Pioneer Ranch Camps had the privilege of hosting student leaders from VCF chapters across Canada for the National Student Leadership Conference held Dec. 27 to Jan. 1 at Pioneer Lodge. The 87 university students studied scripture, worshipped together, and played outside. And networked! 

U of A VCF students providing leadership included Kim Nguyen, Cayley Webber, Naomi Fisher, Dave Markert, Ivan Siy, and Angela Wun. Staff mentors were Lisa Laird and Matt and Jill Church.

Al Anderson, national VCF team leader led a manuscript study on the calling of Moses as revealed in the first six chapters of Exodus. He challenged the students to think about what role slavery plays in our lives today, what God’s calling could look like in our own lives, and what a fearful yet wonderful thing God’s call can be.

Krista-Dawn Kimsy, a worship leader from IVCF USA, along with a student worship team, led the group in worship exploration, including a Taize service, a contemplative service, and a contemporary service. Ruth Copeland lead a prayer ministry and conducted a ‘grace history” which involved participants thinking back and writing down ways God has led and transformed them through their lives. IVCF President Geri Rodman shared God’s calling in her life.

The conference included day trips into the wilderness – ice climbing, snowshoeing, and horseback riding. A new year’s celebration was a huge success – complete with a catwalk and silent auction to raise money for next year’s NSLC conference, broomball, and fireworks!

Pioneer Ranch Camps staff joined over 250 other IVCF staff from across the country in Toronto for the triennial National Staff Conference in December 2007.

Under the theme “i-Witness – building communities in the i-Pod generation,” mornings were spent delving into the book of Jonah under the guidance of Lindsay Olesberg from IVCF USA. Afternoons were committed to  a variety of team meetings, and plenary sessions – spiritual formation, make you think TV, witnessing through acts of justice, apologetics resources for today’s complex campus cultures, teaching that includes witness, witnessing to children, integrating witness with everyday life, living in intentional community, witnessing to Muslims, praying people into the kingdom, artistic expressions of witness, investigative studies, helping students deal with addictive temptations. Worship each evening was led by a mostly Albertan worship team – Jon & Connie Lim; Matt Church; and Sherri Goethe.

Throughout the conference, a silent auction, which raised $4,687.50 for a Eurasian student conference was held from items brought by staff members. Alberta Pioneer Camps offered the most popular item: a four-day all-expense paid hike, canoe or ride with our own Will Woods as guide! The trip sold for $950 to four IVCF staff from the Maritimes.

International Christmas Camp at Pioneer Lodge was wonderful! Students came from U of A (29), U of L (17), and U of C (1.) They came from China, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Tuvalu, and Singapore. For three days the students discovered horses, snowshoes, broomball, hot chocolate, and Christmas dinner. They engaged in interesting talks and Bible Studies, and sang carols. Best ever was a live nativity scene – the most photographed in the country!

For James Siebert, International Student Ministries (ISM) staff in Edmonton, “one of the most thrilling things was that 19 of the students had already been in his home, part of the conversational English program, or attending a Bible study. We praise God for the privilege of deepening these relationships at Pioneer Camp.” One participant expressed: “I learned a lot from this camp, such as how to do archery and ride a horse, and even how to play hockey! But what impressed me most was the stuff about Christmas – all those carols and everything about Jesus Christ. Before coming to this camp I knew little about Christmas, but now I know a lot about it and I am really interested in it.”

James Siebert says he’d appreciate prayers for ISM work in Alberta: “Many students who study in North America will be future leaders in their countries and we are excited to share the gospel with them.”

What do the Ukraine and Germany have in common with Pioneer Ranch Camps?  This year, two of our program staff, who serve groups who come for outdoor education and band camps, are from the Ukraine, and one is form Germany.

Pylyp Zvonkov and Anton Tokarchuk are graduates of Zaporzhye National University, Ukraine, with degrees in Olympic and Professional Sports. Both joined Pioneer staff in September, after spending the summer at Green Bay Bible Camp in B.C. They describe Pioneer as a beautiful, quiet place with a spectacular mountain view. “All the staff at Pioneer and all our guests from schools and churches have been very friendly,” Anton says, and Pylyp adds that “the food is great; the camp is great; the people are great.” Both guys served as leaders at Bible camp in the Ukraine, and noted that even though we only have 6 to 8 campers in a cabin in Canada, it is harder work than in the Ukraine where one leader supervises 40 campers in two-week intervals.

