Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

December 2012

Dear Wyoba Friends & Family,

It is hard to believe that another Christmas and New Year are encroaching upon us. It is a time to reflect on the birth of our mighty, gracious Savior and to ponder and pray about new beginnings and change. I hope that this letter finds you and your family filled with joy, excitement, and peace as we enter in a season of celebration.

“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6). As I reflect on Jesus’ birth I am filled with humility and awe that the Son of God came to earth to step in my shoes, our shoes. He came to experience human life, the good, bad, and the ugly and He ministered to many, many people during his time on earth. He loved the world so much He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to cover our sins and give us the gift of eternal life. Christ’s birth led to the ultimate gift of salvation and that concept makes my heart rejoice because of the hope we have. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46b-47).

I cannot help but think that if Christ did not come to give us the gift of salvation we would be lost and without hope. As the Camp Administrator of Wyoba, I cannot help but think of all the campers that would not have been able to receive a Savior and build a relationship with Him if He did not come. Wyoba would very likely not exist without Christ coming as a humble baby and grow to save the world. I could not imagine my life without Jesus and the Holy Spirit guiding my life. I could not imagine having any other career than serving the Lord and being in this season in life working to make Wyoba a place where individuals can come experience God on Casper Mountain.

As the New Year also approaches, we (the Wyoba Board, ABCRM, and I) have already begun to plan and make changes for this summer’s camping season. The first change I want to share is the new Wyoba mission statement. “Based on our relationship with Christ, Wyoba Christian Camp is a safe community for growth, encouragement, and building authentic relationships.” Second, we are changing the length of the camp week.  Each camp will begin Sunday at 3pm and end Friday at 10am. Primary Camp will have the same length, Sunday at 3pm to Wednesday at 10am. This is to give staff and counselors an extra day to turn over camp, prepare for the next week, and give everyone a chance to worship and rest.

I will be sending out save-the-dates by mid February as well as camp applications and brochures. This will allow everyone to plan months in advance. I am extremely excited for the 2013 camp season and I believe that God has great plans in store. If the Lord lays it on your heart to donate money for the upcoming camp projects (new water system, electric in the pole barn installed, painting floors in the bathhouses, etc.) you can mail a check to the address below. Also, I would encourage you to pray about getting involved at Wyoba if you are not already. Please continue to keep the camp in your prayers as we continue to plan the programming and prepare for the projects and implementing change in the spring.

I hope that you will take some time to reflect on the miracle of Jesus’ birth and be in prayer about what God has in store for you this New Year. We are so honored and privileged to have a Savior and Friend who understands and meets us where we are. May you rejoice in and mediate on the miracle birth of Jesus and find comfort in having Him walk into the New Year hand-in-hand with you.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

~Amber J. Shearer

Camp Wyoba Administrator

Camp Wyoba P.O. Box 442 Casper, WY 82602

307-234-6240

wyoba@abcrm.org

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dear Wyoba Family & Friends,

            On behalf of the Wyoba Board and Staff I want to stop and take the time to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and to reflect on God’s goodness. I hope that you are feeling blessed and being wowed by our mighty Savior during this Thanksgiving season! God has done amazing and wonderful things at Camp Wyoba this summer and we have much to be thankful for.

            We have experienced our fair share of trials and tribulation this summer at camp, but God has been there through it all. He has abundantly blessed the ministry of Wyoba. We started the season by making cabin improvements in Fox and Bailey by putting in new flooring and paneling. Wyoba gained a new-to-camp Ford 5000 tractor this summer after our old one got sick. New curtains for some of the cabins were made and donated to give them a more inviting feel. The pole barn was cemented this fall and electric will be installed this spring. Over the course of the summer, camp had numerous volunteers come to clean, help with projects, and spruce up. Camp would not run without humble volunteers and we are extremely thankful for them! Many other projects and improvements were made in hopes of prolonging the life of our facilities.

With the help of the ABC campers and staff we were able to improve the driveway by spreading gravel, they also stained the new screen doors for all the cabins, started fixing the property fences around camp, stacking wood, and clearing some of the trails. We were so thankful for the servant hearts and helping hands that made these projects happen!

            As many of you know, Wyoba faced a rather large wildfire this Fall. I want to testify of God’s goodness and provision as the fire came about a half a mile from camp property. It was so close that I could hear the fire, smell the smoke, and see huge flames and clouds of smoke. All of the camps and homes around were all evacuated expect me. This event really proved to me God’s favor toward Wyoba and the good work that He started and continues to do there. Thanks be to our awesome God for sparing such a special place of ministry! Thank you to all those who prayed and petitioned for safety and protection!

