I spent some time volunteering out at Pleasant Vineyard this summer … and I couldn’t resist breaking out my camera to snap some shots of the gorgeous people, beautiful landscapes, and fun activities going on.

To see all 114 images, just look at the photo set or the slideshow!

[via dunf]

The theme for Pleasant Vineyard’s 2005 summer camp season was Area 52: Portal to the Lost World. To get campers and families excited about the coming summer, we created this video and put it on the PVM website.

While preparing for our pirate-themed summer at PVM in 2005, I sat down with Matt and Amber to record an audio introduction for the staff website. Here’s what ensued:

The quality was pretty bad, so we never ended up using any of it. But it still cracks me up!

The theme for Pleasant Vineyard’s 2005 summer camp season was Area 52: Portal to the Lost World. To get campers and families excited about the coming summer, we created this video and put it on the PVM website.

The quality looks terrible on YouTube because of the manual static and interference, but you can still get the idea.

Hello,

Our daughter had the time of her life at camp! We have pushed her through many camps — it has always been a physically and emotionally draining experience as we watch her get left out and left behind. What a delight to instead have the exact opposite occur.

I have so many moments etched into my memory of each and every one of the CHCA and PVM teachers and staff taking time to talk with, lift, push, and laugh with our daughter. I am absolutely blown away by the fact that you took the time to consider her while juggling so many educational and spiritual needs.

She’ll never forget being an Assistant Missionary, terrified and hysterical with laughter in alternate moments while wheeling around in the dark and attempting to convert “Professor Heart.” Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d swing in the orbitron, go up and over a challenge wall, and down a zip line all within 24 hours.

I woke up Friday morning thinking with the phrase “the last shall be first” popping into my head — and I was sure I’d seen a glimpse of what heaven will be like as I watched the sweetness of seeing so many men and women acting as the hands and feet of Christ lifting her up. Mr. Salisbury’s chapel theme that morning reminded me just how long that eternal “wow” is going to last. What a privilege it will be to share it with all of you.

In Him,
[name removed]

The past three days have been absolutely exhausting and exhilarating … we took our entire sixth grade class out to PVM for a three day camp experience. Even though it rained the first two days, the teachers, kids, and parent volunteers were absolutely amazing, traipsing around the grounds and participating in everything we planned with enthusiasm and wonder. It was fantastic, and I can’t wait to see how the whole experience resonates in the hearts and minds of these kids.

I took a lot of photos out there but decided to narrow it down to only forty to upload to Flickr … if you’d like, you can either see the slideshow or look at the photo set. Enjoy!

Me: “Man, this blister on my thumb hurts!”
Caitlin (6th grade): “It’s camp, Mr. Webel.”
Sydney (6th grade): “Yeah, suck it up.”

Well, I’m out at Pleasant Vineyard with our entire sixth grade class. It’s been a blast … but after sixteen hours and 22,582 steps (yes, I’m wearing a pedometer) I’m absolutely exhausted.

I’m uploading photos and doing a mini-blog-type-thing for the parents while we’re out here … check it out by clicking here. I mean, if you want to, that is. If you’re not interested, then you can ignore that command.

Peace in the Middle East.

One of the most innovative summer camp programs at Pleasant Vineyard Ministries is the Gorilla Garage program. Throughout the course of a week of overnight camp, professional welders and mechanics help a group of kids create a mechanical masterpiece (a la Monster Garage).

In this time lapse video (to “Bucket Seats”, by Cake), the 2004 Gorilla Garage campers convert an old Plymouth Voyager minivan into a paintball tank in 5 days of hard work. They remove the interior, replace the windows with cages, cut a hole in the roof for a rotating paintball gun turret, install a kill switch for the motor, and drive their new paintball tank outside for a menacing paint job. In the grand finale, the gorilla garage campers drove their creation to the paintball field for a showdown with the paintball campers on the last day of camp!

My 1998 Dodge Caravan, Geri, was converted to a paintball tank on an earlier week of camp, but I didn’t capture that transformation on video. Too bad.

This music video was produced in the middle of the 2005 summer camp season at PVM. Shot, edited, and produced in four days, this video shows the fun and personal environment of camp through clips of campers in the drama, rock climbing, paintball, rez camp, horseback riding, leadership, and gorilla garage programs. It also features the song “Come and Remain” by This Holiday Life, a then-independent band (now signed) from San Diego.

I was always happy with the way this video turned out … the pacing, synchronization, effects, shot selection, and storyline all seemed to come together into a nice little package. And it’s rare that something like that happens on such a short schedule with limited resources!

One piece of trivia … that summer we had a baby alligator escape on the grounds. It was missing for a couple of weeks (yikes!), but we found it during this week of camp. If you look closely, you can see it somewhere in this video … can you spot it?

Every fall, we take the entire CHCA sixth grade class to a three-day overnight retreat at PVM, the summer camp where I work. It’s a blast … the students get to worship in outdoor chapel services, explore the creek and pond, do team-building exercises, zip down the 500 foot zipline, see birds of prey and reptiles up close, do bible studies, climb the 40 foot rock tower, spin around on the orbitron, and generally have a good time.

The theme is treasure … how God values each of us, the worth He’s placed in His creation, how we can value those around us, and the difference between earthly and eternal treasure. It’s pretty amazing how it hits these sixth graders right where they’re at, digging down deep into issues they tend to confront at this fragile age and ultimately giving us teachers and parents a unique way to connect with their hearts and minds.

Sure, it’s a lot of work to put together … but it’s worth every minute. There’s nothing like blending together two of my greatest passions in life, teaching and camping. And I love giving my beloved students a chance to experience a very different kind of learning … in God’s classroom!

Check out this video from the 6th Grade Camp two years ago … it should give you a pretty good idea of why I love doing what I do!