Sabrina Cramer is from Gummersbach, Germany. From the age of 12, Sabrina owned her own pony, and enjoyed riding and taking lessons. It was her dream to come to Canada and work at a riding camp. Sabrina’s sister and brother are involved with the IFES ministry in Germany and Sabrina was instrumental in starting an ISCF-like group at her high school, and was active with her church youth group. Sabrina is a talented musician and songwriter, and is interested in dance and theatre. She says she can’t imagine “anything more beautiful than Pioneer’s locations in Alberta” and says she can “totally stand behind the value of Pioneer: To honor Him through serving our guests.”

Sabrina plans to return to Canada in September to study at the Rosebud School of the Arts. Pylyp and Anton start work in April as swim coaches at Calgary's Talisman Centre.

Guests at Pioneer Lodge are noticing that the lower twin rooms have had a facelift – thanks to ten members of Bethany Chapel in St. Catharines, Ontario, who chose Pioneer Lodge as a global project for 2007. The impetus came from the father of Fred Tyrer, the Lodge’s site manager. Mr. Tryer attends Bethany Chapel and when it came time to partner with a project, they cast their eyes west – and Pioneer came into view. They raised funds for travel, materials, tools, and a financial contribution. “They even brought their own cook,” Fred exclaimed. (Thanks also to Deb and Patrick Fisher from Edmonton.)

In a down week near the end of August, they reworked all seven downstairs twin rooms. Now the interior walls are soundproof and the exterior walls are heat efficient! The old windows were replaced and the bathrooms received new fixtures and drywall. The desks went out and new cupboards went in, along with paint, some re-wiring, smoke detectors and baseboards. Among the volunteers were licensed electricians and plumbers. The group also split a mountain of firewood, upgraded some wiring throughout camp, and encouraged the camp staff. As well as a Herculean amount of work, the visiting group did manage to fit in some riding, and attended Cowboy Church – a highlight for many.

More good news: the group plans to return in August to tackle the upper twin rooms. If you’d like to be part of something wonderful, transformational, and most rewarding, please call Fred Tryer and ask him to count you in!

As Pioneer’s Ministry and Program Coordinator, Will Woods arranges for our summer out-trips at Pioneer. He recently took some time for an out-trip of his own – taking his crampons to Mexico to get high!  Will, with friends Tim and Erica, climbed Pico de Orizaba – one of three mountains in Mexico that holds permanent snow. The trio caught a jeep ride to a base camp at 4200 meters, but soon discovered it was too much altitude gained too quickly, and had to retreat for acclimatization. After a couple of days, they were able to hike to 4900 meters – 700 meters from the peak. They climbed through an ice gulley system and over a glacier. Although they left camp at 1 AM they were moving too slowly to make the peak, and returned to base camp.

“It was awesome at 13,000 ft to see the curvature of the earth, an expanse of ocean, and clear across Mexico,” Will said. He counts the trip as a great learning experience. “I traveled in a foreign, non-English country. I understand now that some people’s bodies won’t tolerate high altitudes. And I got in some climbing experience with friends.”

Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin Books, Chapel Hill, 2006) is still getting a great deal of attention. The book is considered groundbreaking work about the staggering divide between children and the outdoors.

Louv is a child advocate who directly links the absence of nature in the lives of today’s wired generation to some of the most disturbing childhood trends: obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Louv says that direct exposure to God’s natural creation is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical, spiritual, and emotional health of people. Interestingly, he calls on faith-based organizations like summer camps to include nature as part of the spiritual development of children.

While the information contained in the book is obvious to all of us at Pioneer Camps, it’s encouraging and cofirming to see intellectuals endorse the ministry of Christian camping in wilderness settings Who knew?

The stimulating content prompted lively discussion – and thoughtful silence. The purpose of the day was to reconnect to the deep and true story of why we do what we do at camp. Tim challenged us to think about four aspects of our memory: personal, communal, gospel, and future memory. He describes “dangerous memory” as a memory that provides courage and shapes the future. It is dangerous because it does not hide the truth. Rather, the truth is revealed through the discipline of remembering, and then shapes the future. Dangerous memory is a dangerous counter voice in a culture that seeks to live in oblivion and resists encountering the gospel.

According to Carrie Herbert, the NLI event organizer, “We were all challenged to consider our own level of belief and commitment to the gospel. We were challenged to consider our own memory and how it has shaped us. And we were challenged to consider heaven already on earth."