The camp itself consisted of two daily sessions which included two talks from either Clay Scroggins or Jared Herd, phenomenal speakers, and an incredible worship band! Like we touched on the BROADCAST theme, each session focused on a sub-theme such as Live Loud, Live Clear, or Live True. We feel that the material focused on and the BROADCAST theme was incredibly relevant to all 1,500 of the students, middle school to college, which elected to say “yes” to Jesus and give Him a week of their lives. All together we believe that the kids walked away with a great message and a challenge to live out the message of Jesus Christ and broadcast His love to the world. One of the coolest things that we saw coming from this camp was the fellowship and general love for each other among our students. This was greatly developed through the sessions but mainly flowed from the small group times where the kids were able to be real with each other and get into each other’s lives. We believe that this week fully prepared each of the 1,500 students to now make an effective decision to follow Christ and broadcast His message to the world.

Earlier in the letter we mentioned Big Stuf’s partner organization, Compassion, located in Kenya. The kids were each given an opportunity to sponsor a child in Kenya for 32 dollars a month. This money provides food, education, and medication to allow these children a hope for the future. We believe that whether or not the kids decided to sponsor a child it truly made them question the stewardship of the material that they have been blessed with by God and to open their eyes and make them aware of the poverty throughout the world.

In closing, we as the Student Ministries team would like to thank you for giving your child the opportunity to experience the Big Stuf camp in Panama City Beach. We hope that your child will tell you all about their experience and share with you what they learned. We greatly enjoyed the fellowship that was ignited among us through the sessions, amazing praise and worship, and small group talk. We hope that you will encourage them in their jog with Jesus and encourage them to continue to stay involved with us in student ministries. Let us know if there is anything that we can do for you or your children and we will hopefully see you soon!

Your Student Ministry Team

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We are BACK! Camp INFUSION was great. GOD MOVED throughout the week in the kids, leaders, band and speaker.  WE ARE PRAISING OUR GOD FOR A WONDERFUL WEEK, GOD IS SO COOL! We also appreciate the support of all the parents and volunteers who gave of their time and prayers.

The first night of camp we all hung out, met our “UNITS” and then rocked out with SERAPH (the band). The excitement was contagious as everyone headed back to the cabins to try and get some sleep. In cabins 11& 12 (my cabins), it was tough to go to sleep with all the stories being told, laughter, and energy that was still reverberating from the band’s amazing kick off.

We started each morning off the right way, with our focus on Jesus!  We discussed the importance of quiet time and then had some quiet time where we read lyrics and sat and listened to what God might have to say to us through those lyrics. Later we met again with our UNIT to create an army cadence to show our team spirit. The afternoon consisted of extreme blobs during free time, a hike to the waterfall, etc. That night was our first time to experience the message from Rob. He challenged us to lose our survivor mentality and let God take control.

We kicked off the next two days in similar fashion, except this time we were able to listen to songs during our morning devotional. Fierce UNIT competition continued with shaving cream pictionary and egg creek crossing. At night Rob went into the armor of God (Eph. 6: 10-17) and he went into detail on how we need to use the defensive weapons to stand up for our faith.

Thursday was sadly our last and final full day at INFUSION but the Big Red Ball made a smashing appearance! UNIT competition was intense, with the bananas squeaking out a victory in an epic relay race. The Mt. Bethel staff/ adults proudly brought home a win against the camp Winfield staff. But the day belonged to the ORANGE team (OJ the Christian way) who won the UNIT competition and were crowned champions! Rob concluded his series with a message on the offensive weapons of God, prayer and the bible. After the message the campers were sent to their cabins to write two “love” letters to people who have had an impact on their lives.

Our prayer for all our youth that came to camp is that they will continue to grow their faith and they will know that the leaders pray for them still. Thank you parents for trusting us with your children. I know that I personally did not have any problems with my cabin or unit which is a testimony to how they have been raised. I hope that I have helped give a little insight to our camping experience and I hope your student or students had fun fellowshipping with each other and growing their faith.  Thank you again, to God be the glory!

- Drew Peters (Middle School Intern – aka Captain D)

Johnna

We will also offer two sessions of Sports Camp where we will to go Bowling,  putt putt golf,  Red Top Mountain for hiking and a cookout, Turner Field for a tour just to name a few things.  Other camps presented are four Hoops Camps (1,2,3,4) and Volleyball Camp.

Pam

A HUGE thank you to our kitchen staff who graciously handled our overwhelming numbers for lunch and snacks.   Again we are reaching out to the community with many kids from other churches or no church home.  We registered over 43 walk in registrations this afternoon, many saying they have heard what a wonderful VBS we have.

THANKS to an outstanding Facilities staff and many other staff members who have pitched in and helped with greeting, directions, check in, and much more.   It’s a group effort and we can truly be proud of how the Mt. Bethel Family works together.

We’ve posted 139 pictures from the week — check them out here!

Justin

Brad Gorski

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I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say thanks for such a moving and extremely well done performance Sunday evening! What a fitting and thoughtful tribute to our men and women who sacrificed their lives for our country. It also was nice to see the sanctuary so full. It was literally standing room only.

I wish I had been able to participate this year. Hopefully next year!

Kudos to everyone for the magnificent performance.

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WOW!  What a wonderful concert.  I do believe it was the best one ever!  The time just flew by (and that is saying something).  You had a great blend of old and new songs.   I especially liked  “In His Care-O”.  I know it was one you had to convince the choir they would like and it was worth it!

