God’s love moves in, around, and through people at Heartland, generating much life for all to relish. In the fall of 2017, Heartland launched a major gifts campaign to support God's generative love in action. This plan includes the renewal of Heartland’s spaces and launching a new young adult ministry, the Gap Year Program.
Read MoreIn the spring of 2020, the bottom fell out of things for Heartland Camp. The COVID-19 virus had raised its ugly head and began to shut everything down. Camps all around the country began wrestling with the question of how to do camp in a socially distanced world. Many opted to not have a camp season at all.
During my second week as a Heartland staff member working on the media team, I was sitting in the lobby of Nunemaker lodge, starting on a few projects for the day and filing some pictures.
I paused for a moment to look up from my laptop and noticed our Executive Director, Dan Scheneman, cleaning the windows and doors at the entrance to the lodge. I was initially taken back by the sight of, arguably, the most ‘important’ person in our office doing such a menial task. Surely it was just a smudge, I thought, he will be done soon. But to my surprise, as I continued to work, he carefully cleaned each window and each door. When he finished, I couldn’t help but sit back and reflect on what I had seen.
Read MoreAt Heartland, you know how strongly we believe in the benefits of small group camping. While it gives your campers the ability to make friendships with fellow campers, it also allows the intentional building of friendships with their counselors. As the leaders of their family groups, counselors know they play a critical role in your child’s camp experience, and they don’t take that lightly. Our counselors seek to intentionally get to know each of their campers, taking time to interact with them in the family group, but also getting to know them on an individual level. Camp is full of opportunities to be intentional with your children, but we see this especially in Bible study times, during meals, and during activities.
Read MoreWe all know how easy it is to get caught up in the media and culture of our world today. For our children, it is even easier. Daily, sometimes minute by minute, they see images and hear messages of comparison, competition, and impossible expectations - whether from friends, social media, video games, or movies.
Read MoreSummer! The season for fun in the sun, family vacations and plenty of ice cream! Summer is the time to take advantage of extra hours of daylight and fewer hours of homework, but so often summer is over before we know it. Its hot, lazy days are fleeting and precious. This summer try a different approach. Take the time this spring to set some summer intentions for your family. Use these questions as a guide to plan your family's best summer yet.
Read MoreIs there anything more joyful than the sound of a child's uninhibited giggles? Anything that makes you prouder than your child doing something for the first time? Is there any time we feel closer to God than when we are looking into the beautiful faces of our children? We so often acknowledge that our children are wonderful gifts from God, but do we realize that their natural playfulness is a gift to us?!
Read MoreThis week has been so much fun so far at STEM camp with an all-girl family group! The Wild Childs (their team name for the week) have experimented with bleaching team bandanas and building solar ovens and homemade catapults from pizza boxes, popsicle sticks, spoons and more. Other highlights have included a competitive game of water polo and getting to ride horses on a trail ride!
Read MoreThis summer marks 10 years of serving the Lord at Heartland Camp for myself. In those 10 years I have had a number of different roles, photographer, wrangler, pool cleaner, intern, kitchen cook, housekeeper, day camp counselor, summer staff alumni, visitor, volunteer, director. In those ten years I have seen so many lives changed in small ways and in big changes. But of all the weeks spent at camp, none of them made as big a mark on me and other summer staff as friendship camp.
For the last three years I have had the joy to direct friendship camp (and Service Partnership camp or Service P as it is usually called) with two amazing women, Brittany and Morgan. We’ve since traded in our counseling roles to run this show (so to speak), which allows us to see the impact this camp has on the high school service P and the summer staff. This year we have the joy to share this camp with volunteer staff members from Stronghold Presbyterian Camp in Chicago. We also have many other volunteers coming in to help out with crafts, transportation, nursing, and some just come to help for a few hours when they can.
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