Heritage making sandwichs

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Another Happy Youth Group!

 

From: Adrian Martin [mailto:amartin@athensfirstpres.com]
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 10:41 AM
To: Janwday@aol.com
Cc: director@cherokeeretreatcenter.com
Subject: RE: FPC ATHENS FINAL.PDF

 

It was a wonderful retreat!  We were so bless to be able to use the facility.  It was very clean, very large, and very comfortable.  The hospitality was awesome.  Anytime we needed anything, we got it really fast.  Our questions were answered quickly and our problems dealt with.  It was an awesome experience and I am glad we chose to be at Camp Cherokee.  We will definitely return sometime in the future.  Thanks for helping us get set up and taken care of, Jan.  You did a great service to us in all that you did to make this retreat happen!

 

Peace,

 

Adrian

 

 

Adrian Martin

Director of Youth Ministries

First Presbyterian Church

185 East Hancock Avenue

Athens, GA 30601

706-543-4338

www.athensfirstpres.com

 

Camp Cherokee Valentine

Happy Valentines Day!

 

kh

Philip Fishing

The other day while the Friends of Camp Cherokee were meeting and teasing me about my birthday, my two sons were busy at work in my office. The task, to create a picture of something fun they remembered doing while at Camp Cherokee. Neither one of them have been campers but by the same token neither one of them are strangers to the program or staff either. Jean and I frequently say that neither Iain or Philip know a stranger and while that can be both good and bad, it is undoubtedly a result of their time at camp as children of the Director. Day to day encounters with the college staff leave both of them feeling like they are totally the center of the world and for a short time capable of commanding the attention of superior beings, full of laughter, energy, open arms and unbridled Christian love.

Jean & I work hard to make sure that Philip and Iain are not treated differently than the rest of the children who attend camp. While staff often gravitate to them because they are around every week, I deeply believe that the summer staff at Camp Cherokee work diligently to provide each camper with that unparalleled experience of feeling as though they are the center of THEIR role model’s attention. If we could all just feel that feeling again on a regular basis, just think if each of us could truly feel like they have a personal and central connection and focus with their maker! What a different world we would live in indeed. At any rate, each camper who comes to Camp Cherokee is immersed in an environment that fosters such relationships, and with that foundation we send our campers back out to be Christ’s “Fishers Of Men” in their own communities.

Camp that feels so far away...

This will be our third summer at Camp Cherokee; and I can't imagine feeling more safe or secure in our choice to send both the girls there.  Ashley and Katie both had incredible experiences there, and return each summer looking like they had truly experienced the Lord in addition to fellowship and fun.  Because of their two year age difference, the will be attending separate sessions this summer, and it is the number one activity they both choose to schedule their summer around. 
We all think so highly of the staff and counselors, I believe it is truly the greatest camping experience around....the girls feel like they are both far away from home, and I have the peace of mind in knowing that I can get to the quickly if they needed me.
Lisa-Marie Haygood
Ashley and Katie Bates' Mom
Sixes Presbyterian Church

---

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How Old Is Kelly?

Today is my birthday, and I am sitting in the office dumbfounded at the realization that I now have a son old enough to go to Camp Cherokee.  It seems like just yesterday, that little Kelly Howington nervously stepped onto the pavilion to check in for his first day of Camp at Camp Cherokee.  I can still taste Mrs. Sue’s chicken fingers, smell the “possum patties” and feel the warmth from the fire at the wood chapel while licking my fingers clean of the smore goo.  My faith journey really took off here at Camp Cherokee and I feel blessed each day that I am allowed to continue leading this ministry into what seems to be an ever more uncertain future. 

 

What I know is that once you have attended Camp Cherokee, even for a short while, you become family in the deepest sense of the word.  No matter how far you travel, how long you stay away, there is always a spiritual home here for you that invigorates the senses and quickly delivers you back to a simpler time in life when you could hear most clearly the voice of God in your life.  From the hugs, songs and silliness to the deep conversations about beliefs and the faith challenges brought on by an ever more materialistic and status oriented society, the changes that happen on these peaceful lake shores are truly fundamental a life altering. 

 

Regardless of how old I am, I am thankful for every day I have been blessed with the beauty that is Camp Cherokee and joyfully wonder about the future that is in store!  Our God is truly an AWESOME God!

