Wednesday January 6, 2010

Welcome to this Wyoming Wilderness Camp edition of the Spirit of Wyoming! It is my pleasure to introduce the Diocese to some of the many programs and activities we have been doing at camp over the summer and remind folks about the many great programs we do all through the winter.

Some neat things to check out:

Doug Wasinger created a camp blog that is a lot of fun and has a lot of great pictures and stories: http://wyomingwilderness2009.blogspot.com
However, since that name is a little dated (2010 is here already) will soon be moving to: http://wyomingwildernesscamp.blogspot.com

We also have some great podcasts from camp that are being edited. Stories from the kids, songs, etc. Going online soon!

Camp is a spiritual place where many of Wyoming youth of ALL faiths have found a closer connection to God. I want to thank the Diocese for their continued support over the years and want to promise you there are many more years to come and it just keeps getting better every year.

God’s blessings,

-Pat

Pat Walsh, Wyoming Wilderness Camp Director
HR Camp Foundation
 

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By Kathy Edwards, Douglas Middle School. Email: KEdwards@ccsd1.k12.wy.us

The setting was the Medicine Bow Mountain Range, Ponderosa pines, and a trickling stream in September where students from the Douglas Advanced Learner Program at CCSD#1, visited the Wilderness Camp located at HR Camp near Esterbrook, Wyoming. They participated in leadership training activities that teach students to work as a team in order to solve complex problems requiring multiple skills in order to be successful. The activities were geared specifically toward age groups of students in grades three through ten and encouraged kids to use all their senses while learning in an experiential “classroom” setting that most people can only dream about. Students made drawings in their journals of things they could hear or things they could smell, challenged themselves physically, and worked as a team to overcome barriers in an obstacle course; all the while learning how to be supportive of and value the differences in each other.

Here are some of the things the students had to say about their day at camp, “I didn’t know my friend was good at balance, we were able to make it because she helped me”, “I didn’t know some of these kids very well but we have a lot in common”, “I learned that if I’m really quiet, I can hear the forest”, “Did you know there are green frogs in the creek?”, “Small people can work with big people and make a good team”, “This is like summer and school all at the same time”, “I thought there were things I couldn’t do, now I don’t think so”.
 

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By the Rev. Jess W. Smith, Big Horn Blast IV Spiritual Director. Email: jnlsmith@wyo2u.com

Big Horn Blast is Wyoming young adults stepping out into the fullness of God’s creation as members of the Body of Christ. One full week of total immersion opens eyes, challenges minds, overloads feelings and exposes the limits of energy. New introductions rapidly transform into cooperative relationships. Confidence begins to take hold where doubt and question ruled that first afternoon. The bucket of opportunity for vulnerability, wisdom, openness, strength, laughter and tears overflows long before that one last hug. Finding and being the heart and hands and face of Jesus in this world becomes reality.

Cody, Wyoming, is one of those places that offers a wealth of opportunities for discovering the immensity of nature and the hopes of humanity. A world class museum celebrates the stories of so many who have come before us. Each artifact, each painting, each exhibit of natural diversity tells stories that become part of our stories. From this place, person after person led us into the depths of their passions as they took us to places of great beauty like the McCulloch Peaks Wild Horse Management Ares with more than seventy wild horses that grazed and moved across the high desert plains. Spirited males strutted among the herd while a foal, born only hours earlier, suckled in the shade of its mother’s body. Later we were taken to the Heart Mountain Japanese American Relocation Center to hear the struggles of over fourteen thousand individuals caught in the morass of fear and violence that war brings.

From a barn on the edge of Cody, we had the opportunity to transfer enough donated clothing to fill a 40 foot semi van. Brigade lines passed bag after bag of shirts, pants, shoes and even some toys that will soon find their way to third-world countries to clothe those in need. Abundance was clearly evident and knowing that each shirt that went into the load came from one back at a time was enough to convince anyone that God does wondrous things through each of us. Aching muscles will remain longer than the loaded trailer will remain in Cody. Six weeks from now, another load will be shipped.

Rock climbing and river rafting offered visions for how a functional church, trying to change the world, can find its place in Christ’s body. Taking on the opportunities provided by cliffs and rapids can be done with joy and satisfaction when people move as a community in relationship.

Each participant has shared some of themselves and the God they found in the camp blog. Check it out.

