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!

FEB. NEWSLETTER

Hello everyone,

This is the first edition of our monthly newsletter! We are so delighted to have this great opportunity to reconnect with all of you on a regular basis!

Enlisting Summer Staff
In January, Liz and I had the pleasure of going to Panama City Beach to a conference for college students. We talked with several dozen students and identified many potential staff for this summer.
We are still looking for 15-20 Christian college students to be wilderness counselors for 8 weeks this summer. If you know of any who might be interested, please send them our way.

At the Office

I have been working at Highland’s office in Alpharetta. I have been designing a few of the adventure elements, including a climbing wall and a new bike trail system. I will be acquiring high ropes certification and helping to design and build the new low ropes course.

Future Programs

I had the privilege of attending a meeting with Georgia’s Office of Child Support Services to discuss partnering with them. We will be meeting again to develop events for “at-risk” parents and their children. Our hope is to offer no-cost events for these families and form mentor relationships between our current father-child program participants and these “at-risk” low income families.

www.camphighland.com
4305 State Bridge Rd., Suite 103-223
Alpharetta, GA 30022

The Peddle’s Partners

We view each one of you as partners with us in this journey. We believe a partner is much more than a donor. We consider you all friends, and great ones at that! You each play a critical role and make a real difference in our life and the lives of the campers! By joining the Peddle Team you are lighting our path so that we may shine that same ignited love into the hearts of Highland campers.

Progress Report

We are currently at 21% of our $3500 monthly goal! We are 13 partners strong. If you are willing to partner with us by contributing monthly donations of $25, $50, $100 or more it would be most appreciated!

How You Can Make a Difference

Make a donation:
· Set up automatic check writing with your bank.
· Establish an automatic debit plan or credit charge on our web site, at www.camphighland.com.
· Mail in monthly or a one time donation with enclosed envelope and donation sheet.
(Make checks payable to Camp Highland)

Other Resources:
· Tell your people about my people
· Bring a group to camp
· Pray for us

Prayer Requests

Please ask God to continue blessing us with wonderful partners. Pray for the 2300 kids and adults that will be coming to camp this year. Also, pray that our first two groups this month will experience a thrill of a lifetime while at camp.

God be with you all,

Erik:
erik@camphighland.com
Elizabeth:
elizabeth@camphighland.com

WHY WE ARE RAISING MONEY FOR CAMP HIGHLAND

This is our dog.

She is not the reason we are raising money and gathering together friends and partners for camp. But she is really cute and you are probably reading this because her picture is there.

So, we are raising support for Camp Highland, because....

#1: Camp Highland asked us to join their team so that we could expand the programs camp has to offer. In order for us to create and implement these new programs, we must raise a portion of our salaries.

#2: The mission of Camp Highland is really simple and we love it: "Using high adventure to lead others into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ." This is not limited to any group of people or geographic location. We are currently creating programs for communities in Africa, north Georgia, and inner city Atlanta. We have opportunities to serve AIDS affected children in Kenya, inner city families of Atlanta, and Georgia's families. From Summer Camps and weekend retreats to father-child programs and team building events, camp has a tremendous opportunity to spread the love of Christ in many key areas.

#4: Camp just purchased 220 acres on Carter's Lake in Ellijay and many expenses are at hand. In order for us to offer the very best, most excellent camp, we need extra resources to build out and beef up our growth. Here are camps amenities so far: 8- 12 person cabins, 1- sparkling bath house, a temporary kitchen, low and high ropes courses, boats, bikes, and lots of trees and animals.

We are aiming to quickly build:

-A huge gym so that camp activities may continue when it's raining.

- staff housing (a place for Liz and I to sleep)

-advanced ropes courses

-more cabins to accompany more campers

-more staff to ensure excellent program development

#5: We are raising funds to accelerate camps growth because we want to offer the very best, most excellent adventures to people in the southeast and beyond. God has been and will continue to provide the resources, as long as we continue to dream big and trust Him.

Please consider joining the excitement by making a donation, or contacting us to offer other resources! (links below)

http://www.camphighland.com/CampHighland.asp?Page=4001

erik@camphighland.com

elizabeth@camphighland.com