I don’t know about you, but looking out over a calm ocean is a great place to thank God for all He is doing right now and will do in the future. That’s where I find myself today…looking out at the ocean from our Pacific Woods Lodge. As I look out, I can’t help but envision and hear the boats cutting through the water with campers having the ride of their life!  Can you see it? Can you hear it? Very soon Qwanoes beach will come alive once again, and I for one, can’t wait!

If you can’t wait until the summer, and you are a Juniors Camper…then this is for you! Come on back to us on April 1-3 and experience the Juniors Spring Retreat. You can get all the details online on the Qwanoes website. The theme is “Something’s Different Here” and not only is your weekend going to be filled with fun, awesome music, friends and adventure…you are going to discover for yourself how life can be different, so different that it could rock your world. Bring a friend or come by yourself and make new ones! One thing is for certain you are in store for one amazing weekend! There is limited spaces, so register soon.

There is a lot of activity happening at Qwanoes right now, and not only here at Qwanoes but our involvement around the world!

Qwanoes missions trips are underway! Our students in our Kaleo leadership program, staff and one board member are all involved in the mission trips.  We have three groups going out all together, with the Argentina team leaving today, the India team leaving tomorrow and the Vancouver team leaving at the end of the week. We can’t wait to hear all their stories upon their return – what an adventure!

This is our fourth time heading down to South America. It’s all part of our vision to help youth leaders gain a vision for camp ministry and how they can apply it in their own ministry to children and youth. We are very excited to be sending a team to Argentina to come alongside Youth For Christ in what they are doing in establishing camp ministry in that country!

One of the team members on that trip is Matt Flemming, one of our year-round staff. This time of year he can be found in any number of places in Canada. He actually just returned from Missions Fest in Edmonton where it was about -20 and now he is heading to S. American where it is +25! That’s a temperature swing of 45 degrees!

Coming to a town near you! Last Sunday we were showing the “Here we Go!” media show at two of our partner churches at the same time… Central Baptist church in Victoria and Burnett in Maple Ridge. If you are interested in us visiting your church or school, feel free to give us a call at camp!

Have you seen all the new Qwanoes online media?

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Stevie-G, the Squirrel (Russ Smith) and the Qwanoes team are on the road again for 2011 LiftOff!

Our All-Island LiftOff event happened just a few days ago in Campbell River. What a night! It was so awesome having so many of us together again playing All Star games and singing Q-Town. I loved seeing the new media show and hearing the new 2011 theme song “Here We Go!”.

It’s not too late to join in on one of our LiftOff events! We are packing everything up, and coming over to the mainland this Thursday and Friday night. You got to be there!

LiftOff is a perfect chance to renew friendships, have fun and get a taste of summer! Everyone’s welcome so invite your friends. LiftOff is also about spiritual renewal… enjoy music and worship led by Qwanoes’s band Quixotic and a challenge from God’s word.

Come kick off summer 2011 with us! Feel the rush of summer before it’s even spring! Be one of the first to see our all-new summer 2011 media presentation…big sound, big screen and lots of great pictures to get you pumped for summer. Maybe you will even see yourself!

Feb. 10, 2011 – LiftOff: Juniors
South Delta Baptist
1988-56th Street, Delta
For: Juniors (grades 5 to 6)
TIme: 7:00 to 8:30 pm

Feb. 11, 2010 – LiftOff: Mainland
South Delta Baptist
1988-56th Street, Delta
For Junior High’s & Senior High’s
NEW! Giant Night Game! Come prepared for a bit of an invasion into a secret world! Join Stevie-G and others for one crazy all-dark all-crazy adventure into the unknown!

Time: 7:30 to 9:30 pm

By the way – there is a brand new Qwanoes video online! Have you seen it? You can also see the new Summer 2011 media presentation all online. Be one of the first to see it!

See you at LiftOff!

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Our new summer theme is now live on our website and officially announced! There is so much ahead, so much in store. Now’s the time – let’s jump right in together. Can you even imagine? Just one way to find out…ready or not, HERE WE GO! We can’t wait for summer 2011.

The theme was first debuted on December 31st at Qwanoes during our Summer Staff Retreat. It was so great to have so many of our staff from summer 2010 together listening to the new theme song and being one of the first to see our new staff T-shirts, the new poster, the new staff brochures and even the NEW BROCHURE!! That’s right – the new brochure is hot off the presses and will be mailed to your house very soon! It was a pretty exciting time up in Club Coco with so many secrets being shared and new things being revealed. Many of our full-time staff were even seeing these things for the very first time!

Thanks to those who were a part of Day #1 of summer camp registration TODAY! What a great start! At exactly 9:00 am this morning the phone lines lit up, faxes started coming in, and hundreds visited us online throughout the day.

To those who have already booked their spot, we are looking forward to counting down the days to summer with you!

We will be standing by every day looking forward to hearing from all our campers! If you haven’t registered yet, or if you know of a friend who you want to see at camp, we’ll be ready to save that spot at a moments notice!

Check out all the summer 2011 options and then you can see all the ways there is to reserve your spot for summer 2011 on our registration page.

