Merry Christmas from Amigo!

photos by Cheryl Mast

2009 in words

As the year is ending and the decade as well, I've been seeing and reading year end reviews and lists when it dawned on me that I should look back at the past year and write something as well. So here goes I will look back at the last 12 months are so and try to list some of what has happened at Amigo.

warning: it leans towards events that we hosted and planned and doesn't include all of the other great retreats, trainings, reunions, etc where people came to connect with God, creation and each other.

Here's a List

• Winter Youth Retreats


• Camp Staff Recruiting Trips


• Winter OEE groups including making maple syrup


• Homeschool OEE


• Scrapbook Retreats (4 of them-in the gym with lots of space!!)


• Hosting the BAR (no not that bar, but Building Authentic Relationships Retreat)


• Spring and Fall OEE (more than 17 schools visited Amigo this year!)


• Two Elderhostels


• 7 Great Weeks of Summer Camp


• 2 trips to Minnesota Boundary Waters


• Starting a Day Camp and actually having kids come to it


• MCC Bike Retreat raising more than $5000 for MCC


• A new Transitional Minister Training seminar


• A quilt retreat


• Partnered with InMi Women in their Fall Retreat


• Hosted Pastoral Leadership Team Retreat and led them on some "fun" activities


• Got to Hang Out with Goldenrod for a couple of days


• A retreat for 5 families from Interfaith Hospitality


• 4 hog roasts (Golf Scramble, Amigo Park Labor Day, Celebrate, and MCC Bike)

And all that doesn't include the many families who had reunions here. The churches who planned a retreat, a retreat that builds community and for some is the only vacation and/or time in woods they get each year. The sunday school classes, the meetings, the basketball practices, the trainings, and all of the many campers at the Park,

It has been a good year, a year where we continue to work towards long term relevance and viability. How will camp look in 2010? How do we be good stewards of this beautiful place? How do we continue to be a place that connects people to each other, to nature, and to God? We are grateful for the opportunity to serve here at Amigo.

grace and peace

WYR Junior High January 2009

Amigo Centre 2009 Sr. High Feb 26-28

Video Amigo Centre 2009 Jr. High Retreat-Feb 20-22

Video from 2009 WYR Senior High 1...Enjoy!

We will be doing video projects again this year!

Video and Stories!

I will be posting some of last years videos here on the blog. It has been a good time watching groups tell and create stories in creative ways. I hope you all have enjoyed them and I look forward to seeing what new stories get told this year.

Ice Age!

There is ice on the lagoon and while it feels like it is early to me, according to our records it is on the later side of when ice starts forming. Now we are looking for when will the lake be covered in ice, the "ice in" and when can we start doing activities like these:

grace&peace

December Scrapbooking 2009

Telling the Stories and making new ones. More than 30 women gathered this past weekend to scrapbook. From my vantage point of a male, it seems like a lot of stuff and a lot work. But as I watch the books grow and talk with the different ladies, I am amazed at how they use the time to tell their family stories. While they have fun and laugh together, they also pray together and support each other. We are now offering 4 weekends each year. We provide space, food, and time so that you can focus on your stories and on your family.

Here are some pictures from the past weekend.

grace&peace

Jason

Quilt Retreat 2009-"Sisters of the Bible"

The theme from this year's quilt retreat was "Sisters of the Bible". The project and worship time was led by Carol Honderich and focused on different sister relationships. Basket patterns were used to symbolize the different relationships and Carol taught a new technique which I wish I could explain but I can't. It was fun to see the ladies working on their projects and helping out each other. Below are the patterns and the ladies at the end of the weekend, a weekend with very little sleep...

Dorothy Horst

Carolyn Smith

Kathy Mark

Thelma Bixler

Marie Troyer

Dee Birky also attended, but I didn't get a picture.

I think the sewing machines are so cool looking!
Hard at Work
Thanks for a great weekend!

Grace&Peace

Jason

Prairie Street freshens up room 206

Over the past year, churches have been freshening up their rooms in the retreat center. It is exciting to see the efforts of congregations and individuals create new quilts and paint rooms. With all of the use the building has seen over the past 16+ years, it is well deserved.
The rooms continue to be appreciated and provide a place for retreat and fellowship. During the year, they meet the demands of energetic winter youth retreats and host participants of Exploritas(formerly Elderhostel, but that is another story) from all over the country. Each group finds their expectations exceeded durint there stay.

This is all possible thanks to support of our churches and friends. This ministry provides a place for all to step away and re connect with God the Creator.

(The artist/quilter Marie Troyer capturing her work on camera)

grace&peace

Jason

Winter Youth Retreats 2009

What fun we have at winter retreats! This morning with the cold, the frost, a little ice on the ground, it got me thinking about the winter camps and how much fun they are. Registrations are coming in and we are getting ready for them. Here are a couple pictures and a link to one of the videos from last year.

This is from last year's January Junior High retreat with Derrick Ramer. I will be posting more links in the near future. But if you can't wait, search you tube for "amigo centre". Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52-Gq0yc4v0

Summer 2010

Summer 2010

June 13-18 Adventure (11-14)
June 27-July 2 Explorers (9-11)
June 27-July 2 Horse Camp 1 (11-14)

June 27-July 2 Survivor (13-15)
July 4-9 Sport and Art Camp
July 11-16 Encounter (10-12)
July 11-16 Horse Camp 2(13-15)

July 11-16 Survivor 2 (14-16)
July 18-22 Discovery (8-10)
July 18-20 Experience (6-8)

More information and registration forms will be coming soon!

Scrapbooking at Amigo

Here are a few pictures and comments from past participants. I asked them what was most meaningful to you?

Spending time with a friend I don't often see

Relaxation and Time

Flexible Scrapbooking hours, no assigned seating

Freedom from "should"

just spending time with friends and family and being able to reflect on my family while working on pictures of them

the relaxing time, the beautiful setting-I love this place!

Our next one is December 4-6, in which we will also have a quilt retreat happening as well with bible studies on Sisters of the Bible. This next spring we have two, March 19-21 and the Mother/Daughter crop, May 7-8.

grace&peace

Jason

Wildflowers

In this week's staff devotion, Cheryl shared an article about hours in the day and never having enough time to get everything done that we want to get done. Then she shared this passage from Matthew 6:30-33 from the Message

"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.
Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

After hearing that passage, I went looking for some pictures that help remind how God takes care of us and no matter how hard I work, I can never create anything that compares to these. But that doesn't mean that I don't try, instead I strive to enjoy the creative process learning from my mistakes and shortcomings. I take solice in knowing that the Creator loves all of Creation even me.

grace&peace

Birds!

Pictures by Cheryl Mast