From Thanksgiving to mid January we will be working on building projects at camp and finding more partners to support us financially.  We want to find 120 more people to support us with  $10 a month.   Or 60 people to give $20/month.  Etc.

We are in need of more partners.  Please send us contact info for anyone you believe would be interested in partnering with us.

erik@camphighland.com

elizabeth@camphighland.com 

We are 1 month away from Caden's arrival.  Please pray for us and him.

We are having our partner party Nov. 11th from 6-9 pm, please come by for desert and coffee.

We have one event left this year at camp.  Father-Son Retreat Nov. 7-9.

Here are some encouraging remarks from our summer campers and their parents.

I think the fact that our son did not want to leave is a testament to the great job that all of you are doing.

Claire came home with so many stories. Everyday was her favorite day, but I believe her MOST favorite day was the one she rock climbed. She didn't realize how tiring real rock climbing is. She also loved the new slide. I will tell you this, when I asked her what her favorite part of each day was, she told me it was the cabin time, devotional time. What else could a parent wish for?

Parker grew so much, not only in his maturity but he truly feels that he is closer to God and is beginning to understand how vast that love is. I am truly grateful for this experience, Parker's first away from home. The counselors were absolutely wonderful and he has not stopped talking about his time this summer. Thank you.

Megan enjoyed the fellowship and support of her peers and counselors. She came home feeling adventurous and proud of tackling many of the outdoor challenges.

Patrick absolutely loves this camp. He wants to be a counselor when he is older so that he can spend the whole summer with you.

Lily and her group got lost in the caves. She later told me that she learned that 'even if you're lost, God still knows where you are.' What a deep lesson, and a vital one.

Cole's best friend Oliver accepted Jesus while at camp - Cole will always remember that. Also, all they talked about was the awesome tubing on the lake!!

I thought the fact that he stayed up until 2:00 a.m. talking about Christ was awesome. More awesome still was that the counselor (Bunker) stayed up too.

Jordan had such an incredible time that she asked me if she could go a second week. That was amazing considering she did NOT want to go to camp this year. This was her first year at Camp Highland and she says she will go every summer. You guys did an outstanding job!!!

We're Pregnant!!

Its a boy!!

We are having a man.   Sweet Jesus.

So what are we doing now since summer camp is over?

We are preparing for the rest of the year and are mentoring Camp's 2 year round interns, Chris and Heather.

We just finished another wonderful Father-Daughter Retreat.  

Check out our schedule of events for the rest of the year.  Please, let us know if there are any events you would like to attend, volunteer for, or just come and check out camp.  We would be overjoyed to show you around and serve you alongside our wonderful staff!

August:

• 25th-28th:  Atlanta Youth Academy. 89 kids, 15 adults. 
  
• 28th-29th:  Christian Heritage.  45 kids, 15 adults.

September:

• 2nd-4th:  Bridgeway School.  44 kids, ?? adults.
• 4th-5th:  East Side.  40 kids, 4 adults.
• 8th-9th:  Whitfield Academy
• 17th- 19th:  Intown School
• 27th-29th:  Hebron School

October:

• 3rd-5th:  Briarlake Church
• 3rd-5th:  Grace Comminuty
• 10th:  Camp Highland Golf Classic (fundraiser)
• 17th-19th:  Nicolson Baptist
• 24th-26th:  Father/Daughter 

November

• 7th-9th:  Father/Son 3

Please pray for:

• Our continuing need for more partners to provide financial support.  (We are at 60% of our goal).
  
• God to use us as we mentor our year round interns, Chris and Heather.
  
• For God to mold us into the best parents He has every created.
• All of the upcoming events and the people involved.
  

Thank you for all your prayers and support!

 

Summer is over

Summer camp is over and fall events are under way.  It was a adventures summer, full and overflowing with hard work, good food, spiritual growth, and lots of laughs.  It is good to be home and able to sit down for a few minutes.  Fall events have already begun.  We just had our Father son weekend with 25 pairs.  On Sunday all of the dads, one by one gave their sons a blessing in front of the whole group.  It was awesome to see 25 dads express their joy and pride for their sons.  I can not wait to be a dad!  Our next father daughter weekend is coming up in 2 weeks.  

We took the staff to a Braves game last week.  And I spoke during the evening sessions during the last week of camp.  I loved it and some people said they were blessed by what God taught us. 

Rachael Day has served at camp for over a year now as our cook, friend, mentor, and go to girl for everything.  We really appreciate all she has done for us and camp and will miss her dearly as she heads off to WI for college and other adventures.  Please pray for her as she makes this transition.