Did you have a good New Years Eve!?  We sure had a great time bringing in the New Year up in Club Coco. We had a great night and a very meaningful time with Storm Moore (one of our summer speakers), and then we moved into a giant party with great music, food, and even some fireworks!

Happy New Year from Camp Qwanoes!

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The Summer Staff New Year’s Retreat starts tonight! What a way to bring in the New Year! There will be lots of food, friends, fun, music and Storm Moore will be here as our speaker for the weekend. It’s going to be a great time of remembering all that God has done in 2010 and bringing in the New Year together. We go all out for the Staff Retreat, and they deserve it! We stay up late and sleep in every morning and wake up to a delicious brunch waiting. Our brunch even has a special menu with servers. Our summer staff get to check off the boxes of what they want to eat, and it’s made fresh just for them right on the spot! We can’t wait to have everyone back for this giant celebration party!

There is something else very special that happens during the retreat. The secret of the summer 2011 theme is going to be unveiled! I just heard the theme song for the very first time yesterday, and it is awesome!

If you want to be one of the first to know the secret of Qwanoes summer 2011, be sure to be one of the first ones to go to www.qwanoes.com on January 3rd at exactly 9:00 am and you’ll get to find out!

2010 is about to wind down at that means any moment now Qwanoes Summer 2011 registration will begin! Will you be our first camper who registers for summer 2011!!?

It all starts on the morning of January 3rd. That’s when campers from far and wide can start reserving their spot to come to camp this summer and we sure hope you are one of them!

There is an unforgettable weeklong adventure in store for you this summer! Check out all that’s NEW and come back on January 3 when we will unveil our new theme for summer 2011.

Check out all the options for Summer 2011 and then get ready for registration to start on Monday, January 3rd at 9:00 am. You can register online, in person, or by phone…all starting at 9:00 am. By the way…if you’re wondering why you can’t see the registration forms now, we will be putting those live on January 3rd. Feel free to contact us at camp now if you have any questions.

Happy New Year!

So many joyous things happen during this Christmas time!  What an incredible season to celebrate! Jesus Christ coming to earth as a baby, what an amazing and real life story of God’s faithfulness and love for us! From all of us here at Qwanoes we hope you have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy lots of wonderful times with your friends and family.

Adding to the excitement of Christmas for us here at Qwanoes is the count down to SUMMER 2011 that is happening right now! There are so many great things to tell you about! We can’t wait to unveil the new theme, the new theme song, and all the new activities that will roll out for summer 2011.  Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better!

It all starts on December 17th when we reveal the new activities on our website. Be sure to go to www.qwanoes.ca to be one of the first to know and tell your friends what’s new for summer 2011!  I wish I could tell you right now, but you’ll have to wait just a couple more days. I know… it’s almost as hard as waiting for Santa Clause the night before Christmas!

I ran into Stevie-G the other day in Club Coco, and he is very excited about the new game adventure theme he is working on. There will be lots of new surprises and adventures in store for all our campers of 2011. You won’t believe what he is working on!  It’s going to be one unforgettable week that’s for sure!

Registration starts on January 3rd, at 9 am. Be one of the first to reserve your spot!

Here is some more exciting news. Our Summer Staff Retreat is happening once again over New Years! We’ve invited everyone to come back for a giant three-day party. It’s a Qwanoes tradition! It’s going to be a perfect chance to renew friendships, hangout and relax, be spiritually encouraged and challenged and enjoy some awesome food. There’s going to be our annual Qwanoes Polar Bear Challenge, a crazy New Year’s Party at Club Coco, tons of photos, and even a special banquet. But the best thing of all it will be so good be to be all back TOGETHER.

Fall Junior High retreat is happening right now and it is so awesome to have so many campers back at Qwanoes. It all started on Friday night with a rockin time at Q-Town and then off to Mug-Up, followed by some late night All Star Games!

The next day after we got some shut eye, it was off to the dining hall for a tasty Qwanoes breakfast. It was sooo good! The pancakes and sausage were my personal favourite.

Simon is our speaker this weekend and he is really challenging us with some big things during our Q-Town times. This morning we talked all about how we are part of a BIGGER story. A story that is much larger than we can possibly imagine. It is so awesome to know that God has invited us to be part of His story and what He has for our lives!

There is so much fun packed into the afternoons of a weekend retreat! I just got back from the challenge course and our indoor skatepark, all the campers are having a blast. I ran into the “Squirrel” (Russ Smith) in the challenge course and he told me all about some daring girls who just raced down the Screamer! There are so many activities to choose from! Club Coco is a great spot to hang out on a weekend retreat, we even set up the wii system on the big screen! Another favorite activity to do in the afternoon is chilling in Club Coco sipping on a drink while challenging a friend to a dual in the battle top arena!

This weekend is nowhere near being done! Tonight we are going to have another awesome Q-Town time followed by a Pool Invasion in town…and then it’s CQ@DQ. Yes – CQ is taking over the local DQ for a time of Treatza, tunes and some crazy All Star Games and very ‘special’ DQ creations!

