2021 Annual Report : simplebooklet.com

The Mission of Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp is to bring glory to God and effectively respond to the needs of the whole person according to the Biblical principles of evangelism and discipleship. To accomplish this mission, Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp is committed to building a community that fosters the most important kind of growth: in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. CLBC will labour together with anyone who shares our mission and who will contribute to and benefit from our community.We trust Jesus, who says that the way to bear this kind of fruit is to abide in Him. We are therefore deeply committed to discipleship -- the practice of learning how to walk as Jesus did. As our leaders become aligned with the character of Jesus through the process of discipleship, they become able to obey, and to flourish in the way that God intended.We will encourage all of our staff and leaders to follow Jesus closely. We are looking to create disciples, encourage disciples, and live as disciples. WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUTExcerpted from Crow’s Code of Conduct and Lifestyle Policy - which you can read at crowcamp.ca/blog/crow-code-conduct-and-staff-lifestyle-policyAnnual General Report 20211Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp1Crowsnest Lake Bible CampAnnual General Report 2021

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My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. ~ Isaiah 32:18I love living in the Crowsnest Pass. I get in my car, and my phone tells me “Home is 9 minutes away. Traffic is light.” It always makes me smile; as if you would need to be told, in Blairmore, Alberta, that the traffic is light. I attended camp for the first time before my first birthday, as a “cook’s helper” at Winter Camp in January 1980. I’ve spent a few weeks since then in the kitchen - peelin’ ‘taters and singing loudly along with DC Talk and Michael W. Smith. I’d imagine that first winter camp, I was not much help. In fact, I was probably a consistent distraction. Like it or not, the same was probably true every time I worked in the kitchen since then. I didn’t come by myself to that first Winter Camp. My parents brought me. And they kept bringing me, every six weeks or so, for all of my childhood. Sometimes it was a work party, sometimes a board meeting (which seemed more exhausting than the work parties). I came back for Junior Camp. The outtrip did not go super well, in a way that isn’t fit for a written report, but I will tell you if you ask. I came back every summer after that. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” ~ Psalm 91:1-2 And I do mean every summer - Intermediate Camp, and Senior Camp. PIT Crew with Jen Draxlir and David Shepherd. Sometime in there, I didn’t need my parents to drive me to camp anymore. I could drive myself (I just needed their car). Couple of seasons as a cabin leader, and COLTS. Back as a speaker and program director after I got married, spending precious vacation days capturing the flag and cannoning smooth stones across the lake. Brought Sam as a speaker’s helper for Crow 2 before his first birthday.There’s something about camp that creates this sort of deep connection, this feeling of home. Sometimes camp is a fond home away from home; sometimes camp is “home” when home is lost for a time, or unavailable. There is plenty that makes camp special. I have made it a goal to traverse this entire report without saying “It has been a strange time.” I’m trying to avoid using the word “unprecedented,” or making reference to the… circumstances… that have made the precedents of former times so foreign. I won’t mention it, but you’ll know anyway. You’ve been away, but this report is a reminder that Crowsnest Lake is still here; the campfire circle is still here; the place you call Crow, the place you call home, is still here. And you are welcome. It’s just minutes away, and traffic is light.With deep affection,DGrDIRECTOR OF CAMPING REPORTAnnual General Report 20212Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp

