Hey Everyone,
Summer is upon us! We started our second session of staff training this morning which means that camp starts in ONE week! We’re pretty excited out here.
School Rentals
We finished our school rentals on Wednesday, June 28 and in total had 24 schools here which totalled about 700 kids that the cabin leaders led through the different activities. We had several schools here for the first time and I know that some of the kids that came were excited to come as campers. Please pray that many of these kids do decide to come back as campers and we have full camps this summer.
Staff Training
As I mentioned earlier, we are in our second session of staff training this week. We had our first session on the May long weekend in which we covered aspects such as Christian Theology, how to lead cabin devotions, and how to lead the activities that the school rentals would be doing. This session is a continuation of learning how to teach more of the activities we lead the campers in. As well we will be covering sessions such as how to lead a camper to Christ (our ultimate goal and purpose!) and how to relate to campers in order to share the Gospel with them.
As well, starting tomorrow, our Leaders in Training (LIT’s) will be here for their training. These are teens ages 16+ who will be learning how to be cabin leaders in the future. They will be here at camp for several weeks helping out in the cabins and helping lead skills and other activities. They will learn from the senior cabin leaders. Michaelya Audette and Isaac Driscoll will be their supervisors and will lead much of their training and discipleship throughout the summer.
Please pray for our staff this week as they learn.
- Pray that they would feel confident about the activities they will be leading and be prepared spiritually to lead the campers into relationships with the Lord.
- Pray for those that will be teaching them: myself, Michaelya and Isaac, Pam and Jason, and Kaitlin as the leadership.
Also, we have several other people coming in to help train us:- Joel Povey, Luke Bergman and Phil Houston will be teaching the LITs Christian doctrine – pray that the LITs would understand and take in this heavy information
- Jillian Shearer – will be helping teach some of the sports activities
- Art Thiessen will be teaching all the staff how to lead a camper to Christ – pray that he would connect well with the staff and impart this most important message to the staff effectively
- Terry Kerr will be teaching the staff OneHopeCanada’s policy of In Safe Hands or how to deal with campers appropriately and keep them safe.
- Pray for Val Weber, Heather Letkeman and Rose Arbogast as they cook this week.
Staff Introductions
In the last post I mentioned that I would introduce you more fully to our full time staff. Here is a bit about our leadership team:
Michaelya Audette – LIT Director
This is Michaelya’s 3rd year at Stoney and 2nd in this position. She worked for the camp throughout the winter this year working with several youth groups and discipling the LITs from the past summer. Michaelya is originally from LeBret, SK and is part of a big family.
Isaac Driscoll – LIT Director
This is Isaac’s first year as the LIT director for the guys. Isaac was a cabin leader for one year but grew up as a camper at Stoney and was part of work crew and an LIT. Isaac is currently from Saskatoon and is a student at the University of Saskatchewan studying Education.
Kaitlin Giddings – Program Director
This is Kaitlin’s 3rd year as the Program Director but she grew up as a camper at Stoney, was an LIT for several years and was a cabin leader for one year. She is a valuable part of the program and has a huge heart for making things fun for the campers. She is originally from Humboldt, SK but has been a student and Briercrest College the past several years.
Pam & Jason Kellington – Senior Staff Supervisors
This is Jason and Pam’s 2nd year in this position although they spent the summer previous as mentors to the staff and helping out around the camp. Jason is also on the board of directors for the camp. Both Jason and Pam came as campers to Stoney. They live in Melfort with their two sons, Harris and Elias, where Pam is a teacher and Jason works for Microsoft from home.
Stephanie Schmidt – Administrative Assistant
This is Stephanie’s first year in this position but has picked up the role very quickly. Like Isaac and Kaitlin, Stephanie grew up as a camper at Stoney and was an LIT and cabin leader. The past several years, she has spent a week of her vacation time at camp as a cook while working in St. Gregor. This fall she will be living in Humboldt, SK and going back to school for Business Administration.
Ellie Shearer – Director’s Assistant
This is the second summer that Ellie has been in this position but she too has been a cabin leader, LIT, work crew camper and camper throughout her years. Like Michaelya, she worked at the camp all winter helping build things around the camp (like the new addition to the Staff Lodge!) and assisting Doug with trade shows and promos at churches. She is from Melfort, SK and plans to go to YWAM in Australia in the fall.
I’ll have more bios throughout the summer for the rest of the staff but please pray for all who will be working at the camp this summer that God will fill them with all they need to share the Gospel.
Thank you again for praying. Keep praying that God would fill the camps and that He would reap a harvest of souls this summer! If you know of any kids who would like to come to camp, please help us advertise and encourage them to come.
Blessings until next week!
Myra Schmidt
Executive Assistant