Many wonder what happens during the non-summer months at Qwanoes. Yes, we sometimes break into a spontaneous all out finger rocket war in the offices… hey we are at camp! The other times we are busy getting ready for a retreat, recruiting summer staff, running the Kaléo program or making sure summer 2012 will be the best it can be for our campers! I heard at staff meeting this week that the Squirrel (Russ Smith) is back in the studio writing a whole new CD. That’s right…a full-length, all-new CD! So get ready campers for brand new songs this upcoming summer, I know that I can’t wait! Be sure to tune into qrok.ca every week and send an email to the Squirrel saying hello or give him an idea for a song! Who knows – it might inspire a song!

Last week our leadership students in the Kaléo program were out on adventure in Tofino to go cold water surfing. Did you know that Tofino is the surfing capital of Canada?! It was a fantastic trip with lots of fun together plus digging into God’s word in the evening and morning. God’s creation is a wonderful thing! The trip was highlighted in our Kaléo 2012 blog. This past week they were deep in academic study. Don Taylor, a professor from Briercrest, flew out like professors do for all the classes and was teaching on Old Testament Literature. The students said they learned a ton, and had fun doing it as they made a video that highlighted the Old Testament story.

Retreats, Retreats and more RETREATS! So far we have our women’s retreat, Juniors retreat and still to come is Junior High, Senior High and then Men’s retreat. This is a perfect chance to come on back to Qwanoes and spend some time with God at camp. Life can be busy, but something special happens when you step out of the ordinary and go to camp. We hope to see many of our campers from this past summer and their friends! Junior High is coming up this weekend!

Right now we have many youth groups here from the Fellowship churches from the greater Vancouver area. This youth retreat is put on by a group of great youth pastors. I can hear them upstairs right now rocking out with their band. I ran into Chris Synesael who is the speaker this weekend and Rob Schweyer who is a youth pastor in Maple Ridge and both past Qwanoes camp speakers.  Are you in a youth group? If not check out our youth group church finder on our website. It’s a great place to connect with people at camp, school friends and youth pastors who really care about you. Stevie-G just told me he was off to a finger-rocket battle in Q-Town, so sounds like lots is going on!

Hope to see you at  Qwanoes soon!

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Wow! What a great start to Juniors retreat last night. Something is just different at Qwanoes when campers are here, it makes Qwanoes come alive!! It’s hard to explain, but I think this video will help – Check it out !

Club Coco was transformed, and we started off the night with having Q-Town right in Club Coco! What a special night as the Squirrel (Russ Smith) was back on the stage leading Q-Town songs once again with the rest of our band Quixotic. Our Juniors campers got a very special surprise last night, as something happened that was very different! Russ didn’t leave the stage after we were done singing! What!? That’s right for those that guessed it…for the very first time Russ the “Squirrel”  is our camp speaker, and he is doing an amazing job! Our theme for this weekend is “Something’s Different Here” and Russ is talking all about how Jesus did some things that were a little bit different, and said things that were a little bit different. Something else that is a little different at Qwanoes this weekend is Scott Bayley led All Star games on Friday night! Now that is very different, but it’s all part of our very special weekend!

Mug-Up, cabin devos, cabins eating together in the dining hall, All Star games, this weekend is packed with so many great things. This afternoon campers spread out across Qwanoes for activity time. The Sky-Scraper was swinging through the trees, campers were hanging in Club Coco, and screams of delight could be heard loud and clear from the “Screamer.” I even saw campers lined up at Ice-Cream Island enjoying some great tastes of summer.

Right now the campers are engaged in an epic battle called “Under Siege.” They are sneaking around the forest trying to infiltrate the enemies territory, defend their own territory by catching those who dare cross the line, and seeking to attack the enemy base with “grenades” and even rockets! It’s anyones game right now, RED, BLUE, GREEN and YELLOW, when the gong goes, someone will be victorious!

So much more in store for this weekend! More Q-Town, more All Star Games, more friends and the town invasion is coming up tonight where all the campers head to the pool and take over!

Junior High and Senior High retreats are coming up fast and it’s not too late to sign up! The theme for these two retreats is “Brighter Yet?” and you won’t want to miss it! Go online to find out more about the theme.