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If you have been to Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp before, you will understand how ‘being at camp’ is practically synonymous with ‘being outside’. It is our home. And for this reason a pandemic did not hinder our programs as much as it could have. In the last two summers we stuck to what we do best: backpacking. I love Crow’s history with backpacking too. We used to make our own external frame backpacks in the 60’s and 70’s, before backpacking was trendy and cool. We used to - admittedly, still - make our own power/granola bars called flapjacks that were mostly margarine, oats, and brown sugar. And we used to - also admittedly, still - make the main goal of our backpacking trips to bring glory to God by acknowledging His creation. This, we do easily with our venue as the Rocky Mountains of Canada. We go outside as an organization because it is rejuvenating; because it is physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy; because we learn about the trees, pinecones, dirt, watershed, and more; but as far as I am concerned, the most important reason we go outside is to connect with our Creator. This is what we observed these last few years: people discovering God in the wilderness, on mountain tops, at the campfire, over outtrip meals. My personal favourite moment was hearing the report of an outtrip director (Simon) who had filled his backpack full with snow on an alpine day hike. Why? There was a camper on this outtrip from the Middle East who had never seen snow. This camper was disappointed the previous day when their route plan, which would normally include a snowpatch, never provided such. So Simon took matters into his own hands the next day when he brought a backpack full of snow down from the alpine - just for him. Suddenly the camper who had never seen snow before was making a snowman. It’s the little things that happen here, giving glory to Him who has authored this ministry, this mission, and the lives experiencing our outdoor programs. We arrive in the wilderness ready to learn. We live in the wilderness; that is our home. Daniel VanderpylTake a look at the new COLTS campsite on the web: www.outdoorleadership.caA BACKPACK FULL OF SNOWAnnual General Report 20213Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp3Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp

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Summer 2021 was an odd one. While we didn’t have to deal with the cohorts and masking of summer 2020, we still had much to deal with. Much like the previous summer, there was a lack of normal programming to schedule the PIT program around, thus creating another very unique summer for its participants.For the first week or so, we were able to be at camp, where we learned, grew as a team, and grew in our capacity to be good disciples and leaders. However, we had to move to Gladstone intermittently to help with the family camps, which was very tiring for the PITs.Despite that, they were able to get a lot out of the summer. Throughout all the hardship and confusion, God was able to work in every single one of the PITs in the ways He wanted them to grow. It’s incredible to compare what they were like at the beginning of the summer to what they’re like now. In my experience, God uses the most difficult circumstances to create the most growth in us, and that was very clearly shown in everyone who participated in PIT this year, participants and leaders alike. I cannot wait to see how God continues to nurture this group into better disciples, leaders, and people in the future.THE PIT CREW(S)REPORT BY 2021 PIT LEADERS SARAH BOHN AND ALEX RAWLINGSAnnual General Report 20214Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp

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Traditionally the MSPIT is run out of mountain site, this year Lake Site PIT crew was at Gladstone, while Mountain Site was a construction zone! And so the MSPITs landed at Lake Site. We focused on disciplines: pursuing God in daily life, increasing competence in the outdoors, and developing godly leadership skills.Leading MSPIT was a blessing. Thank you. ~ Jaclyn Knol Pursuing God: Every day we practiced a spiritual discipline. We started the day with Bible study, and read through Romans. We talked about what it looks like to reflect Christ and function as a piece of the church, and challenged each other to practice encouragement and servanthood in the camp environment. We alternated leading morning studies and prayers, and all four ladies increased their confidence leading Bible studies (even for other staff) and praying in front of others. Increasing outdoor competence: Crow is a wilderness camp, and we strongly encouraged outdoor competence during our training. The ladies learned the skills to be helpful on outtrips and practiced those skills on several practicum outtrips. Over the summer, the whole crew grew exponentially: they were much more confident in their own skills and could even help others develop skills, while also helping with necessary outtrip tasks. Developing Godly leadership: the ladies had so many opportunities to shadow other camp leaders, and learn to lead themselves. It was incredible to watch how they grew. At the end of the program, they were so much more comfortable taking initiative to both support and lead.Hi! My name is Jaclyn, and in 2021 I was the director of the Mountain Site Personnel In Training (MSPIT) program. It was a privilege and a joy to mentor these four Godly young women for the summer.(BROOKE M, RACHEL W, JACLYN K, KIMOYA E, AND SARAH K.) MSPITSAnnual General Report 20215Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp

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Despite having another irregular summer at camps due to COVID, we are thankful for the opportunity we had to run modified summer programs for youth and families this year.We ran 27 different outtrips for youth, families, adults, and the two Personnel in Training Programs. We were able to more than double the amount of youth outtrips we did last summer, and nearly doubled the overall number of outtrips we ran from last year which was a big win! Another brand new endeavour for this year as a result of our partnership with Gladstone Mountain Ranch, were our 4 Gladstone Family Camps that we able to run for over 20 families this summer!Once again we were able to run 3 Family Day Program days, were we did Archery, Canoeing, and Rock Climbing for families. This year 5 families attended our day programs, down from 12 last year.We were also able to run 7 Local Youth Nights throughout the summer, with an average of 15-20 youth attending each night. The COLTS, PIT Crew or MSPIT Crew would lead the youth in different camp activities such as canoeing, climbing, or wide games, with a campfire time afterwards. Although this year looked a lot different here at camp, we were still able to run our core training programs, COLTS and our PIT Programs. For COLTS where we had 5 participants, and 2 in the COLTS II program. For the PIT programs we had 12 youth apply and we accepted 9 of them in the large PIT crew, and 3 of them into the MSPIT Crew.We hosted 3 Back Country Clean-up events this summer, cleaning up approximately 519 pounds of garbage out of the back country.2021 MODIFIED SUMMER PROGRAMSFamily & Youth OuttripsYouth Outtrip #1a, and #1b (July 8-12)Youth Outtrip #2 (July 16-19)Youth Outtrip #3a, and #3b (July 22-26)Youth Outtrip #4a, and #4b (Aug 5-9)Youth Outtrip #5a, and #5b (Aug 13-16)Youth Outtrip #6 (August 19-23)Family Outtrip #1a, and #1b (July 9-11)Family Outtrip #3a, and #3b (August 6-8)Family Outtrip #4 (August 20-22)Special OuttripsSenior Women’s Outtrip (June 18-21)All Girls Outtrip (July 3-10)All Boys Outtrip (July 24 - 31)Married Couples Outtrip (CANCELLED)Gladstone Family CampsFamily Camp #1(July 23-27)Family Camp #2 (July 30 - Aug 3)Family Camp #3 (August 6-10)Family Camp #4 (August 13-17)Training Programs C.O.L.T.S. (April 28 - August 27)P.I.T. (July 13 - August 20)M.S.P.I.T. (July 21 - Aug 17)Skills Week (June 11-17)Day Programs & Events3—Back Country Clean-up Events 7—Local Youth Nights 3—Family Day Programs Annual General Report 20218Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp

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With yet another year of Crowlife under our belts, it seems a bit surreal to look back and see what was accomplished in and around the home we call Crow Camp (almost in spite of ourselves). Many things have been scratched off our ongoing to-do list: sound panel upgrade to the Lodge; a sauna rebuild; additional water tanks; a firepit relocation; a new foundation under Crow Manor; a total repaint in the girl’s cabins; as well as stump grindin’, motel purgin’ and preppin’ for Spring renovations... and that’s only at the Lakesite! From early morning site inspections, to water leaks that require immediate attention, there is rarely a dull moment in the mostly “behind the scenes” and (hopefully) unnoticed activity of the Facilities Maintenance team here at Crow. Our team isn’t just the onsite staff, it includes a menagerie of tradesmen who have a heart for the ministry here at the west end of Crowsnest lake. They all seem to have an intuitive sense for what needs to be done, and are reliable to answer our calls for assistance when a task is beyond us, either because of skill or time. For those folks we are incredibly grateful. They make us look good.This year was yet another year of opportunity: extra time and resources (people) that we were able to invest into some long overdue projects at our Mountain site location. We were able to have an onsite watchperson / volunteer coordinator who spent three months overseeing and doing projects that just got lost in the busy-ness of usually such a short season in the past few years. Brush was cleaned, outhouses torn down and revamped, buildings sided, roofs and ceilings repaired, bridges repaired, rentals hosted and a lot of firewood procured from deadfall and overall bush clean up. The volunteers were varied and many for the tasks at Mountain site this year for which again we are so thankful. It is refreshing when folks take on projects and ownership of various areas of Crowcamp resources, and it makes the overall maintenance and upkeep of the place much more manageable for the full time staff.As we look back, we accomplished a lot. Much more clean-up, many overdue repairs and some eliminations as well, which gives us time to regroup as we look at the projects on the horizon for the next season. Some of the projects are the renovation of the motel units, the finishing of the extra boys cabins, the commissioning of the playing field for next summer, the new playground installation in the spring of 2022, and a possible year-round plan for Mountain site, to mention a few. There is never an end to things that could be done and improved as we move forward but as we do improve it gives us hope that we can make Crow even better for those who are able to come and experience the beauty that we so often take for granted. Thank you to my team both on and off the payroll. None of this could be accomplished without you, and your dedication to the vision of Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp.~Randy DemmanTHE MAINTENANCE REPORTAnnual General Report 20219Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp

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FINANCE REPORTLife is not measured by how much you own. ~ JesusI sometimes wonder about the years following Moses through the desert. There’s something marvelous and common in the story of faith and doubt, intertwined so consistently. After God provided a way for them out of Egypt - doubt, and fear. After God gave dry land so they could walk through the Red Sea - doubt, and fear. After God provided guidance, by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night - doubt, and fear. After God provided manna; after God provided water from a stone; after God provided laws from a thundercloud on the mountaintop - doubt, and fear. Provision, in the midst of doubt, and fear. That’s the story of Exodus, and it’s our story too. I’ve been working at Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp for five summers now, and I’ve seen God consistently provide, and yet, always… there is doubt, and fear - at least in me. Perhaps because we spend so much time moving forward, and the obstacles feel novel - new every time. But of course, that isn’t true…Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” ~ Lamentations 3:22-24It could also be that we don’t spend enough time in reflection; looking back at what God has done, and remembering and celebrating his provision. An annual report is an appropriate time for that reflection. In 2019, we were “in a tight spot”, after spending more on programs than was donated. God led us through. In 2020, there were many covid challenges, and a reduction in normal donation revenue. God led us through that also. In 2021, we will report that God has provided faithfully, we have been able to pay our staff and deploy them to facilities projects, and this ministry is stable, and thriving. But this positive report is not because of what we have got in the bank. It’s not our money: it belongs to God. We are not confident in a bank account balance, but because we serve a God who spends “two very small copper coins” like they are overflowing chests of gold.In the coming year, we have a list of projects that we hope to accomplish - and near the top of the list is a renovation on the Motel Cabins, which we intend to use as Staff Accomodations - for speakers, program directors, outdoor leaders, and cooks. If you are interested in contributing, please send us an email. This renovation is an ambitious project, but we have learned (or are learning) to expect consistency from the God who has always provided. Newness every morning. In Christ,DGrAnnual General Report 202110Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp

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The Ten Essentials 1: Navigation 2: Headlamp 3: Sun Protection4: First Aid Kit 5: Knife/ Repair Kit 6: Fire7: Shelter 8: Food9: Water10: Extra Clothes Eric Reno Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp, for me, is the place I go to live life for real; the people, the mission, the out trips, and the culture - all these things have been deeply influential in the formation of who I am today (and I love who I am today).On any Crow Outtrip, we’re going to bring ‘The Ten Essentials’ - important things like a First Aid kit and navigation tools. But at Crow, you’ve probably also gone on outtrips with some stuff that perhaps... you did not need. We took the question to our social media accounts, and got some great responses. So, for your information and survival needs here are The Ten Essentials… and, brought to you by the Crow-munity... for the first time ever… The Ten InEssentials Sharon Cassley Gladstone Ranch was a great place.Crow people in a new location.Simon Perry In COLTS I got discouraged, got snowed on and got pushed out of my comfort zone. I grew leadership skills, bigger calves and blisters. I started campfires and fires for the Lord in campers. I was challenged and grew alongside solid Godly people. I laughed a lot, cried a little, worshiped and served... You get lots of opportunities to serve in COLTS.The Ten InEssentials 1. Twenty five pairs of socks (David Graham)2. Ice Cream cake & Ping Pong Paddles (James McK)3. Stuffed Monkey (Skye)4. A hammer (Tauren)5. One Large Rock (Lloy Prier)6. Shampoo and Conditioner (Graham Barnes)7. Canned Haggis (Michael Kennedy) 8. Fiddle (Caden Pichurski)9. French Toast Crunch (Sabrina Putman)10. Watermelon (Donovan Groves)Koa Vanderpyl Where is it?Annual General Report 202111Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp

2021 Annual Report

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