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On July 29th, 2009 Pat Walsh with his crew and the young adults from HR Camp came up to our Church to do some work we needed done. We had planned this several months ago. Well! It was raining and not a clear spot on the horizon. Still, we all went up the mountain; raining harder there than in the valley. As we came into Atlantic City about 10:00 a.m. it quit raining, with clearing skies off to the West. Pat and the group got the jobs done we needed, had lunch, and were able to complete 1 additional project - 14 native rock “Stations of the Cross” and most of a native rock “Labyrinth” which will be part of our spiritual environment around the Church and Parish Hall. About 2:00 p.m. it began to rain again and we had to quit.

It reminded me of the statements in the book by Marcus Borg “The Heart of Christianity” (paraphrasing St. Augustine) “Without us, without our response, God will not do it; and we, without God, cannot do it: And, I think, with the spiritual transforming work of Pat Walsh with the youth group; “Without us, without our response, God will not transform us or rescue us, either as individuals or societies”.

Again, Thank you Pat, the Crew and the Young Adults at HR Camp.

Sincerely,
The Congregation at St. Andrews

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By Mr. Pat Walsh. Email: pat@wyomingdiocese.org

Greetings to all of you from Wyoming Wilderness Camp!

The camp and the HR Camp Board are seeking your help in an effort to start an WWC - HR Alumni group. The camp and the Board need your help in our effort to move forward into the future and expand the ministry of the camp.

We want to hear your story about your experience at the camp. When you attended, what was your most fond memory of camp, and how did attending the camp change your life.

In responding to this request, we would also like to be able to contact you in the future to ask for your help in programming ideas, planning, recruiting campers, and helping the board to raise funds.

The theme of this year's camp was that of "Planting a Mustard Seed of Faith" and it grew out of the Diocese wide effort in all of the church congregations to reach out beyond the walls of thier church into their communities and look to new ways to serve others in the name of Christ.

The camp also reached out in 2009, and will have reached over 1300 children and youth by the time the snow falls in early December. You can visit the camp blog at wyomingwilderness2009.blogspot.com and read about their stories and experiences in 2009, or visit the camp web page at www.hrcampfoundation.org

Not only is the camp touching lives in Esterbrook, but it has reached out across Wyoming from Cody to Ft. Washakie, from Atlantic City to Rock Springs, from Wheatland to Pinedale, and from Buffulo to Laramie in an effort to take take "Camp experience" out into Wyoming Schools and Church's. We want you to be a part of that excitement!

In responding to this newsletter, please let us know your story as it relates to camp, and help us to move into the future!

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By Ms. Cathy Hellbaum. Email: allsaints@wyomingwireless.com

The Community Youth Foundation was organized in the Spring of 2006 to address the needs of youth in Wheatland and Platte County. We are a grassroots community development pilot project primarily funded by Wind and Wings, a charitable foundation of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming. Our objective is to become self supporting through private donations and grants from other charitable organizations.

Our principal projects consist of a variety of mentoring programs and work on a community center. We were recently awarded a $25,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Wyoming Business Council to conduct a feasibility study for a community and recreation center! Additionally, in August we were awarded $15,000 from the Daniels Fund for Platte P.O.W.E.R. (Positive attitudes, Overcoming challenges, Willingness to try, Encouraging others, and Respect for all)! The Daniels fund operates the Daniels Fund Scholarship Program and the Daniels Fund Grants Program in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The fund was established in 1997 by Bill Daniels, a pioneer in cable television known for his kindness and generosity to those is need. Bill Daniels liked youth programs that build character, teach right from wrong, have structure and discipline, and instill personal responsibility and accountability. He wanted kids to be patriotic and good citizens. The Daniels Fund honors his direction by supporting programs that provide youth with the opportunity to develop character, achieve academic success, and build skills that will enable them to become successful adults. Platte P.O.W.E.R., a collaboration of the Community Youth Foundation, HR Camp, Own-It and Platte County School Districts #1 and #2, is just such a program. It is designed to allow young people in our schools the opportunity to develop good leadership and teambuilding skills, with the ultimate goal of helping them to become better students, better citizens, and better employees for the future.