 

How old am I today?  Old enough to look back and know without a doubt that through the challenges and questions, growth and changes God is indeed alive and at work in this world in new and miraculous ways!

 

Sincerely,

Kelly Howington

Director - Cherokee Retreat Center

 

877-647-8542 - Toll Free

678-848-5739 - Cell Phone

678-918-3387 - Fax

 

director@cherokeeretreatcenter.com - email

http://www.cherokeeretreatcenter.com- web

http://www.youtube.com/cherokeeretreat- Youtube

http://cherokeeretreatcenter.blogspot.com/- CRC Blog

 

Let's Keep Christmas

The following is an excerpt from a sermon preached by the gifted minister, Peter Marshall in 1949. The words speak to our hearts and minds this Advent season. MERRY CHRISTMAS, dear friends!


"Although your Christmas tree decorations will include many new gadgets, such as lights with bubbles in them . . . it's the old tree decorations that mean the most . . . the ones you save carefully from year to year . . . the crooked star that you've been so careful with. And you'll bring out the tiny manger, and the shed, and the little figures of the Holy Family . . . and lovingly arrange them on the mantel or in the middle of the dining room table. And getting the tree will be a family event, with great excitement for the children . . . And there will be a closet into which you will forbid your husband to look, and he will be moving through the house mysteriously with bundles under his coat, and you'll pretend not to notice . . . There will be a fragrance of cookies baking, spices, and fruitcake . . . and the warmth of the house shall be melodious with the lilting strains of 'Silent Night, Holy Night.' And you'll listen to the wonderful Christmas music on the radio. Some of the songs will be modern - good enough music perhaps - but it will be the old carols, the lovely old Christmas hymns, that will mean the most.And forests of fir trees will march right into our living rooms . . . There will be bells on our doors and holly wreaths in our windows . . . And we shall sweep the Noel skies for their brightest colors and festoon our homes with stars. There will be a chubby stocking hung by the fireplace . . . and with finger to lip you will whisper and ask me to tip-toe, for a little tousled head is asleep and must not be awakened. And finally Christmas morning will come. Don't worry -- you'll be ready for it -- You'll catch the spirit all right, or it will catch you, which is even better. And then you will remember what Christmas means - the beginning of Christianity . . . the Second Chance for the world . . . the hope for peace . . . and the only way. The promise that the angels sang is the most wonderful music the world has ever heard. 'Peace on earth and good will toward men.' It was not a pronouncement upon the state of the world then, nor is it a reading of the international barometer of present time . . . but it is a promise -- God's promise -- of what will come to pass.The years that are gone are graveyards in which all the persuasions of men have crumbled into dust. If history has any voice, it is to say that all these ways of men lead nowhere. There remains only one way -- The Way -- untried, untested, unexplored fully . . . the way of Him Who was born a Babe in Bethlehem. In a world that seems not only to be changing, but even to be dissolving, there are tens of millions of us who want Christmas to be the same . . . with the same old greeting 'Merry Christmas' and no other. We long for the abiding love among men of good will which the season brings . . . believing in this ancient miracle of Christmas with its softening, sweetening influence to tug at our heart strings once again. We want to hold on to the old customs and traditions because they strengthen our family ties, bind us to our friends, make us one with all mankind for whom the Child was born, and bring us back again to the God Who gave His only begotten son, that 'whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'
So we will not 'spend' Christmas . . .nor 'observe' Christmas.We will 'keep' Christmas -- keep it as it is . . .in all loveliness of its ancient traditions.May we keep it in our hearts,that we may be kept in its hope."

The Season Of Giving

I love Advent.  The anticipation, the family, the joyous celabration make even dreary rainy days and bad economic projections light up wih optimism and life.  Over the last several weeks, a great deal of work has been going on to reorganize the leadership of Cherokee Retreat Center while also working hard to secure the financial plan for the next 12 months.   We are by no means through the woods on this, lots more MUST be done, however, the giving of time and dollars has litterally moved me to tears of thanksgiving.   To date, we have had $10,000 committed in a matching arrangement, so for every dollar that you send in today there will be double that amount for us to use as we get into the new year.  That's $20,000 of the estimated additional $50,000 needed to keep us on track financially through next year.  What's more, in a time when everyone is stretched too thin and to far, we have also had an outpouring of volunteer leadership support.  Our last Division meeting welcomed a host of newcomers showing support and ready to serve.  The first meeting of the newly formed "Friends Of Camp Cherokee" group was graced with nearly 30 people of a WIDE range of ages and backgrounds.   Camp Cherokee/CRC has truly touched the lives of countless souls!