            Most importantly, I must reflect on the lives that God changed this summer. Many campers came to know Christ as their Savior for the very first time, there were many young people who recommitted their lives, and a lot of spiritual growth took place. We should be most thankful for our salvation and the souls that now have eternal life! This is why Wyoba exists and so many serve there!

            The Wyoba Board has been hard at work rewriting the mission statement and assessing the future direction of camp. There are going to be many new and exciting changes taking place in hopes of growing the programs and reaching more of our churches and community. Stay tuned for updates coming out shortly.

            I hope that this Thanksgiving season, you will stop to deeply reflect on the gifts, provision, and protection that God has granted you. I hope that you will take the time to celebrate God’s abundant goodness (Psalm 145:7) and praise Him for His mighty works (Psalm 150:2). The Lord has done great and wonderful things at Wyoba, what has He done for you?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Blessings,

~Amber Shearer

Camp Wyoba Administrator

Fire & Fall

The fire on Casper Mountain is now 100% contained! Praise the Lord!!! This does not mean that it is out, but that they have it pretty much under control! That is really amazing news! Your prayers, phone calls, e-mails, and support has been deeply appreciated over the past week during the fire. This fire was definitely too close for comfort and I rather large reality check for us! Many times the wind shifted toward camp and the smoke clouds started to get close but God was ever faithful in shifting them in a different direction. At one point the camp was a quarter of the way surrounding camp. Fire officials said that this fire should have done more damage and spread to the west side of the mountain. We know that God had different plans for Wyoba. I truly believe that God must favor Wyoba because of all the protection and mercy that has been bestowed upon it this summer and in the past! These pictures really do not do justice to the seriousness and closeness of the fire! I could hear it, smell it, see it, and I was fearing it!

 

On a lighter note, Fall has fallen upon us. Fall is absolutely my favorite season of year! Cooler temps that are refreshing, the Aspen's beautiful color, animals preparing for winter, wearing hoodies, drinking warm beverages...so relaxing. If you have time in the next few weeks, you should bring your family up for a nice hike through the woods to enjoy the beautiful Fall ambiance. 

I don't know about you, but I am praising our awesome God for is never-failing power and love this season! He is so faithful in taking care of our needs and watching over us! I hope that you will take some time to praise Him and reflect on His goodness this Fall season! 

Thank you again for all your prayers! The Lord turned His ear and answered our request to save the camp! 

Blessings to you,

~Amber 

Camp Wyoba Administrator  

Updated Need List

 Need List

-New water system

-Computer Projector (for movies, picture slide shows, PowerPoint, etc.)

-Wood-chipper (chips will help erosion and build up trails, cut up limbs, etc.)

-Ice Machine

-Log Splitter

-Lightly used couches (for staff cabins/Memorial Hall)

-Heavy duty wheelbarrow (single tire)

-Hay wagon (to pull behind tractor)

-Spark Arrestors for chimneys

-New Toilets (dining hall, bathhouses)

-More new mountain bikes (5-10)

-Sound System (CD player, mixer, speakers, microphones)

-Microphone stands (3-5)

-Music stands (3-5)

Projects to be done

-Level/Paint bathhouse floors

-Rebuild property fence

-Replace burnt boards on campfire circle

-Build hand-railing on Memorial Hall

-Digging ditches and putting in culvert pipes (to prevent driveway washing out)

-Cutting firewood

We are currently researching new water systems. Also, we are trying to get matching grants for the money that has already been donated to camp. 

Some things that we are working on this Fall is putting electric in the pole barn and cementing the floors, finishing the siding on the spring-house, and putting up the rest of the screen doors on the cabins. 

Let me know if you can help out in anyway! 

Blessings, 

~Amber

Primary Camp

Besides a mouse plague and fighting over the swings, Primary camp was pretty fun. Some of the highlights were: Picnic at Beartrap, counselor hunt, color campfire, singing, and the talent show! Here is a taste of what this week looked like.

Our talent show Emcees

Pastor Rick and his furry friend

Crazy talent

The chicken dance!

Where are the counselors?

Snack Shack!

"The make-up skit"

 Follow this link to watch Becca T. performing "God Help the Outcast Like Me" at the Sr. High Talent Show. Epic vocals! We had some amazing talent this week!

Senior High Week

It was an epic week here at Wyoba with the Senior High campers! Some cool kids came to know Christ and left the mountain completely changed and renewed. A HUGE shout-out to God for being awesome and showing up in a mighty way! Praise the Lord!

"Cody is weird!"

The theme for the week was "Dare to be Different."  The teens challenge is to make a difference in their everyday environments standing out as a Christian living a different lifestyle than everyone else. They learned from various people of the Bible how to stand out against the crowd and stand up for the name of God and His Word.

