Day One, July 16, Explorer Camp in Portland, Part Two

Small groups happened all over the school campus. We had 107 campers today!!! More than CTR has ever had attend ANYTHING!

Simon Yendle leads the older boys in a daily Bible study.

Hayden Yendle's group found a few minutes of free time under a shade tree to make friendship bracelets.

Catherine Luke and two of her girls found the porch to be a nice place for a small group discussion.

Simon Yendle and Joe Lassiter are leading the Built for a Purpose portion of camp for the older boys. They are teaching some basic building skills. The pile of blocks on the far right will end up being birdhouses.

Sanding blocks for a Jacob's Ladder.

Simon could be heard yelling, "Where are the only two places you should put the green paint? Your brush and your block." When asked if the boys followed the directions, he said, "I regret to report that they did not." Joe Lassiter has green paint on his boots to prove it.

Sanding intently.

Inside, the older girls were sewing bags.

Ashley Mince taught the girls how to correctly pin fabric.

Miss Tammy is a CTR member and has helped with sewing at this camp for two years in a row! We love Miss Tammy!

Focused.

While some girls sewed, others learned some cooking skills by learning to mix together Ingram's Famous Chicken Salad.

The best part? They got to take some home!

Yum!

This is the ironing station for the sewing class.

Emily Lassiter made sure no one left with scorched fabric or burned fingers.

Younger girls were outside finishing their journals and pens. Many of them cornered Dan Edwards and got him to list again what God created on each day and then wrote that list in their journals.

A bouquet of pens.

And girls!

Sissy Flynn cleaned up with a smile!

Colorful journals waiting to go home with their makers.

Marshall Acken from Cov Pres is our youngest camper!

Parents lined up to check out their campers.

As long as Dan has some bandanas, he can create a game.

After a long day at camp, many of the team members attended a baseball game to see the Portland Seadogs play. They got creamed!! But we still had fun.

The "girl" bench.

The other "girl" bench.

Emily and Joe Lassiter, minus their daughter, Mary Jane, who found the older girl bench to be more fun!

Dan was sitting in the right seat at the right time when a foul ball came his way!

Monday, July 16, Day One of Explorer Camp in Portland--Part One

Load'em up and move'em out! Dan leads the caravan of cars full of camp team and supplies from our hotel to the school where camp is being held this week.

Still recovering from surgery, we left Sean behind at the hotel to pray for us and our day.

Early morning set up happened inside and outside the school. This is the room where the older girls will spend the afternoon this week enjoying Created for a Purpose activities. Today and tomorrow they will be sewing bags in this room.

Phyllis Hamm in the registration tent.

Each camper is given a camp Tshirt and assigned to a junior high or senior high school counselor.

Bailey Doyle, Emily Mince, Koyla Edwards and Catherine Luke looking over the names of their campers.

Mary Jane Lassiter and Colley Acken are two of our youngest team members. They are enjoying camp along with their new friends from Portland.

Bailey and Lorien were in the same group last year and were excited to see each other again.

First order of business--making nametags! Thank you to Joel and Helen Megginson for cutting limbs into nametags for us!

Elizabeth Ragland, Bailey Doyle, and Sarah Mince are ready for the day.

Crystal Keplar is a member of CTR and coordinates camp on the CTR end. We think she is a Wonder Woman!!! She buys and organizes morning and afternoon snacks for all of the campers and gathers some of our supplies ahead of camp to save us from shipping and/or shopping at the last minute. This is her second year as camp coordinator. We couldn't do it without you, Crystal!!!

Camp began with singing praise songs led by the Cov Pres counselors.

The first Bible story? Creation! As Dan told the story of each day of creation, he asked for volunteers to form the numbers 1-6 to help keep the story straight. Day one, in the yellow shorts, did a great job. We weren't so sure about the number two for day two!

Campers listened attentively to the story. In the background, you can see the fields where many camp activities will take place. The tent in the far background is where archery was taught.

Seven girls wanted to form the letter seven, but since God's creation work was finished, they represented that day by singing, "This Is the Day."

Rebecca Acken (far right) and Sissy Flynn led the youngest girls in a craft time under the shade tree. They made journals and flower pens.

Sissy gave instructions.

Sunday, July 15, Portland, Maine

This is the third year we have partnered with Christ the Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Portland, Maine. On Sunday morning we joined them for worship in the gym of the Breakwater Elementary School. As one of our team members pointed out, it felt a lot like home because our worship services are so similar.

The gym then became the lunchroom and meeting room. Dan Edwards walked the team--made up of Cov Pres members and CTR members--through the week.

Our schedule for the week. There is so much going on, it's a little like looking at something sideways!

We spent the afternoon visiting the school where we will hold camp, unpacking supplies, and making last-minute shopping runs before dinner. All of the kids ate together.

All of the adults ate together.