Chris will be joining us this year as one of our 2 interns.  He is a great guy with a servants heart and teeth like a gorilla.  Please pray for him this year, for his growth in Christ and the transition he is making to raising support.  

caving

We love to cave.  So does Moses.

Climbing Day is rated #1 among Highland campers.

Worship is always exciting.

We went caving with our 2 week group.  It was sweet.

I talked about prayer one sunday morning.  I think they started "praying" before I finished my speech.

Artsy pic from the cave

PICTURES

Another great week of camp just flew by.  Enjoy the pics.

The best part

The best part of camp is the closing day ceremony when the campers have a chance to share what they have learned during the week.

So many of the campers come up saying they have seen for the first time how important the bible is, or how they see the wisdom in choosing good friends. Others share that they want to know Christ more or even make a decision to follow Him.

There is nothing more fulfilling than hearing how my small role at camp helped create an opportunity for a child to know God more. Real lasting motivation comes in a lifestyle called service to others. What a blessing it is to be given all this grace and have a conduit through which I may give it to others.

PICTURES

Fun = laughter
laughter = openness
openness= chance to shine


so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe
Philippians 2:15

Storms at camp are amazing.

And wife is beautiful.

Lastly, Taco loves swimming.

It's been crazy!

I eat a lot at camp. Especially after riding the tractor for 3 hours, cutting grass and looking like a dirt ball. And there I am teaching a boy how to place climbing gear. I love my job!!

Some of the girl counselors have decided that we are their parents for the summer. Here is Liz with one of our "daughters." And here is me trying to show Liz I care about her during all of life's circumstances.

Hello all! We have been having an awesome time at camp! God has blessed us in so many ways. We can not express enough thanks to you as our supporters for giving us this opportunity.

We are on break right now for a week. We will return to camp for 3 more weeks and then have another break.

Our summer staff have been amazing. They all came to camp as strangers and are now a team of believers who are serving hard and inspiring Liz and I in our faith. We are learning many things as well. God has really showed us how important it is to have a daily relationship with Him. Camp is a 7am-11pm job which means that we can not make it through the day without the Holy Spirit's help. We have had a great time working together. I love my bride more now, seeing her work so very hard despite the challenges of growing a child inside her belly. That's right, we are pregnant. Thank you Jesus. (Please pray for me to be the best father God has ever crafted).

More pics soon. His peace be with you all! (I will update this more often for the 2 of you who read it.)

These are some of the horses Highland

 campers will learn to ride.

Working on water slide deck.  Soon, little people will be here.

our house for the summer

Some people think houses should not have wheels. We believe in wheeled homes and also think that spinners would be a good idea.

Father Son April 2008

We absolutely love the family events. Seeing dads hang on to their sons with joy and love in their actions is such a wonderful blessing. It is a great time for Liz and I to see God's love for us a children through the lives of these dads with their sons. It was our founder's birthday during the weekend. O happy day.

March Events

We had another fun and exciting event! A group of 30 7-8th graders came from Acworth. It rained hard most of the weekend but we still had a good time, playing games, worshiping and listening to different speakers. Keeping a close eye on weather.com we anticipated a clear spot and had enough time to get half the group through the pamper pole and drop zone, but only one person made it through high ropes before the thunder picked up again.

Here is Liz and other staff serving lunch from the Pensgower. And Adam and I went camo covered for the midnight game of capture the flag. (Our hand sign means- "Invisible Love" -ha.) This event was a huge blessing to us, it reminded us of how much we love to work with younger kids and gave us a picture of what camp will be like this summer! We also had a great group of volunteers who showed up to help. All the credit goes to them!

Our second group came last weekend. 100 volunteers from Buckhead Church's Singles ministry attended camp for a team building retreat. We had 18 CH volunteers come to help and they were all fantastic! The first night it rained until 11pm, but we set some diesel soaked logs on fire to keep the group warm. Then I witnessed a true spectacle. Serveral people stayed up past 2am playing Rock Band in the pavalion. The next day, we divided them into 6 groups and they all went through high and low ropes. We were all running around so much, picking up the groups in the Pensgower, serving food, running the ropes courses that I didn't have a lot of time to take pictures. Here is a picture of one of the groups on the low ropes course balancing challenge. They got on one at a time to try and stay balanced until the whole group was on and the platform stayed level. I saw many people really push themselves, and it was obvious that they grew closer together. The whole weekend was great, we cannot wait to have them back next year.

In case anyone is interested, when I am not at camp, I am at home or at the office working. We are looking for organizations in inner city Atlanta, who we can partner with and provide events for thier kids. Also, we are looking for ways we can reach out to the Ellijay community. We would love to serve needy families there as well. Here is a picture of me hard at work.