It’s also been cool having 17 of our Kaléo students serving as staff for the retreat…from counseling to helping in the kitchen. What a crew – and what a difference they are making at camp, in their church, and around this community.

What a beautiful weekend to have our Fall Women’s Retreat! It is absolutely gorgeous outside with the sun shining so brightly on the ocean and all around. I just got back from a walk outside and there is tons of activity going on out there! I just ran into 4 ladies in the challenge course by the names of Emily, Denise, Valerie and Kathy and they are having a marvelous time with lots to say about their retreat experience so far.

Here’s just a few of the many things they had to say… “I love the fellowship and the camaraderie among all the woman, I’m absolutely loving the food and it seems like it is non-stop! The activities are so great and it’s so nice that they are not age restrictive, it makes me feel so young again! So far we have done the Sky-Scraper and the Breathttaker and now we are on our way to the Screamer! ‘I had so much fun on the Sky-Scraper, even though I think I screamed as much as I did when I was in labor’ (Kathy). I’m really enjoying the young staff as well, they are so friendly and nice. The workshops are wonderful and so deep, I had a very moving time with the ladies as I had the opportunity to open up about what’s going on in my family. Krista Penner the speaker is so good, she is so animated and fun in the way she mixes deep things in the bible with real life. I have really enjoyed how applicable and real she is being with the things she is sharing.” With that the four of them were off laughing and talking all the way to the Screamer! It was so good to hear what a great time they are having, and the retreat is only at the half way mark!

Coming up next week is our Juniors Retreat! (ages 9-11) Leave the ordinary. Step into a weekend filled with energy and friends. Spiritual challenge. Great music. From high adventure to a warm fireside…join us for one extra special weekend!

Our Kaleo students are back from being away the last couple weeks on some exciting out-trips that involved a 5 day sailing trip, followed by a surfing trip in Tofino! The sailing trip was an exciting time of learning how to sail and bonding together all at the same time. Some of the highlights from the trip were seeing porpoises swim along the ship, steering the boat, having fun on a rope swing right off the boat and climbing to the very top of the mast to have a look around!

This weekend most of the students are serving at the women’s retreat and then we start our camp ministry course on Monday with Sid Koop and other leaders at Qwanoes. It’s going to be a great!

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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Vancouver 2010 Olympics helped Qwanoes take camper safety and health to a whole new level! How could that be? You might ask, well let me tell you! Qwanoes was one of 200 organizations across Canada chosen to receive complimentary Automatic External Defebrillators (AED’s) from a company called Medtronics as a legacy of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

At Qwanoes camper & staff safety and health is of utmost importance. So as a part of Health Care upgrades for this summer we were able to add two AED’s. We are very thankful one was fully donated and we had the opportunity to be part of the Olympic legacy program! One of the AED’s is located at the waterfront and the other one is located at our Health Care Centre. Although it has never happened – if anyone suffers sudden cardiac arrest they can now be given immediate assistance. I hope we never have to use our AED’s, but it sure is a big comfort to know we have a high tech piece of equipment right at our finger tips if we ever need it!

Juniors #3 is in full-swing and we are coming to the close of another great day! Campers are just finishing up Q-Town and will soon be heading to Mug-Up for a snack and then off to the Treehouses and cabins for devos and bed-time!

Talking about Treehouses I actually was part of a Treehouse adventure last night! I was a little bit behind the group, so as I made my way across Lost Canyon, I started hearing the excitement echo in the distance and all the chatter of excited campers. It was fun to see so many flashlights shining all around  shimmering against the trees and down into the canyon! I made my way onto the suspension bridge and peered up into the bottom of one of the giant tree houses. As I grabbed the ladder to stable myself, someone looked down at me and said  “Come on up!” So up the ladder I went to see how all the campers were doing. I asked one boy camper that was bedding down for the night what he thought of this whole experience, and he said confidently back to me “it’s pretty cool, I’m not afraid.”  I asked him if he looked out the window yet, and he said he hadn’t… so he grabbed his flashlight, dashed quickly to the window to look out and shine his flashlight on the ground to see how far up he was… and then I heard him say “whoa dude, we are so high up! Awesome! Wow!” He then looked back at me with his eyes full of wonder, but still with a look to let me know he wasn’t afraid, he then crawled a little more carefully and slowly back to his sleeping bag.  What a memory making night for these young adventurers!

As I said good night to all the campers, I couldn’t help but see how one of the girl cabins were doing in the treehouses. As I got closer all I heard was giggling and 10 little girls talking a mile a minute.  I yelled up! “How’s it going up there? What do you think of all this?” All I heard back was a big loud “AWESOME!” with more and more giggling that only little Juniors girl campers can do.  What a grand adventure!

It was Greylocks Magical Extravaganza tonight, so that means there was plenty of campers with faces painted, testing their strength on the horizontal bungee and mouths full of the sweet taste of cotton candy.  That’s right it was carnival night at Qwanoes! Always a great night with so many great carnival games, and challenges to join in on. It’s always fun to see campers darting back and forth trying to decide what to do next!

Youth Camp is coming up next week and we can’t wait!