Lorry Loading

How many people does it take to load a lorry?

Camp Theme

Ice Age 2: the meltdown.  Just testing the technology for the “live” picture updates from St. Ives.  If you can read this – it’s working!

Interactive St. Ives

Now with only 5 days to go until Camp, I’m sure you’re starting to wonder what St. Ives is like and what kind of thing we’re likely to get up to this year.  I’m pleased to report that the Activities Team have been hard at work and have the timetable almost finalised (more organised than every Activities Team since the days of Geoff Bond – remember him?).

We’ve put together an interactive map which will allow you to familiarise yourself with St. Ives, and all the interesting and important places that you’re likely to visit, even before you’ve stepped on the coach.  You can zoom in and out, view aerial satellite images, browse around the map and the area (anyone familar with Google Maps will be right at home), and click on symbols to find out about places of interest.  The places of interest include:

• The Camp Site 
• Beaches (browse to The Harbour to view a warning)
• Activities:
  • Surfing
  • Golf
  • Go-Karting (a particular favourite)
  • Ten Pin Bowling
• Local Tesco
• Train Station
• Cinema
• *The* Cornish Pasty Shop
• Route into Town
• and much more

Go play…

Don’t Forget Your Bible…

Whatever sort of Bible you have, please remember to bring it with you to Camp.  You will need it for evening Devotions and Bible Studies.  If you don’t own a Bible, speak to someone at your Company/Church about a good one to buy or borrow.  If you’re really stuck, try this one:

Pack Lightly – Important

As mentioned earlier, it is important that you pack lightly when you come to Camp.  A general rule to follow is that if you can’t carry all your own luggage at once, then you’ve packed too much.  This is especially important this year as the weather is likely to mean that the Coach will not be able to make it on to the Camp field, so you’ll have to walk the last part of your journey with your luggage.

For those coming on the Advance Party, you will already be aware that this year you won’t be able to put any luggage on the lorry, and that instead it must all be taken on the minibuses with you.  Each minibus will be taking 10/11 people, and so it is equally important that you pack intelligently too.  We strongly recommend that you pack two separate bags: one for the Advance Party (containing everything you need for the duration) and one for the main Camp (containing everything else!), because if the minibuses are overloaded when we put everyone’s luggage on them we will have to leave some behind to come on the Coach later (but we won’t have time for you to re-pack your bags, etc).

Note: Although we’re encouraging everyone to pack lightly, please, please, please, make sure you at least bring a waterproof jacket – we want everyone to enjoy Camp and don’t want the First Aid team to spend their time at the Hospital with anyone suffering from Hypothermia.

Photos From St. Ives 2003

I’ve somehow managed to find a bit of time this morning to upload some of my pictures from St. Ives 2003. There’s a selection below, and the rest can be found in the MK Camp group on Flickr.

Advance Party

Just a reminder that the Advance Party starts this Friday (27th July) and that nearly all the Staff will be leaving MK and heading to St. Ives. So if you have any questions, queries, comments, please make sure you get in touch during the first part of this week.

Why do we leave so early when the Campers aren’t arriving until late Monday? We load up the equipment onto a big lorry, pack ourselves into cars and minibuses and head to St. Ives to set-up Camp. We put up all the tents, organise the equipment, plumb in the running water, ensure that the cookers are working, purchase the food and supplies, organise the activities, check out the shower and toilet facilities, etc. There’s a lot to do, and much of it is hard work, although you wouldn’t believe it if you take a look at last years Advance Party pictures in the Photo section.

Polo Shirts

Unfortunately our supplier has informed us that there will be a delay in receiving our Polo Shirts this year. We’re still hoping they’ll arrive before most of the Staff leave for Camp on Friday. We will make every effort to get them to you on time, but if you don’t get your Polo Shirt before Camp, you’ll either get it handed to you on the coach, or as you arrive on site.

Just to calm the fears of first time Campers, although the Polo Shirt is Camp uniform you don’t wear it all the time. The Polo Shirt is to be worn on the journey to Camp, the journey back from Camp, and to Church on Sunday.

Prayer Topics

If you’re not able to make it to Camp with us this year, please don’t forget us whilst we’re away. We will be keeping you in our prayers and would ask that you keep us in yours. To assist you in praying for us here is a short list of topics you might like to include:

• Simon Bradley:
  • Simon is currently about half way through his walk to Camp in memory of his Mum, Sally, and to raise money for Willen Hospice. His original aim was to raise £800 – but he is now exceeded his revised target of £4000 (please continue to spread the word as widely as possible). Pray for Simon’s feet in particular, and for safety, good health and good spirits.
• First time campers/staff:
  • we are delighted to have some brand new Campers and Staff this year, but it can be quite daunting coming to Camp for the first time. Pray that they would feel welcome and settle into Camp life quickly and painlessly.
• Staff doing jobs for the first time:
  • although some people do the same job each year, we do have some swapping, and this year is no exception. Pray that the Staff would quickly get to grips with their new role and its responsibilities.
• Longer-term development of Camp:
  • the future of Camp is only assured as long as we have a number of volunteers willing to take on some hard work, and we’re pleased that we’ve been able to train up a number of younger staff for more senior roles in recent years. Pray that people are willing to commit their time and energy to fulfilling roles at Camp and continuing the excellent work of many years.
• Chaplaincy Activities:
  • we are proud of our Christian faith and it now forms the backbone of everything else we do at Camp. In recent years the role and responsibility of the Chaplaincy team has development significantly and last year saw the introduction of regular Bible Studies for all age groups. Learning from the lessons of last years Camp (as we do in all areas) we’ll be changing the staff and the programme slightly. Pray for the Bible studies, worship time & musicians, morning and evening devotions and time to chat in the Chaplaincy Tent after cocoa.
• Safety:
  • everything we do at Camp, from travelling down, to putting up the flag poles, from go-karting, to quad-biking, and even walking to Church, contains an element of risk. Of course, we do everything we can to reduce the risks to a manageable level, but it can’t all be eliminated. Pray for the safety of every element of Camp life.

We will also post any specific requests which come to light during Camp too (isn’t technology great!).

Rules of Engagement

Imagine my surprise as I logged on to Facebook towards the end of the week to see the following amongst my updates:

That’s right! On Thursday night Simon proposed to Nicci and she accepted! Congratulations to you both!!