LaMoine Christian Camp News

7th Annual Open House & Auction a HUGE SUCCESS!

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500

I want to express my deepest thanks to you and everyone who played a part in making the camps’ 7th Annual Open House & Auction a huge success! It was truly a great day. God blessed us by moving the rain out early in the day and everyone did a remarkable job to give the approximately 400 people who attended a memorable day. Everyone had such great things to say about how much they enjoyed being out at the camp with family and old friends.

It was such a blessing to have the caricature artist, Jamie Green, back this year as well as the regular appearance of our kettle corn volunteers. The kids really loved the pony rides, as well as the big dual slide and the “Dunk-a-Dean” tank. The swimming pool and climbing wall were also busy. The balloon sculptor and face painting really helped to give the camp a festive atmosphere. The adults loved the food, guided tours, fellowship, and watching the kids have so much fun. Once again, it was the silent and live auctions that were the favorite activities for most guests. Our Member Churches really showed up by providing plenty of really well done baskets for our silent auction. The LaMoine Area Woodworkers again did an awesome job with preparing several quality hand-made wood items for the live auction. These wood items add so much to our auction each year. I also want to say a big “THANK YOU” to all the businesses and individuals that donated items for the auctions and garage sale.

The silent and live auctions brought in more than $5,500.00 with an additional almost $600.00 coming from the garage sale. The garage sale brought in a whopping $631.28. The generosity of those who attended also brought the camp $326.86 in kettle corn sales and $131.86 from the caricature artist. After all of our expenses, the camp was left with just shy of $5,000.00.

Not only did the Open House & Auction provide some income to the camp, but there’s just no telling all the ways in which the Open House may have opened doors of opportunity for the camp to be blessed and to be a blessing to others in the future. The day would not have worked out so well without the help of so many people willing to give of their time, money, and talents, and so I say a big “THANK YOU” once again. May God bless you and your family, and I hope to see you out at the camp again this summer.

See More pictures of the event here.

To God be the Glory,
Doug Hamer
Director/Open House & Auction Coordinator

LaMoine Camp Pond Yields Another Monster Bass

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Once again the LaMoine Camp pond has produced another huge large-mouth bass. Early last May, Camp Director, Doug Hamer, caught what was thought to be the camp pond monster bass. It measured 19" long and weighed in at an undisclosed lot of weight (estimates have it at about 4 1/2 lbs.). The fish caught on April 26, 2009 obliterated the record, measuring 21" long and weighing in at 5 1/2 lbs. Pictures indicate that these are two completely different fish and not just the first fish with a years additional growth. Once again, Doug returned the "new" LaMoine Camp pond monster bass to it's natural environment. Does this guy ever work?

The Harvest is Now!

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0600

Dear Friends of the Camp,

I believe that giving to God’s work with youth is the best place to invest of your time and money because nearly 80% of all who accept Christ do so before the age of 12 and 85% by the age of 18.

I know it is only January, but I am already starting to get excited about what is planned for 2009. This year our theme and emphasis will all be related to the words of Jesus from the gospel of John.

                     “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’?
                             I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!
                                          They are ripe for harvest.”
                                                  John 4:35 (NIV)

First we want everyone to realize that LaMoine Christian Service Camp is a harvest field. Just in the past 8 years alone, 467 youth have accepted Christ at the camp during our summer camp programs. Can you imagine the size of the harvest when you consider that the camp has been here for nearly 52 years, and another 10 years in Camp Point before that? We also want all our camp partners to know that the fields are ripe for harvest now. “Open your eyes and look at the fields” to see that the harvest is ready and now is the time to do all that we can to bring the harvest in. It is the eternal lives of our youth that we are talking about and we cannot allow them to rot in the fields of today’s culture and influence. We must be urgent about making this camp a place that will draw youth here to this harvest field. Let’s prepare the soil at LaMoine right now; not in “four months more” or 4 years more, but now.