 

Now is the time for us to continue to give back to this ministry that has given so much to us all.  Our goals here are to continue to build the new Board of Directors and Friends Group, to raise the remainder of the funds needed for the 2009 budget year and to increase our campers attendance and rentals by a significant margin this year.  When we meet these goals, we will be able to look back at this past few weeks and celebrate in the goodness of our maker.  At every such turning poinnt in my own life, I have been graced with Just Enough to get to the next step in my ministry, but without Camp Cherokee I probably wouldn't have been able to recognize the resources that have been provided to me both practical and spiritual which have been so pivotal.  I have no doubt that God is at work here, educating, motivating and celebrating His success through our witness to Him! 

 

Sincerely,

Kelly Howington

Director - Cherokee Retreat Center

 

877-647-8542 - Toll Free

770-608-3564 - Cell Phone

678-918-3387 - Fax

 

director@cherokeeretreatcenter.com - email

http://www.cherokeeretreatcenter.com- web

http://www.youtube.com/cherokeeretreat- Youtube

http://cherokeeretreatcenter.blogspot.com/- CRC Blog

 

 

Camp Cherokee On The Chopping Block

It is with a troubled heart that I write you this message. Over the last two days, it has become increasingly clear to me that the future of Camp Cherokee is in grave danger due to what is now known to be a massive financial crisis at the Presbytery level. At the Presbytery meeting yesterday (which you may have attended) the report from the Budget and Finance Committee demonstrated that at this late point in the year we are now aware that the financial standing of Cherokee Presbytery is teetering on the verge of collapse. As an arm of this larger body Camp Cherokee will be forced to close its doors, if nothing is done about it quickly. The likelyhood that this longstanding ministry (which is unique in this Presbytery in both how many lives it has touched and how collobratively it has been brought about by the hard work, sweat and tears of so many dedicated participants and volunteers) would survive even a single summer of inoperation is extremely low. Despite the excellent progress we have made over the last four years to reduce our costs and to increase our income as well as drastically improve our program, site and facilities, unless we have widespread and prompt support, this gem faces being cast asside in order to make the entire Presbytery's financial ends meet.

You Can Download More Details About The Financial Crisis Cherokee Presbytery Is Facing Below:

Powerpoint: http://www.cherokeeretreatcenter.com/documents/Financial%20Crisis.ppt

PDF: http://www.cherokeeretreatcenter.com/documents/Financial%20Crisis.pdf

This is not a drill or merely a possibility, it is a harsh reality and ACTION MUST BE taken quickly if we are to continue this ministry and have any hopes of seeing our 100th anniversary. Ironically the Presbytery's financial report came just moments after widespread applause for our recent American Camping Association Accrediation success.

If you are asking yourself "How Can I Help?," first of all God belss you!

Secondly, because this issue is squarely a financial one, the bottom line is that we need your financial support now more than ever before. For the sake of the ministry that transformed my own life through Christian community, I implore you to pray hard tonight with your family and join my family in donating to the Camp Cherokee Development Fund as you are led to through prayerful consideration. Cherokee Presbytery alone has over 10,000 members. If each member were to give only $5 we would be in the clear for 2008. If each member were to give an additional $5, we believe we would be set for 2009. Per/person, that's less than a value meal at McDonalds!

Thirdly, the leadership of Cherokee Presbytery needs to hear from you (Contact Info. Below). More than ever before, your church pastor and every member of the Presbytery Council and Presbytery staff should know the stories of how Jesus Christ has changed your life or the lives of people you hold dear through the ministry at Camp Cherokee. I encourage you to email, write, phone call or even IM your own pastor and the members of the Cherokee Presbytery Council, in order to let them know just how valuable this "spiritual asset" is in your life.

Can you make a difference? YES YOU CAN! In fact the only way to make a difference is for each individual to take on a smaller part.