March News Letter

Isn’t true that a person’s character grows most when their abilities are stretched and they have to rely on others for support? We see this principle at work every time a group comes to Camp Highland. This year over 1000 kids from 5-16 will experience this truth at Highland’s adventure camps. Father’s will bring their children to grow deeper into a lifestyle which reflects the love relationship of God as our Father. Hundreds of lives will be changed and Christ’s name will be proclaimed in everything we do. God has been using Camp Highland’s love and adventure model for 15 years now. Would you like to play a part in what God is doing at Highland?

If you have not already heard, Elizabeth and I will be working full time for Camp Highland starting April 1st. Our roles on staff will fill two strategic positions for Highland. Our vision and purpose for taking these jobs are fourfold:

· We will invite God to work in our lives to advance His Kingdom through Camp Highland! Our positions will allow expansion of programs to AIDS affected children in Africa, inner city families of Atlanta, needy families in Ellijay and further development of programs for summer camp and retreat groups.
· During the summers we will be training and mentoring the summer staff for Camp Highland’s Wilderness Program! Our hope is that we will provide the necessary spiritual and logistic leadership for these counselors.
· In the spring and fall we will direct the programs for retreat groups, team building events, and family programs. We will work directly with leaders to provide tailored events to meet the spiritual needs of each group.
· We will be moving to Ellijay for the summer so that we may be a positive Christian influence in North Georgia and establish a strong camp community for future programs.

As you can imagine, camp is an expensive operation. In order for us to be on staff we must raise a portion of our salaries. We are asking you to partner with us, so that we may play our part in accomplishing these goals. God has already begun a great work through many of you!

Our current partners have made 1 year commitments equaling 39% of our goal! And 11 people have committed to praying for us! We will meet our goal if:30 more people commit to $25 a month.20 more people commit to $50 a month.6 more people commit to $100 a month.(These are suggested commitments, any amount is greatly appreciated.)

We would like to have 30 prayer partners.
Each prayer partner commits to praying for us each week for the next year.
You will receive a monthly e-mail update with our specific prayer requests.

If you have already made a commitment, please know how grateful we are for you and thank God for you every day. God promises to bless you because of your faithfulness! To everyone else, we ask that you would seek out God’s heart on this opportunity. Please prayerfully consider making a commitment.
Our April 1st deadline is quickly approaching

Our First Event!

Our first group came this past weekend! It was an awesome time with Greater Atlanta Christian School men's lacrosse team! Before they arrived we checked the ropes and had some extra fun ourselves. Above is Liz swinging 80 ft. off the ground, and screaming ahhhh! O my wonder! And to the right is me checking the wires. Just another day in the office!

This is the 6 wheel drive Swiss Army Pensgower! We use it to haul the kids all over camp, it rides like a Rolls Royce and has wilderness air conditioning!

The group experienced the drop zone in the

dark, a 100 ft. arch swing. At the highest point they were 80 ft off the ground. Here's a shot of a player being pulled up to the top of the drop zone by his team mates. Many prayers were yelled in terror as the drop was made.

Next day, breakfast, bible study session and low ropes. We heard from our founder Bill Chapman on Unity, from Colossians 3:1-17. Later I spoke on what life circumstances mean to us a Christians

(Ezekiel 24) and God's love for us.

Here is the wall element. Their first try took them 7 minutes to get everyone over, the second try with some extra coached encouragement only took 2:45 min.

They enjoyed 3 other low ropes elements from which you could tell a real difference in their ability to work together and encourage one another. Getting 20, 13-17 yr. old boys to communicate and focus is quite a challenge, but most men rise to a challenge, and they did just that.

Then we had lunch, high ropes and a game of air soft war with the Pensgower. Here is one player doing a split 60 ft. off the ground and to the right the leap off faith off the Pamper Pole.

Serving this group meant so much to us! The head coach is a good friend and mentor of Liz and myself. He actually baptized Liz in high school and walked with us through many trials. Thanks coach!

While serving these players we fell right into our element, and even though it was physically exhausting, it filled us up spiritually. Getting to spend that much time serving others, talking about Christ, hanging from wires 80 ft. off the ground, relaxing under the stars of Ellijay, and all the other joys that camp has is such a huge blessing to us!

We have found a real joy in serving others in this way. Setting up adventures for the single purpose of making Christ look good. Many of the players that came on this trip grow up in Christian homes, go to a Christian school and know all about the Bible and what Jesus did. But this experience offered them a chance to really step out of their comfort zone and fall in love with God for the first time or all over again!

They said they would definitely be coming back next year!