Some of the highlights from the week were: Hiking to Beartrap for a picnic, water/shaving cream battle, making homemade ice cream and root beer floats, making awesome bracelets, meditation stations, and the talent show.

Continue to keep all the campers in your prayers as they go back to "reality" and put into practice all they have learned during their mountaintop experience. 

Honoring Deanna and Sylvia

Hi Wyoba Family,

I has been brought to my attention that Deanna Dyer and Sylvia Hansen have been Camp Directors for the Junior High camps at Camp Wyoba for 27 years!!! Wow! This will be Deanna's last summer with us and possibly Sylvia's. I would love for us to honor them by asking everyone to send them a card or e-mail to thank them for their service to our camp for so many years. I want to flood them with cards, encouragement, memories and let them feel our love and appreciation for all that they have done over the years!

I will be presenting them with certificates of appreciation and gifts on Friday night, the last night of Junior High camp. Here are their addresses:

Deanna Dyer

1639 N Mill Creek Rd
Casper, WY 82604
ddotd@bresnan.net

Sylvia Hansen
2620 Nighthawk Dr
Laramie, WY 82072
sylvhansen@gmail.com

Please spread the word and ask others that know them to send a card or e-mail! May they feel our appreciation for their hard-work and dedication all these years!

Thank you!

Mom #2 and Mom #1

Wyoba Talent

Every week during camp we have a talent show where campers and staff can showcase their talent! Check out some of the awesome performances! 

Tony Seacrest and Liz our Wyoba Idol Hosts

Boone on the unicycle and Kevin on bagpipes! I bet you've never seen anything like this before!

This is one of our campers Mady. She seems to be a natural! Look out! 

The Hansen's doing a duet on the ivories.

Deanna and Eric singing a beautiful worship song!

New Staff at Wyoba

Meet our new Head Cook Karen. She has been such a blessing and is an amazing cook! All the kids love her! She makes the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet! 

Meet our new Assistant Cook Jill. She has been an amazing help in the kitchen! She has stepped right up to take on new tasks and is a hard worker!

Meet our new Maintenance Man Boone- yes, Boone, named after Daniel. He thinks he is pretty cool! I think he is pretty cool since he has been helping get a lot of work done at camp and complete tasks!

This element on our stove has been missing for years I am told. I thought it was pretty hazardous so I was able to replace it. It is a "French Element" ordered special.
Before

 

Isn't it beautiful!? The stove is now in 100% working order. I was able to install everything myself.
After

Blessings to the Camp Wyoba followers!
~Amber

Junior Camp Week

A lot of things have been going on here at Wyoba this week. Here are some of the highlights.

This is our new to camp tractor! It is a Ford 5000 to replace the old one. It was delivered from Nebraska on Tuesday.

A family band came to jam with the kids and give a great message!

The campers are learning about life choices. The theme for the week is "Turn Around". They are learning that it is never too late to turn things over to God and get your life back on track with Him.

Campfires of course are a highlight to everyone's day!

Say Cheese!!

The Lord Answers Prayers

Last week was quite a rough week here at Wyoba. Many obstacles formed and a lot of things broke down. These unforeseen events made me grow closer to the Lord and trust Him more. I believe that it is in the places where God is working the most, are the same places that Satan is working all the more to deter God's work. It is easy to forget that not only do I have a job as Camp Administrator with responsibilities, but I also have a job in ministry that effects lives. My duties at camp in the long run could possibly have an eternal impact on lives that visit this property. It is when we face difficulties and obstacles in our life that God's strength and power can show through our weaknesses and circumstances that are out of our control. In my case this week, when the tractor broke, when the water system had issues, when the cook quit, when the kitchen hot water tank was spewing water everywhere  (the list went on) -God still sustained me, He gave me the strength to face the crisis, and provided me the resources and people I needed to fix everything. It was in those moments when I was not in control that I relied on the Holy Spirit for guidance and strength. God showed up when I prayed. God showed up when you prayed.

This post has nothing to do with me, but about everything that God has done here. I know that there were many people praying for me, praying for the camp, praying for the challenges that were going on here. I thank you so much for every prayer that went up! The amazing thing about God is that He is faithful and loving! When His people stopped to pray and many of those prayers went up in desperation, He listened and faithfully answered them. I believe that we have not because we ask not, so we need to ask. He has given us a new experienced cook that is a veteran in the kitchen, an assistant cook who has a willing spirit to dig in and get dirty, and some extra kitchen support to plan menus and train the kitchen staff. We had no kitchen staff lined up last week and within a week God moved and granted a rather large request. I believe that He has gone above and beyond our request.

A new tractor is in the works, the water system and hot water tank were fixable, and many other needs are being met. Do we serve a MIGHTY, AWESOME, FAITHFUL God or what!?!? Can I get an AMEN!?