Finally, to ensure our longterm success, it is imperative that we move into a Board Of Directors design of leadership for Camp Cherokee. In order to do this we need to hear from passion filled, spirit led, energetic people who also have the know how, dedication and expertise to make a change and do it quickly and effectively. Gone are the days of sitting around a table meeting for hours with little real progress. What is needed is creative brainstoming, decisive action, and mutual accountability through love and relationship. If you would like to join the new Board of Directors, please let me know ASAP. We only have one shot at this and today is the day for change!

In closing I simply want to add that over the last few days and weeks, I have personally found myself experiencing an odd sense of calm. My heart is at peace despite the circumstances whirling around the future of Camp Cherokee because I know that God is at work in this transition. It reminds me of the story of the feeding of the 5000. On that day long ago, Jesus told the disciples (who had just urged Jesus to send the people home to eat) "YOU feed them." The disciples rummaged around and found only a handful of loaves and fish. The miracle happened, however, when they handed over what they did have to Him. When all was said and done, the people were fed, there were leftovers even! Keep that in mind as we all face the fear of "not enough." Through Jesus Christ, ALL things are possible....but first we must offer to Him our own brokeness and inadequacy.

Sincerely,

Kelly Howington

Director - Cherokee Retreat Center

877-647-8542 - Toll Free

770-608-3564 - Cell Phone

American Camp Association Accredited

This evening it was my pleasure to find out that from all our hard work this year and this summer, Cherokee Retreat Center/Camp Cherokee has indeed earned the ACA Accreditation. This is a big deal in the camping world as ACA is the only nationally accrediting body and the standards required of each camp are quite in-depth. I am proud of both our summer staff and the RMD members who contributed significantly to this accomplishment!

Let's Celebrate!

Where is God's Place in MySpace?

We get so caught up with school, sports, friends, parties, family and more, that we often forget about making space for God in the midst of our busy
lives. Some of us don’t even take the time to actually talk to our friends because all we have to do is read about what they are up to on their MySpace pages. How can we learn to build more personal relationships with our friends, and more importantly, how can we make space for God in our lives?

Come join us for the Middle School Retreat at Camp Cherokee the weekend of February 27-March 1, 2009 and invite a friend to SHARE THIS SPACE!

Register Online Today at www.cherokeeretreatcenter.com

Camp Cherokee Staff vs. Chipmunk

good times, rabid beasts!

Don't Let The Sun Go Down!

In Ephesians 4:17 we are called to live as Children of the light. Each summer it seems that over the course of any given week, we have a mind blowing range of emotions and personalities. As summer staff, it then becomes our challenge and privilage to be the gentle guides of these dynamics to create something pure and exceptional. As the verse states, don't let the sun go down while there is still anger in your heart, don't let the devil get a foothold. During the summer camp weeks, we have the awesome charge to ensure that for at least a time this is the reality in the lives of the Children who grace our cabins and woods. More important than the schedules, the activities and all the fun and games we engage in, Camp Cherokee is first and formost about providing our campers with the opportunties to truly live in joyous community with each other in an intentional setting of love, forgiveness, openness and understanding. How else are we to expect the next generation of community and faith leaders to understand what the chapter in Ephesians is focusing on? How else are they to know that what is truly important is not the Nintendo Wi, the high end luxury car, the designer clothes....but the love in their heart for Jesus Christ, who reminded us that the most important thing of all is to love one another as we love ourselves? Camp Cherokee's primary focus is just that, helping children grow and love themselves through actively loving each other.And at the end of the day if two are angry with each other, we have found it is amazing what a chat and a prayer, hug and a gooey 'smore will do to mend those relationships! It's all about being intentional in our relationships.

A Time For Every Season

It is true that there is a time for every season under heaven. Today as I watched the pool being covered for the 2008 season, my thoughts drifted back to the vitality and electricity of the summer camping season and I began to miss it deeply. Truly being a Camp Cherokee camper at heart, I remember the lazy days by the pool, the fun and games on the field and the sweet smell of Miss Sue's cookies coming from the kitchen. Warmed by the fire in the evening while the melodies of children rung through the air down at the old wood chapel. At nights I can remember never getting a better sleep than when I was in the hogans, snuggled deep in my sleeping bag, listening to both the box fan humming and the tree frogs with their regular cadence.

