Ridgecrest Camps

After roughly 4 months of constant work, seven cabins have received a complete upgrade. Cabins 10-16 are now complete and ready for campers this summer! As we have continued to update you all throughout the process, today we are proud to present the final product and show you the differences. You will notice many differences on the hill. A few of those differences include: big porches, a green trim on Choctaw cabins, green roofing, Cabin 12 facing a new direction, new green doors, and much more! To see how awesome the upgrades are, check out the pictures below…

We are declaring December 1st as the 1st Annual Camp Ridgecrest Day! Why? Well, it’s about half way into the year and we all need a little taste of camp, don’t you think? From this point on, every December 1st will be a day to celebrate Camp! Each year we might do a little something special. This year, we want to give you a few ways you can remember camp, even in the month of December.

Here are a few ideas…

1. Before Dec. 1st, download the recording of the Ridgecrest Reveille Bugle and be ready to wake up to this familiar sound on Dec. 1st.
2. Do your song and blessing Camp Ridgecrest style before you head off to school.
3. Make sure you are wearing your favorite Camp Ridgecrest shirt to school that day!
4. Ask your parents to honk 2 times before backing up. Make sure all the other campers know you are there!
5. Dress up like a staff person of your choice.
6. Do your favorite Tribal Cheer at lunch! Capture it on video!
7. Have a group of your friends over and watch the new Ridgecrest Summer Camps video and even your Session Videos from this summer, or earlier summers.
8. Build a campfire with your parents in the back yard, and invite Ron over to lead you in some campfire songs.
9. Make a packet meal for dinner in your campfire or your oven and enjoy it with your family!
10. Do a Quiet Time on your own, or have cabin devotions with your family before you head off to bed.

For each thing you do, take a picture or video and send it to us. We will enter your name in a drawing for $50 to the Clothing Store!

Be sure to check out our Blog for a recording of the Ridgecrest Reveille Bugle and Ron saying “Goooooood Morning Camp Ridgecrest!” Enjoy Camp Ridgecrest Day and we can’t wait to see you next summer!

What? Really? Yellow cabins? Well yes and no. Part of the upgrade on Choctaw Hill is that the cabins receive new exterior walls. And while they are yellow for the time being (as you will see in pictures), they will soon be painted Brown to match the other cabins on the hill. So don’t worry! Things are going very smoothly up on the hill and the work will be completed before you know it. Today, we want to update you on cabins 13-16, since they have received the most change since the last blog post. You will also notice the nice new screen windows that will help the air circulation and keep the cabins cooler.

Ever tried to use an expired coupon? How about play money when shopping at a store? If you have, it probably didn’t work so well. Most stores will only take the real deal—money that has value assigned to it.

In the same way, just being good doesn’t work with God. So how do we pay the debt we owe? How can we make things right with God when we don’t have anything of value to offer Him?

Read Galatians 3:4-9, and pay close attention to verses 8 and 9.

What does it mean that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness?

What was the value of Abraham’s faith?

What is the value of your faith?

According to these verses, is it good works or faith that makes you right with God? Explain.

Are you depending on your good works or your faith in Jesus for salvation? Explain.

Working hard and doing the right things is great, but these don’t restore a relationship with God that’s been destroyed by sin. Good works are important, but without faith, they are empty and worthless. We begin a relationship with God by trusting Jesus through faith. When we believe God’s Word and trust Jesus to bring us into a right relationship with the Father, we are restored and declared righteous, just like Abraham in today’s passage. The truth is, only Jesus can pay the debt of sin that we owe. Our sin has already been paid for. When we accept Jesus’ gift of grace, we are free to do good works for God and enjoy being in right relationship with Him.

Congratulations to Daniel and Ryan Krugman for winning the 2011 Camp Ridgecrest Pumpkin Carving Contest! Job well done to all other entries as well. Daniel and Ryan’s pumpkin (seen below) is a complex and detailed carving of a campfire. Thank you for participating and keep checking back for more competitions and chances to win!

Things are starting to look much different up on the hill as we move on to the next step in the process of restoring our cabins around camp! Over the next few months, cabins 10-16 will all be upgraded. Not only will they become more sturdy and safe, but each cabin will be receiving a new covered porch, a new roof, and fresh new floors. So far, we have begun work on cabins 10, 11 and 12. The first step in the process of restoring our cabins is to take off the old roofs and porches. Check out the pictures to see just what that looks like!

We decided to go out strong here at Camp Ridgecrest with a huge game of Guerrilla Warfare! As some of you know, this is the game where we, the staff, spend 3 days filling up water balloons. We finish with around twenty-two 55 gallon trash cans filled with water balloons. That’s roughly 18,000 water balloons for this one game! It’s just awesome! Check it out, they had a blast…

Hey folks! Welcome to the first Camp Ridgecrest VLOG of Summer 2011! We has some rain roll in on us last night, so we had a big ol’ time in Spilman Lodge doing Star Search. Spilman is the largest upright log structure east of the Mississippi and a perfect setting for these skits. Check out these short clips to give you just a taste of what last night was like….

Star Search Vlog from Ridgecrest Summer Camps on Vimeo.

Dear Campers,

In roughly one month, camp will start. Take a minute and let that sink in. You have been waiting for nine months for this time to come. That is nine months of tests, classes, homework, and general boredom. Congratulations! You survived! And now it is time to reward yourself!

We will have all of your favorite things about camp ready and waiting for you when you get here. Right now, the two square balls are inflated, and Ron has taken time to personally inspect each one to make sure it is up to standards. Our Camp Pastor, Brother Sam Pindea, has personally broken in all 18 frisbee golf holes. The tribal leaders ( Meet them here:  http://www.ridgecrestcamps.com/blogs/boys/meet-the-2011-tribal-leaders/) will be arriving shortly, which means all of our OA’s will soon be ready to go. After a stressful, 19 hour meeting, the Sock War themes have been decided for the Summer. What do YOU think they are going to be? Some other new additions to camp include a brand new, in-ground Ladder Golf set beside the Infirmary, and Cornhole, which is a new favorite of Ron’s. Both will be available during Free Swim this year.

Early predictions tell us that tribal spirit will be at an all time high with the release of this year’s new tribal shirts! That’s right! No matter your tribe, you can purchase a shirt with your tribe’s symbol at our camp store (http://www.ridgecrestcamps.com/blogs/boys/news-boys/new-clothing-for-summer-2011/).  I know you are all really excited about getting her, but we are EVEN MORE excited that you are coming! This summer is going to be one for the books fellas, so get ready!

Sincerely,

Hunter Barnhardt, Program Director

LC Invigorating Dragonfly