I don’t know about you, but it still feels like summer here at Qwanoes with all the nice weather we have been having! Although, without all our campers here enjoying tuck, going to Q-Town, playing All Star Games and having fun on all the activities it quickly hits me we are definitely in a different season.

Right now at Qwanoes we have a lot of things going on even though it’s not summer!

Trinity Western University was just here with all their student leaders for a great retreat! They had their main sessions in Q-Town, we ate out on the Sky-Deck, it was a great time to come together as a group, have fun and prepare for the journey ahead as leaders in their school.

Our college program Kaleo is well underway!  Kaleo is a partnership between Qwanoes and Briercrest College & Seminary. The program is filled with outdoor adventures, high level academics, opportunities to serve locally here at a church and right here at camp! The students arrived in the middle of September from near and far! It’s great to have such a mix of students from right here on the Island and all the way out to Ontario.

The first out-trip of the school year was a backpack trip to Mt. Albert-Edward on the Island in Strathcona Provincial Park. Most of the students had never been on a backpack trip before, so it was a new adventure for a lot of them. We did many things on the trip from feeding birds right out of our hands, making dinner in the backcountry, learning to serve one another, to sliding down a snow field on the side of a mountain! It was a great time of bonding and spending time with God in His creation. The students are just finishing up on their last week of classes with the first class of the year being “Spiritual Formations.” The word is that the students are loving the class! Part of the course had to do with memorization, and they memorized a ton of verses! So next time you see a Kaleo student ask them all about it! Next week is a trip on a huge sail boat all together! Stay tuned for more stories of the journey of a Kaleo student.

It’s Qwanoes Road Tour week! We were just at Saanich baptist church in Victoria and this is what Scott Bayley our Executive Director had to say about the experience, “It was awesome to see so many of our campers again – and to connect with so many churches from the Victoria area. ‘CRAVE’ is the name of the youth group at Saanich Baptist – and they allowed us to kind of take over their normal Wednesday night program. What a night it was!”

On Friday night we will be on the mainland at Immanuel Fellowship in Abbotsford and then we pack everything up and make our way all the way to Parksville back on the Island at Parksville Baptist church! You won’t want to miss this Road Tour! We hope to see you there. Check out all the details below.

Youth Camp is going great! But it’s not over yet! We just had a wonderful outdoor banquet meal together! Salmon, shrimp, roast beef, delicious assorted desserts, yes…our kitchen staff went out of this world! Everyone was dressed up including the main field, which was beautifully decorated with draped cloth all around. The qrok tower was even transformed into a light house with fog sound noises included! What a special way to celebrate our last night together. There’s just something about eating outside on a beautifully decorated table under the sky… it makes everything that much more special to be outside in God’s creation.

Youth Camp is a very unique week on our summer calendar, we only have one in the whole summer so we like to pull out all the stops! Not one youth camp is exactly the same and this year was no exception as many, many surprises & special things happened during the week. Okay, I don’t want to leave you in suspense too long…so how about I reveal some of these surprises and bring you into the adventure?!

“Tuck” is a long tradition we have at Qwanoes where the whole camp comes together to enjoy some treats from one of our 4 stores and listen to a qrok show.  Did I say three stores? Correction! It’s now 5 as the “Shave Ice Palace” has officially been added to our camp store line up! It’s a popular choice among the campers as there are so many different flavors and combinations you can add to the finely shaved ice.  So good on a nice hot summer day! ‘

We had three other surprises that made Youth Camp Tuck so special! The competition in cabin clean up points heated up this week with two male cabins going head to head right to the very end.  What does cabin clean have to do with Tuck time? And why are  youth campers so keen on cleaning their cabin you might ask?  It’s the coveted prize they get during Tuck time! Every Tuck we announce the winners and they are awarded a root beer and a freshly cooked steak off the BBQ from Stevie-G!

The other Tuck surprises were “qrok-et” & Bouncy Tuck.”  During “qrok-et tuck” we shot off 8 rockets into the air and during “Bouncy Tuck” we inflated 3 huge inflatable toys from an obstacle course to a giant titanic slide! What a great week at Tuck!

Have you ever said “For once in my life I would like to _______” Dream Maker is always another fun part of Youth Camp! Right at the beginning of Youth Camp that’s the question the Dream Maker asks all the campers.  Then at random times throughout the week the Dream Maker pulls dreams out of the box and sees if he can fulfill them! So many dreams were fulfilled this week!

Watch one of the dreams come true! You won’t believe your eyes as this camper gets to make a grand entrance into Q-Town! Qwanoes Dream Maker

Games, games and more games! The All Star Games this week were awesome! In fact a brand new, never been played game happened just this morning called “Storm The Castle!” It was an all out Viking war with teams building towers, Cup Bearers transporting vital water, Knights, Defenders, tumbling towers, and more! What action, and what a game!

Sid Koop was our speaker this week, and it was an absolute joy to have him part of the team. I ran into Sid just before the banquet and I asked him how his week was and he had this to say: “I was really impressed with the questions the campers were asking… they weren’t fluffy questions, they were real serious questions about Christ, who He is, His plan for us, and why did He die? And the biggest question of them all, is He worth following?  There is no question more important than that. It was an honor to be able to engage campers at that level this week, I am thankful for the incredible opportunity to be part of this week and their lives”.

As the summer camp season comes to an end, I can’t help but to be amazed at all that has transpired in so many lives. From every camper who stepped onto the grounds, to us as staff who had the privilege of sharing with kids that life with God is truly “OUT OF THIS WORLD.” What an amazing summer!

I think I just heard some fireworks outside! Until next time!

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