A thought comes to mind that Wyoba must be in God's favor for His faithfulness to be so abundant. Would you agree? I have heard from numerous people that God is ever present on Casper Mountain. People feel His presence as soon as they enter the property and they leave feeling full of the Holy Spirit. Living here for over a month now, I have experienced so many answered prayers, needs being met first-hand, and His faithfulness to this camp. That to me spells out favor.

Wyoba family and friends, keep praying! God is doing amazing things here and our campers this week have not even gotten here yet! I believe that God is going to do big, wonderful things this week! God is on the move at Wyoba, please be a part of it! There is nothing like serving a living God and experiencing the blessings of being His child.

I am praising the Lord that He has created direct communication to our Father God!
Blessings to you,
~Amber

Camp Crisis!

Hello Friends and Family of Wyoba,

We are in desperate need of camp cooks from July 6th to August 2nd!!! Like this is a crisis folks!!! We have a week and a half to find a head cook and an assistant cook for our American Baptist camps. If we do not have cooks- WE WILL NOT HAVE CAMP or everyone will be eating sandwiches for every meal!!! That is how serious this matter is! So if you care about having camp at Wyoba this summer, please spread the word, volunteer, sign up to at least help in the kitchen, be our cook- we will pay you, something, anything.

I am at a complete loss for resources at this point. Karen Van and I have posted this job at all the places we can think of (Wyoming Workforce, culinary schools, Seminaries, colleges, Facebook, etc.). I have sent out numerous e-mails to everyone that I can think of who would help or at least spread the word. If you have ideas please e-mail me or call, we are willing to try anything at this point.

We did have cooks for Camp Hope, but we no longer have any after this week. This is at minimum a HUGE prayer concern! It may take a miracle to find the staff for these positions!

I have been in the kitchen spending numerous hours a day and closing it up every night to make sure meals get out, 16-hour days are not spend there, and the cooks for this week do not burn out. I am absolutely willing to serve and step-in where needed, however my other duties have been getting neglected. I have been staying up until midnight every night so the cooks can go to bed to get up early for breakfast. This is absolutely NOT ABOUT ME, but about a HUGE NEED that this camp has- HELP! If you were not aware that camp had a need, now you know. Please get on board and help in any way you can- prayer, financial support, volunteer for a few hours or a day, spread the word.

If Wyoba is going to stay around, it needs all of its churches, friends, and family to help out and get on board completely! I believe that God is bigger than this, but He also asks us to be His hands and feet.

I am trusting in God's faithfulness, but I am most definitely concerned for this camp, especially this summer!

In His Service,
~Amber Shearer
Camp Wyoba Administrator
307-234-6240
wyoba@abcrm.org

Camp has begun- Full speed ahead!

Things here at Wyoba are in full swing! The kitchen is cooking, people are working, and we are full-speed ahead!

The Food Truck has arrived!

The kitchen has food!

This week Wyoba is hosting Camp Hope at diabetic camp for kids. Camp Hope offers emotional and psychological support to these young individuals to prepare them to live with diabetes. It is a unique opportunity to cater to their needs through fun, activities, and camaraderie in a camp setting.

A special thanks to Candi and Cathy from Bethel Baptist in Casper for coming up this week to wash and make the floors in the dining hall sparkle! 

I anticipate a busy week here on Casper Mountain. Please continue to keep us in your prayers and let me know if you have time to donate to camp. We still have many projects that need to get underway. 

I hope that you are experiencing God's wonderful mercies this summer!

Blessings,
~Amber
Camp Administrator

Mattress Challenge

Dear friends,

 

This message is a personal note, not as a Wyoba board member.  

Bethel Baptist has been offered a challenge to replace the mattresses in the cabins at Wyoba.  Those we presently are using are in poor shape.  A resource has been located where sturdy mattresses may be purchased for about $45.00 each.  When the challenge was presented to Bethel members on Sunday, pledges were made for almost 50 of the mattresses THAT DAY! God is good and encourages us with his amazing provision. 

 

How about joining us in this challenge?  Price of a mattress is about the same as two meals after church on Sunday in a restaurant. 

 

To participate, just let us know at Bethel and we will order the mattresses.  There are 100 mattresses needing replacement.  We can do this before the end of the season!  Join us!

 

In His Love,

Barbara Vinzant

vee3@aol.com 

Hole in the wall improvement

Once upon a time...there was a nasty hole in the wall under the sink in the dish-room...

This hole did not make the Health Department happy, so it needed to get fixed.

The hole after some drywall.

The wall after some wall-cement.

This was a corner of the wall that was looking nasty and needed some help too.

The hole is now no more!

After some cement and paint!

The pretty corner!

The final product and the Health Department will now be happy! :) 

The End!