I thank you for your willingness to join God, me, and so many others in the life-changing work of the camp. We covet your prayers and giving, that the harvest might be bountiful. May God bless you in 2009 and may God continue to bless LaMoine Christian Service Camp.

Phase II waiting on "Seed Money"

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The camp has entered Phase II of our Stewardship Program. In Phase II we will bring current facilities up to a higher standard and 100% utilization. Our first priority in this phase will be to replace our current bath domes. After that we will direct our attention to our cabins, chapel, and old dining hall. The new bathroom facilities will be long lasting, low maintenance, and accommodate more campers than our previous structures. They will be constructed so that they can serve as the camp’s storm shelters as well. A contractor and architect are working now on plans and a preliminary budget.

The camp Board and staff are committed to making the Phase II improvements to the camp debt free. We currently have about $9,000.00 on hand for these improvements. We are accepting “seed money” donations now, in order that in God’s timing these gifts might produce a harvest. The harvest to come is not new and improved buildings, but the souls of our kids and their friends that will be given over to God and strengthened in faith at the camp. We are confident that the Phase II plans will contribute significantly to drawing more kids to the camp increasing the Kingdom harvest. Will you help? Just mark your check “Phase II Harvest” and pray for the seed money needed to move forward. Thank you and God Bless You!

2008 Marks the 6th Year of 1,000+ Campers!

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The final numbers are in and what a blessed summer it was. We ended the summer camp season with 1,021 campers. This is the sixth year in a row that we have had at least 1,000 campers at LaMoine. There were 68 campers that came forward and made life changing decisions for Christ at camp this summer. The campers also gave more than $9,300.00 to missionary organizations. Add to this the hundreds of faculty and volunteers that served at camp during June, July, and early August and you can see why LaMoine Christian Service Camp was the place to be this summer. We thank God and you for another tremendous camp season!

Behind the Scenes at LCSC

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Being that this is my first article for the camp website, I would like to start off by saying camp is great, "Bossman” (reference to Camp Director, Doug Hamer) is awesome, and so is Jesus. Now let me take some time to talk about what is done behind the scenes at camp. Many people think that the staff jobs are simply cooking food, lifeguarding, taking pictures, and putting Band-Aids on kids, but there is much more that people don’t take into consideration. I can’t even begin to tell you how much time I have spent in the diamond mines digging for pinks (reference to moving rock and sand for the new sand volleyball court), or picking up sticks after a storm, or cleaning toilets. It’s these things that I never thought about when I was a camper or even when I was on faculty. These are the little, yet very important, things that make camp better. We, the staff, are what make camp better. I, Trevor Farris, am what makes camp better. Just kidding…but seriously. Even though we are given these seemingly unpleasant jobs, it’s worth it to see a young one come to camp alone and leave with a whole group of friends. Maybe he or she will even get baptized and become friends with Jesus. Those are the kinds of things that make working at the camp worth every second. Stay tuned for more updates in the following weeks. (Editors note: Don’t count on it!)

--Trevor Farris, Recreational Director/IT Assistant

About the Author:

Trevor Farris is a 17 year old high school senior who likes long walks on the beach, cold sushi, and gladiator movies. He also enjoys photography. He is currently single and probably will stay that way for a very long time.

Camp Director lands the "LaMoine Camp Pond Monster"

Sat, 03 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Camp Director, Doug Hamer, finally silences the rumor mongers by catching the LaMoine Christian Service Camp pond monster large-mouth bass. The catch was made at 5:45 p.m., Friday evening, May 2nd, 2008. The sky was cloudy and the wind was out of the west at a strong 25 miles an hour. The massive beast of a fish measured 19" long and weighed an undisclosed lot of weight. In an attempt to weigh the monster, the office postage scale bottomed out at 2 lbs. Pictures suggest the fish weighed a ton.

When asked where exactly in the pond he caught the fish and what he used as bait, Doug said, “He wasn’t where I thought he would have been, and I used a spinner bait and that’s all I’m saying”.