There’s Going To Be Tons To Do! Late Night Madness, Town Invasion … The Hot Tub & Pool Are Ours!, Outdoor Adventure, Awesome Counselors & Staff, And Always… And Always A Few Surprises!

If you’re looking for something completely out of the ordinary…welcome. If you want something different…this is it. If you’re tired of the same old same old…sign up now and prepare for the unexpected. Go online to find out more!

What a great weekend to have a women’s retreat! The sun is shining, the cool Fall breeze is just right. It promises to be an awesome weekend for women to connect with each other, good food, fun activities, spiritually challenging and excellent weather! The speaker for the weekend is Patti Larsen. She brings to Qwanoes a wealth of experience in ministry to women over many years. The women this weekend can expect to be challenged to know Christ, and to go deeper and wider in their relationship with God to be used for His fullness. The women’s retreat kicks off tonight!

Here is a quick recap of what has been happening at Qwanoes and what’s coming up!

Qwanoes students head off on a sailing trip! What an exciting trip for the students in our Kaléo Leadership Program. They started in Victoria and spent a whole week together on a big sailing ship! They learned a lot about each other, leadership and God. You won’t want to miss the pictures and the blog post on our Kaléo Program blog site.

Stevie-G is married! Our very own Stevie-G got married over the weekend to a past summer staffer by the name of Alycia! Many staff from Qwanoes headed all the way up to Williams Lake to be part of the celebration. It was a wonderful wedding day! The ceremony took place in front of a beautiful lake outdoors, we had a BBQ, campfire, and fireworks in the evening. Stevie-G even led us in some All Star Games! Okay, I’m kidding. Be sure to congratulate Stevie-G next time you see him! We wish Stevie-G and Alycia the very best and we are so happy to have both of them a part of our Qwanoes family 🙂 (Williams Lake is also where Scott Bayley, our Executive Director, was born…so he also enjoyed seeing his old home town, as did his parents Ken & Betty Bayley.)

Thanksgiving for all! We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. One of our highlights here at Qwanoes is our annual staff and student Thanksgiving dinner. What a feast! Our head chefs prepared a delicious home cooked Qwanoes meal, and it was a a great time of sharing with each other what we are thankful about. Many of our Fall staff are from Brazil, and this was their very first Thanksgiving in Canada!

Retreat Season: We have many retreats coming up for campers to choose from! To check-out the line up of opportunities to be a camper here in the Fall, you  can go online to our retreat page.

Four locations in four days! First it was in Victoria on Sept 28th, and then over to the mainland to Ladner, followed by Abbotsford the next day, and ending with the grand finale back on the island in Parksville!

It was a whirl-wind tour of seeing campers, staff, meeting new friends and connecting with many, many youth groups. I was just at the Parksville Road Tour location, and it was a blast! There was a giant welcome with the “Rocket” greeting everyone at the front door, and then as soon as you walked in there was Beach Betty manning the Tuck Shop! Staff were everywhere and I could hear the Q-Town music pumping in the background. We started off the night with some great Q-Town music led by the ‘Squirrel’ (Russ Smith) and then Stevie-G hit the stage with some front & center games. I never knew someone could eat a banana that quickly!  Scott Bayley also jumped in and gave away some prizes – one person even won a free camp registration to a Fall Retreat!

There were so many favorite parts of the night, but one of my favorite had to be when we had the giant box All Star game right in the middle of the church. There were finger rockets flying, boxes being stacked like a fortress, doctors saving people, it was an all out battle!

Getting closer to the end of the night now…the speaker, Dan from Parksville, came up to do his talk and he challenged all of us to make sure we are plugged into a church youth group, because that’s where a lot of growth is going to happen when you aren’t at camp. So if you aren’t plugged into a youth group yet, let me encourage you to check out our webpage where it lists a lot of good churches!

And of course no Road Tour would be complete with out Mug-Up! Mug-up! Mug-Up, got to get yourself some Mug-Up! I love that song and I love Qwanoes cookies and juice.

If you missed the Road Tour, no worries! There are still plenty of chances to stay connected with Qwanoes. Did you know you can come to camp when it’s not summer!?? If you haven’t been invited yet by anyone, let me officially invite you now to come to a Fall Retreat! Check it out online to get all the info. See you soon!

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