Yikes. But "they" are so right . . .

Isn't it beautiful? And here it is after dark . . .

What a fabulous addition this will be to the functionality of the camp in general and the pavilion, specifically!

The deck was the major project for the two weeks, but there were LOTS of things accomplished over that period of time.  This group works harder than any construction team we've ever seen! They finished up the bathhouse in the main campground, including adding steps and under-pinning:

They built a beautiful free-standing counter for the pavilion area:

The craftsmanship on this piece is just beautiful.  What an asset!

They built walls on either side of the 'kitchen' area at the pavilion:

We know that the new walls will be much appreciated by all 'camp cooks' who are up here in windy and/or stormy weather.

They shored up the main support beams all around the pavilion:

They built brand new benches to rest along the railing of the deck:

They built the frame for a storage area at the far end of the pavilion (for chairs, stands, other equipment, etc.):

I believe they got walls up on it, too, before they left -- we just haven't gotten a picture of it yet.

They finished the remodeling work in men's bathroom (off the back of the pavilion):

They built some awesome backdrops for the activity stations (archery, blow darts, hatchet throwing, etc.):

Not to mention all grass-cutting, trail-clearing, floor-and-wall-and-deck-painting, stove-cleaning, storeroom-clearing and flower planting that took place. There may not be any way to list *all* the things this group accomplished -- this is one handy, talented group! And I'd just like to mention that the average age of these twenty or so men and women is, according to them, 70. SEVENTY. WOW!!

During the week, we had seven churches who volunteered to bring lunch up for the workers. The workers were well fed and the volunteers bringing food were well-impressed with all the positive changes! 

Lunchtime was followed by a short time of devotions, the sharing of prayer concerns, prayer time, and a song.  What sweet fellowship!

On the Saturday between the work weeks, we had a fish fry and watched a Dennis Swan DVD under the pavilion, on the 'big screen'.  That was a fun time of good food and laughter!

During the week, we had an opportunity to spend some time around the campfire with them.

It was fascinating to hear stories about where they'd served in the past and the different ways they've ministered. It was also nice to have 'community' in the camp for a season, too.

This Alabama Campers on Mission group was a blessing in so many ways -- to so many people: families, church groups, Scout groups, etc. who will visit the camp in the coming years! We're so excited to share all that they did.  And we are already looking forward to having them back again, in May of 2017!