Several others have told of how they almost caught the monster. Retreat guests and even Facilities Manager, Jon Gillespie, have had the monster on the hook before breaking a line or having the fish spit out the bait.

“Actually, I lost it about a half-hour before I caught it”, Doug said. “When I started to bring him in, I could see his body under the water and I knew it was the monster. I guess I didn’t set the hook good enough and he spit it out.” About 30 minutes later Doug returned to same area and this time the fisherman won.

In keeping with the true spirit of the fisherman’s code, Doug returned “The Monster” to his natural environment, to live, and grow, and maybe be caught again: and so the legend of the LaMoine Christian Service Camp Pond Monster lives on, only now with visual proof.

Article submitted by Doug Hamer 5.3.08

Summer Preparation

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

April and May are a couple of our busiest months as we prepare for the camping season.

We have trees to plant, lawns to roll, cabins to clean, trees to cut, wood to split, mulch to grind, sports equipment to prepare, a sand volleyball court to build, gravel to spread, rooms to paint, buildings to clear, picnic tables to move, roofs to paint, septic systems to clean, trails to clear, Open House to prepare for, a pool to clean and fill, and the list goes on!

It could be overwhelming! But God is blessing us with some 45 congregations who will be bringing volunteers to help with these projects and more. What a joy it is to work together with brothers and sisters in the Lord’s work!

Debt Free!

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600

I bring to you good tidings of great joy! The camp debt is no more! Today we have cut the last check to the bank, paying off the camp debt in total. What a testimony to the greatness of God and the commitment of so many to the ministry work of the camp. In paying off the camp debt, this day also completes Phase 1 of our Stewardship Program. I thank you all for your generous and sacrificial support of the camp’s goal of eliminating our debt and obligation to a financial institution.

A few churches and individuals have been designating a portion of their regular gifts to go toward the camp debt. Future gifts designated in this manner will now go toward Phase 2 of our Stewardship Program. Even though Phase 2 is still in the planning stages, we will be accepting gifts to be used toward these future capital improvements. You may recall, in Phase 2 of our Stewardship Program, we will focus on bringing our current camp facilities up to a higher standard and 100% utilization. The first priority in this phase will be to improve and increase the capacity of our bathroom facilities.

Please pray for guidance and wisdom as the camp Board and staff make plans as to how we can be better stewards of this great ministry tool that God has blessed us with. Thank you again and please pass on this “good news” to all our camp friends and partners.

2007 Open House

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500

We want to express our deepest thanks to you and everyone who played a part in making the camps’ 5th Annual Open House & Auction a huge success! It was truly a great day. God blessed us by providing good weather and everyone did a remarkable job to give the approximately 500 people who attended a memorable day.

The additions and modifications to this year’s program seemed to be well received. The kids really loved the pony rides, as well as the big dual slide, dunk-a-dean, climbing wall, and swimming pool. The adults loved the food, guided tours, fellowship, and watching the kids have so much fun. Once again the auctions seemed to be the highlight of the day. Madison Park Christian Church went above and beyond with all the creative and wonderful baskets they donated for the silent auction and the LaMoine Area Woodworkers did an awesome job with preparing several quality hand-made wood items for the live auction. I also want to say a big “THANK YOU” to all the businesses, churches, and individuals that donated items for the auctions and garage sale.

The silent and live auctions brought in more than $6,800.00 with an additional $380.00 coming from the garage sale. The generosity of those who attended also brought the camp $444.72 in donations and $289.23 in kettle corn sales. After all of our expenses, the camp was left with just over $5,600.00.

Not only did the Open House & Auction provide some income to the camp, but there’s just no telling all the ways in which the Open House may have opened doors of opportunity for the camp to be blessed and to be a blessing to others in the future. As this program grows from year to year, you can see how much help is needed to offer a fun-filled day to our guests, and so I “Thank you again”. The day would not have worked out so well without the help of so many people willing to help out.