LBC Youth Service Project Weekend

They called it a "Service Project Weekend" and that is exactly what went on.  The Lighthouse Baptist Church youth group arrived Friday evening, which is when I took all the pictures.  After that everyone was too busy for picture taking.  Chris, the adult youth leader, and Alex took some time to 'cheese it up' for the camera!

We have many good friends at Lighthouse and it was good to see some that came up with the youth.  Kristian's dad, Roger, came up early and really helped us out with some plumbing projects and did an excellent job.  Friday night was spent in setting up tents, cooking dinner and hanging out by the fireplace mostly.  I joined them for the dinner part. 

Before heading back to the RV I met with two of the youths--Peter and Kristian--who seemed to be the youth leaders.  They had taken the Camp MACOBA projects' list (4 pages) and had already organized the list and assigned everyone their particular tasks.  The plan was for everyone to begin work right after breakfast on Saturday morning. The temps were expected to reach the mid 90's so the earlier they got to work, the better.  

Come Saturday morning I headed over to the pavilion around 8:00 and everyone was all ready to go.  I answered a few questions and then hooked up the trailer for the brush clearing crew.  I saw Tonita and Jessica taking everything out of the storage room and preparing to do some serious cleaning.  People went off in different directions, all with a purpose.  

Wow, how time flies--I have known some of these youth since they were born!  Around 11:00 everyone was finished and shortly thereafter were eating some lunch.  I was not only impressed with the hard work but the respectfulness shown by this group.  

Lighthouse Baptist Church should be very proud of the youth in their youth group.  We are certainly thankful for all their hard work in getting the camp in tip-top-shape, and look forward to their return in the future!

Pastor's Fish Fry

We just wrapped up the annual MBA Pastor's Fish Fry up at the Camp -- and what a perfect day it was for such an event.  The skies were cloudy but clearing, so the temperatures were cool with a light breeze.  The breeze helped keep the insects at bay and it also let us know when it was time to head over and eat -- because it sure smelled terrific!

When we arrived, there was already a good sized crowd under the pavilion.   There were also a good handful of folks down at the ponds, trying their luck with the fishing.  Oh there were lots of fish stories shared when they got back ... "ministerially speaking" was a phrase tossed about quite a bit, referring to the size of the fish caught!

 The cooks were all on the perimeter.  There was a lot of "taste testing" going on, too. 

The oven was a big help this year -- they were able to keep food warm while they cooked in batches.  

Mrs. Marvoline was in charge of the hush puppies ... and they were the best hush puppies ever.  Better than any restaurant's recipe, for sure!

Our wonderful cooks for this year's fish fry:

The menu consisted of fried fish, crawfish, shrimp, french fries, hush puppies and fried squash:  a veritable feast, for sure.

After the blessing was said, it didn't take long for folks to get in line ... there sure was a pile of food.  Plenty for seconds ... and quite possibly a few went back for thirds.

Brother John, on the other hand, stopped at seconds, so he had room for a small bowl of ice cream.

Pretty sure he topped off that bowl of homemade vanilla ice cream with a thick slice of pound cake.  And he ate every bit of it, too!

A nice group shot to wrap up the event.  With all hands pitching in, clean up went pretty fast.  It was a great afternoon and there were quite a few folks who'd not been up here before.  We hope this was their first visit of many!

Family Campers

Saturday afternoon we had a couple of families come out to the camp for a night of primitive camping.  We don't often have individual groups come out for camping, but it's definitely something we'd love to see more of.

This particular group had four adults and seven children ... most of whom were toddlers!  They arrived, much like our Friday group, just after a quick rain had passed through, and weren't sure if they wanted to pitch their tents on wet ground.  After fixing dinner at the pavilion, they decided to go on up to the campground and got set up for the night.

It sounded as if the kids really enjoyed themselves and they told us they even got a little fishing in, down at the dock.

FRBC Middle School Campers

While Flint River has made use of the camp before -- most notably with their Young At Heart fellowships -- they've never had a group up here overnight until this past weekend.  Bill Edmonds brought out a group of middle schoolers for a night of games and adventure.  And from one of the stories he told the next day, they certainly did have some adventure!

The evening started out in the middle of weather alerts, but here at the camp it stayed dry -- the system moved just to the northeast of us, which was a great thing.  The group decided to pitch their tents around the pavilion, just in case (and because they did have a couple of girls staying with them, too).

Bill said the raccoons were quite rowdy through the night, and he couldn't believe how many he heard or how loud they were.  He was glad he'd remembered to put their food up in the storage room before they headed to their tents for the night.

Saturday morning brought clear skies and the group continued to play their games.  They headed out just after lunch; worn out but happy campers.  We're hoping they'll be back soon.

A Familiar Fellowship

Not long after the Willowbrook group left, we had another group come in for an evening of food and fellowship.  The incoming group was Bill and Sara Rotenberry's Sunday School class from New Market Baptist.  They make it up here at least twice a year and this was their annual spring visit.

They gave the gals a break and decided to cook burgers and hot dogs over the grill.  Their 'master griller' did a terrific job and, as always, the food was marvelous.  We're always so thankful that this group includes us in their fellowship and mealtime!

After everyone had finished up eating, Mrs. Sara handed out a sheet and a pen to each person.  We spent twenty minutes reading a single paragraph and trying to find the names of sixteen books of the Bible.  Do you know that not a one of us were able to find all sixteen?  Most of us came close, but we had to have a little help finding the last two.  There was a lot of laughter and ... discussion ... as this exercise took place.

I did hear one of the class members say that she though perhaps they should make this a quarterly outing, instead of just bi-annually.  Someone else then suggested that they make it a monthly event!  We're all for that!

They had a lovely, cool evening and we certainly hope they will at least be back in the next three months, instead of having to wait for the fall.  I think they'd enjoy an afternoon of fishing on the dock!

Willowbrook's Father-Son Campout

The daytime temperatures were warm but it did cool down some at night.  Chris Wilson, Sam Kelly and around 45 others came up for the Willowbrook Father-Son campout.  The boys seemed to have a good time; they usually do.  The dads were all busy with various camping-related things. 

The first evening seemed to be a free for all with the scheduled activities coming mid morning on Saturday.  There were three different groups that went around to the events that were set-up.  About an hour before things were supposed to begin it got very dark at the camp and thunder could be heard so moves were made to set-up some of the things near the pavilion.  The weather looked a whole lot meaner than it actually was--or the storm decided to just barely miss the camp.  It did keep the temperatures pretty nice. 

The air rifles and slingshots remained near the pavilion  while the archery, hatchet throw and blow darts were just off the top field in the woods.

Earlier Sam had taken the tractor and cleared out some areas in the woods out of the sun which worked out very nicely...so much so that this area may be a fixture for future events.  He did manage to find some yellow jackets so that area had to be by-passed and roped off.  Willowbrook always brings a good group up and we are always glad to have them.