the green spot blog

Now...who does this remind you of? Usain Bolt's grin perhaps? It was another great weekend at camp for our annual Sr. High retreat. The small but mighty retreat saw youth from Linden and Calgary get challenged from the Word by Brennen Dyck (Dalhousie Church, Calgary). The weather behaved...mostly. It rained while we were inside and the sun actually came out while we were outside. Basically - if it doesn't snow on Rise Up weekend we're pretty happy. As always, Jug 'n' Jog seemed to be the highlight of the weekend as students battled for the Kings of the Field. I still don't know how people can play barefooted in single digit weather. :S We did our best to incorporate Puzzles (our new donkey) into the game by calling a prison break when he would make his donkey sounds. We're not sure if this will continue to be the case but it certainly worked on Saturday. Chapels were challenging and busy with conversation. Brennen spoke to us...

Summer camp is over (not that any of us needed THAT reminder as our kidlets are all back in school and the camp has started filling up with Guest Groups) and that means we shift into a totally different gear. How fitting is it that the leaves seemed to have changed with the summer coming to a close. It's getting a little too yellow out there (and a little too early for this bear). You'll see a couple things change with our seasonal shift. There are events coming up. These are things that we want you marking on your calendars...things that you should be aware of that are very nearly just around the corner. Because...Summer 2017 Registration opens in just under FOUR months. Crazy, isn't it! You can keep your eyes peeled for our 2017 dates to be announced mid-October. Don't get too crazy...registration will not open until the beginning of January 2017. September is filled with a bunch of Camper Connection Days. You might be wondering what these days are all about. Th...

We love retreat weekends! Camp has four different annual retreats and Rise Up is the first to happen after summer ends. It ends up being a bit of a reunion and a good reminder to keep pressing down the path towards a closer relationship with God. Friday started with a lot of rain and a bit of snow which didn't slow any of our retreaters down. Joined by youth groups from Gem, Linden, and Dalhousie - we rocked out the Willsonball and giant Dutch Blitz late into the night. On Saturday night, we rolled out one of my all time favourites, Collector's Choice. Tom Mulhern brought a band out from Dalhousie Church (plus a little help from Fender, Sunshine, and Yoshi) which kept us rocking all weekend long. Jonathan Klein from First Alliance Church in Calgary. One of the things that really stuck with me was the phrase that Jonathan used: "Feed our faith and doubt our doubts". He shared how God has a purpose for us and not only that - He's rooting for us. We have a re...

We love fall around here. The changing leaves and the way the air is so crispy in the mornings. Yes - it's a haunting reminder that winter is coming but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. One of the things that fall means is Rise Up. It's our High School Retreat. It's so much fun and a great reminder of camp...which fades so quickly from our minds when school starts. So the most perfect way to solve that is to come to Rise Up! A perfectly packed weekend of fun, games, evening programming, and chapels. We're joined this year by Tom and Malora Mulhern from Dalhousie Community Church : And Jonathan Klein from First Alliance in Calgary (don't you just love what you can find on the internet?):   So if you're thinking to yourself - oh boy, I really, like, REALLY miss camp. Pack your bags because it's going to be a great weekend you won't want to miss! This retreat isn't just for youth groups! If you're a student enter grades 9-12 a...

We just finished an amazing weekend here at camp. Rise Up 2014 started on Friday with a bang and I don't know if many of us stopped moving until after lunch on Sunday. We were joined by Mulhern and Sons, who led us in worship and this guy: Danny Mackay Danny came to us from Winnipeg, Manitoba and who works with an organization called I am Second . It was an amazing weekend filled with hilarious stories and moments from Danny's life. He Good News'd us (remember - it's a verb), reminded us about what we have to hope for, who God is, and as the weekend wrapped up on Sunday - we learned how to Gospel (remember - verb!) people we come in contact with...like Carl . Danny reading through who God is through the books of the Bible The day was full of adventures and fun. Almost 90% of our retreaters played Paintball for the first time ever at Rise Up and it was a huge hit. We had a chariot race that Highland MB Youth won (shown below)...it was a race of very epi...

It seems so far away now...summer camp 2014. It has not quite yet been a month since our Impact Campers were here conquering Mission Impossible at night, having a late night BBQ with our very own hipster spin on it or laughing until our sides hurt and tears were running down our faces in Homemade Jam. It's been not quite a month. Seems like forever though - as snow covered us last week (we still have piles of it around today), one could just imagine it being winter and Christmas. Legal Bunny Trail: We even had a Christmas themed meal with our groups Potential Place, Prairie Winds, and Rising Sun clubhouses to "celebrate" the snow. With everything seeming so wintery here...a person could begin to imagine that Summer 2015 is just around the corner. Such a cruel thing...because when the snow melted and we hit 25 degrees again - we remembered that it's just September and Summer 2015 is still 10 months...wait! 9.5 months away. We don't want to forget Summer Camp 2...

Rise Up, our annual youth retreat for Senior High students, is coming! On Friday October 3 we want to pack Evergreen out! The cabins and lodge rooms are awaiting your arrival. This year the speaker is Danny Mackay and we will be welcoming back Tom Mulhern for worship! Danny is the National Ambassador for I Am Second and we are excited to see what he has to share with us! You may remember Tom from Teen week here at Evergreen. Maybe he came into your cabin, maybe you recoginze him from Homemade Jam in the Clucken'eers. Either way, its going to be a awesome weekend as we reconnect and meet new friends. There are so many questions about this event. Who is going to be there? What are we going to do? Is it going to be sunny or snowy? This week proved we really could have any weather.What kind of snacks will Ken gift us with? Well, there is only one way to find out the answers.... You must COME! There will be a epic night game, amazing food, friends, activites, coffee and ...

Rise Up, our annual youth retreat for senior high students, was a blast! The cabins and lodge rooms were all filled with students and youth leaders from nine different churches. It was packed! Worship was led by Steve  from Prairie Bible Institute and his team, which included a few Evergreen staff. We again welcomed Sid Koop from Lethbridge as our speaker, and he certainly gave the students lots to think about over the weekend. As usual, it was a very busy weekend, with sessions, activities, and night programming. For the first night, we brought back the extremely popular Cirque de la Groove, but with a few extra circus acts! On Saturday night, campers were once again transported to the South Moscovian airport, and became involved in a Bible smuggling mission to North Moscovia.  Rise Up is a highlight on Camp Evergreen's calendar, and our staff really love it! Now we have to wait another year for it, but in the meantime, here are some photos from Cirque de la Groove. ...