In the past, this program has included leadership and mentor training for Wheatland High School juniors and seniors and a day-long ropes course experience for all Wheatland Middle School students at HR Camp. Guernsey schools have also participated in a similar camp experience. This year, with the help of the Daniels Fund grant and Mustard Seed donations from Our Saviour’s Hartville and All Saints’ Wheatland, Chugwater and Glendo schools will be joining this program along with 5th graders from West Elementary in Wheatland. However, Platte P.O.W.E.R. is more than just a one day event for students. Following their experience at camp, Pat Walsh and his staff help Wheatland’s Middle School in providing follow-up activities at the school approximately once a quarter. Platte P.O.W.E.R. will give Chugwater, Glendo and Guernsey schools the opportunity to participate in local-follow-up activities as well. Wheatland High School student mentors continue working throughout the school year in conjunction with PLC teams (Professional Learning Committees.) PLC teams and mentor teams meet on a regular basis to closely monitor individual students and provide support as needed to ensure academic and social success. This has become a vital part of school improvement at Wheatland High School. High School student mentors are also given the opportunity to volunteer their time to help the middle school students in their camp and follow-up activities.

Platte County School District #1 has participated in this program for four years and has seen a significant decrease in bullying and hazing at the middle school, an increase in freshman, sophomore and junior academic success at the high school and anticipates a decrease in the drop-out rate. Platte County School District #1 is very pleased with this project and wants to continue to make it an ongoing yearly program. Other school districts are coming on board as well with programs at HR Camp scheduled for Converse and Niobrara counties this fall as well

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By the Rev Doug Wasinger. Email: doug@wyomingdiocese.org

What is the Youth Mission Core?

The Youth Mission Core (YMC) is a new program, at the Wyoming Wilderness Camp, created by Pat Walsh to connect the camp to the surrounding area. The YMC travels to surrounding communities building connections through community service projects.
This year they have devoted their time painting, raking, landscaping, indoor and outdoor housework, and volunteering at Laramie Peak Humane Society. The YMC group is eager to continue throughout the camp season, because of the great joy it brings, not only to them, but the people they assist.

“I am very appreciative of the YMC, of all the years she has needed help this seems one seemed to have worked the best.” Jeannie Sherman, Esterbrook resident.
“The YMC are very conscientious and hard working, I could not have completed this project without their help.” Martha Beardin, Esterbrook resident.
“They did a great job!” Director of Laramie Peak Humane Society

During camp season they devote two of their working days in Esterbrook, and one day in Douglas. The remainder of their work week is spent at the Wilderness Camp, helping to plant mustard seeds of faith. Here is what they have to say about their experiences so far:

“The YMC is a new adventure everyday we go out, and every day I look forward to it. I enjoy helping others who need a helping hand. It is a great thing for a young person or older person to be a part of.” Marshall Kelly Peru State College
“YMC is a complete blast.” Cody Floyd Wheatland High
“I enjoy working hard to help people out, its very fulfilling to see the joy it brings to those we have helped.” Marissa Cheney University if Wyoming
“I love helping people and this is just amazing being able to keep it going at camp. I really feel that any act, no matter how small, matters.” Bethany Boyd Wheatland High
“ It may be hard work, but when we see the looks on the faces of those we help, it makes it all worth it.” Allison Strube University of Wyoming.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we reap a harvest if we do not give up” Galatians 6:9, Tracy Jackson
 

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By Mr. Pat Walsh. Email: pat@wyomingdiocese.org

Wyoming Wilderness Camp – Fundraising

The HR Camp Foundation Board has engaged the services of Jodi Guerin. Jodi comes to the camp from Laramie, where she has served as Mayor, and also recently worked with the Wyoming Community Foundation. She has a strong background in fund raising, board development, and community relations. Jodi hails from Rock Springs, Wyoming, where she grew up and attended high school. Jodi later attended the University of Wyoming, where she received a BA in Fine Arts in 1991. She resides in Laramie with her husband and her two children.

We will be sending a letter to you and your church very soon asking you to help us raise money to match $40,000.00 that has been set aside by the Episcopal Foundation of Wyoming. This gift is only accessible if we are successful in raising a matching amount. As you know the current economy has dealt a blow to endowed funds and we are currently facing a decrease in funding that prompts this effort to raise money for camp operations. This effort is critical for the future and success of the camp.

We hope that the people of the Diocese of Wyoming will join us in continuing to bring Hank Raymond’s vision for the youth of our state, to introduce leadership, environmental stewardship, spiritual growth, and physical challenge to these kids. Your gift is critical to keep this vision alive, please contribute what you can to help us keep this vision strong.

We greatly appreciate your generosity. God Bless.

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