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After the social tonight my husband and I were eating dinner at Tijuana Joes with some friends from church.  I was still in my vest, and a family of three was eating at a table nearby; I had seen them in the Fellowship Hall after the concert.  As they left, the mother stopped by to tell me what a wonderful concert it had been and they were so glad they came—–was it this good every year?  Their daughter attends the Mt. Bethel Academy, and they attend Roswell UMC.  And, as she put it, the Roswell UMC Patriotic Concert “didn’t compare to our concert”!!!  She said she was glad she could hear the choir over the orchestra, that the balance was very good.  Also that her father is the Minister of Music at a church and that it took a lot to impress him, but she thought he would really like a CD or DVD of our concert–was one going to be made that she could send to him?

So kudos to our Music Ministry Department and the wonderful leadership the two of you provide for our church and community.  You never know who is going to be impressed when we use the talents the Lord has given us.  Thank you both for all that you give of your time and your talents to our church.

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My son and I sat in a row full of Lutherans in the balcony who wished they could have such a wonderful choir. We ran into some Jewish friends at the Ice Cream Social who were very glad that they had been invited by a friend, as they so enjoyed your performance. As a veteran of Vietnam, I admit that I need to remember to bring a hankie as it is hard for me to stay dry eyed with the power of your performance. My hat is off and I salute you for your pride and dedication you voice for the cause of freedom. This is a very powerful ministry that I am happy my wife is part of.

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I’m proud of all our Mt. Bethel vets - and if I missed any who participated with this note, please forward this on to them. We had great choir participation, a solo by John Fraser (I prefer his rendition of “God Bless the U.S.A.” over Lee Greenwood singing it - who I heard in person last week); us old vets trying to look sharp representing the Army, Navy, and Air Force; Anthony Cunha looking sharp as a Marine, the only one who could actually pass for a fighting man these days, and doing a great job in the spotlight with his speaking part (glad you stood up for saying “I am a Marine”, instead of sticking to the script and saying Soldier). To our ushers who did their typical great job, to those who participated by wearing their uniform and sitting in the audience. Don Webster for twisting his son-in-law’s arm to get him to bring in the flag - a highlight to have a real active duty Soldier in our ranks.

All in all - I’m proud of you all - and our other vets who are making more people at Mt. Bethel appreciate the honor we vets feel for having served our country. As I’ve said often, it’s our job to teach others how to be patriotic and there’s no time better than the Patriotic Concert to do that. Thanks for stepping up to the challenge.

And thanks, Randy and Ira, for making this a regular event at Mt. Bethel. We must continue to work to make more of our fellow American citizens understand that “Freedom Is Not Free”. This concert does a great job in making that known. And I agree, Ira, God was helping you out when He introduced you to the guest conductor, he loved it and so did the audience.

I’ll be hitting the Roswell and Marietta National Cemetery Memorial Day events tomorrow, then I’ll relax and enjoy time with my Family. Hope you enjoy the rest of the long weekend.

Once again, I’m proud of all of you and appreciate all you do to teach others about the honor of being called a veteran. Keep up the great work!

The day was perfect.  The bright sun, crisp.  The air clear.  COL. Wilbur Parker, Ret. Chaplain for the Joint Chiefs of Staffs stood to bring the invocation. Then we heard it.  The fly over by Major Wes Nims, US AFR (94th Airlift Wing, Dobbins ARB).  The crowd erupted in applause.  Tears streamed down the cheeks of the people who had gathered to honor and celebrate the life of Major James Carl Wise, Jr.  A man, who gave his life to his country oh, so many years ago.

My heart was glad when I looked around the crowd and recognized many Mt. Bethel members who came to show their respect to Lucille, the widow of Major Wise, and his three grown daughters, their spouses and their children.  What an honor to be there!  And as I sat, I had time to reflect on several things during poignant moments of this hour and a half long service.  Do the younger people today truly realize the cost of our freedom?  Or rather, the cost of anyone’s freedom?  Do any of us?  Those who were gathered, do they understand the complete and total sacrifice our military men and women make for the cause of our freedom – a freedom that we perhaps take for granted?

As COL. George E. “Bud” Day, USAF (Ret.) stood to deliver the message – can we even comprehend what his life as a POW was like – not to mention how he was medically cared for by another POW, now known as Senator John McCain.  And as the service drew to a close and the Atlanta Blues Notes band played a Medley of Service Songs from their hearts – I saw men from each military division stand, Navy, Marine, Air Force, Army, Coast Guard…  With pride and confidence, they all stood when they heard their theme song.  Do the young people today even know those songs?  Are we raising up a generation of ignorance regarding our military history.  Has my generation (the generation in between) – has my generation dropped the baton?  How I pray we haven’t.  How I pray that we will forever, indelibly etched in the hallowed halls of our minds, remember today, what it stood for, and what it means for our future.

Ms. Lucille, my gator country friend, indeed lost her husband to the hells of war, but her faith in God and in her country enabled her to continue on with her life, rear three beautiful daughters, and today to proudly stand tall on the stadium in front of all those gathered to honor Major Wise, as she gracefully received our Country’s flag presented to her by COL. Day.  As I said, the day was perfect.  The bright sun, crisp.  The air clear.  And then we heard it, TAPS, and the Taps echo reminding us that we have just experienced a most honorable day.

Diane Parrish