Then and there, time stood still as it still does for so many young people who call Camp Cherokee their summer home. It is a bit hard to explain, but there truly is "Camp Time" and "Real World" time. In camp time, counselors hang on your every word, thrust open their arms to the most awkward of individuals with warm Christian love and every step that is taken is undoubtedly hand in hand with our Lord Jesus Christ. During "Real World" time, it is sometimes less obvious where the divine resides in the crammed schedules, distracted classmates and sometime indifferent adults. But as summer camp leaders, ours is perhaps one of the most noble of ministries. We are the weavers of dreams, the constant playmates, the purest and most reachable of role models in difficult times. Simplicity in living is our creed and our singular focus is on the development of a solid foundation in Christian community and love. From a week or two at Camp Cherokee, our campers can take a year's worth of eneregy back to their homes and shine the light of Christ more brilliantly than before. We augment and amplify the valuable work of the "home Church" and to so many with no church home, we are their rock in a sea of over marketed information overload.

Shhhh.....be still and know that Christ is with you.

Every year I miss the summer that has just concluded, but that mountain top gives me such a great view of the dips and rises of the rest of the year, without it I would be lost in the valleys with little reason to cast my eyes heavenward. As the leaves begin to fall and we break out the firewood for the lodge, the embers will continue to glow in my heart until the next summer approaches when it will truly only take a spark to get the fire going again.

Shine on Camp Cherokee 2008, Shine ON!

kh

Taking Care of The Earth, by becoming one with it!

Mission Revisited...

Last April, our family went on a Mission Trip to Cherokee Retreat Center. At the end of July - just a few weeks ago - we went back.

I wasn't sure what to expect. Would the floor still be shiny and new? Would the flower beds need weeding? Had Andy remembered to water everything? How was the kitchen paint holding up? Had the new cabinets arrived yet?

Our family of five rode north on I-75 spontaneously bursting out in excitement every couple of miles...

"I can't wait to see the white kitchen walls!" said Lily-Kate (our 9 year old daughter who had spent a whole.lot.of.time in the kitchen during our FPC Mission to Cherokee Retreat Center).

"I can't wait to see the floor!" said Trevor (my husband who spent hours and hours upon his knees installing the new floor).

I couldn't wait to see it all - the flower beds, the painted walls, the new rug and the bright trim. I just kept looking out the window and thinking about the week that we'd spent there. How exhausted, how frustrated, how much paint (!!!).

"I can't wait to see my friends!" burst Joe (our teen age son who'd spent most of his time doing anything he was asked to do during our mission trip... and perfecting his lip synching techniques for the talent show night).

In a matter of a second, Joe had put things to right about the whole project. Yes, we'd worked, sweat, hammered, gardened, painted, painted and painted but in the end, what we'd done - what we remembered - was the time that we'd spent with friends.

A sense of thankfulness came over me. Joe had reminded me (as I sat in my typical task oriented - list management - Martha, Martha, Martha mode) about the real blessings from our Spring Break mission trip at Cherokee Retreat Center.

It's a truth you can count on, friends: when you let God stretch you to do His work - no matter how frustrating or unplanned the work may be - one of the real blessings that He showers upon you are friendships: the ones that He strengthens, the ones that He renews and the ones that come into your life that weren't there before.

Suddenly, we could not get there fast enough.

Just to see our friends.

TROUBLE With a Capital T!

Too Cool!

Heather MAC!

Handle With Care

As we come to the end of our fifth week of camp, I still find myself amazed at the level of excitement our staff has for each group of young people who enter our gates for a week of fun, fellowship and worship! I have watched children say goodbye to parents as they faced their FIRST night away from family and friends. I have observed other children and youth who are returning for their 3rd, 4th or 5th year of camp! Camp is a powerful time in the life of any young person, including our counselors. Camp is an opportunity for Christian community to be lived out with new relationships formed - with peers, couneslors and God, their creator.

I have been blessed to spend this summer on staff as the Summer Assistant Director and look forward to our remaining weeks of welcoming children into the arms of a loving, creative and dynamic staff in GOD'S SANCTUARY!!!!