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I am coming to Camp Tipton, What Now? |
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I am coming to Camp Tipton, What Now? |
| Getting ready for a mission trip requires a
lot of effort on both ends. We want your participation as a
Mission Team to be as easy as possible. I'll bet
most of your lives are like ours; trying to juggle lots of tasks and
hoping nothing falls off the plate. So, let's begin by
emphasizing that as a team, the Lord will get us through the process
in spite of the mistakes that will occur on both ends.
Most people begin by asking the usual questions such as where will we sleep, how will we be fed, what about transportation, and other process oriented concerns. Let's get those answered. Addresses Mailing:
Physical: Accommodations Our accommodations are currently seven, eight bed cabins. We have some overflow space if you bring say, seven girls and nine guys. A couple of the guys can use the overflow space in a separate cabin. We have a couple of hook-up for RVs and an area for pop-up and tent camping. We also have a large multi-purpose building where a fairly large group can spend a night or two in sleeping bags on the gym floor. Additionally, we have an outdoor pavilion where tents could be put up in a free-standing fashion, yet are out of direct weather. Typically, we remain within the cabins, but there are alternatives if there is need and desire. Early 2010 we plan to add two more cabins. Food Our rate includes all of the food you will consume while at the Camp, unless otherwise negotiated. The feeding plan consists of a hot meal for breakfast and supper, with a picnic type lunch. We have a reputation for having the best camp food anywhere. We have a couple of ladies who have run a home-cookin' restaurant in the past to run our kitchen. Since this is a mission environment, sometimes the lunch meal will be packed out. At all meal times, everyone is expected to help out with prep, cleanup, and giving the cooks big hugs! I can tell you that happy cooks make for the best meals! If you have snackers, they will have to bring their own treats. We don't do midnight craving calls. Transportation We do not provide transportation. Part of your planning process should include thinking about the mission you are partnering with us for and what it will take in terms of getting your people around. If you are doing evangelism ministry with a couple of teams on the Dragon, a couple at trail-heads, and similar, you will need to think about how you will get your people to each location. Some choose to bring multiple vehicles, some bring a van or bus and run a "route" each day. You can call us with concerns and questions that relate specifically to your group anytime. Directions Mission Equipment Especially if your mission includes home repair, it will be best if you bring some equipment. Each team member should have a pair of gloves, eye-protection, and basic tools such as hammers, tape measures, and the like. If you have specialized tools and equipment such as nail-guns, screw-guns, skilsaws, jig-saws, roofing tools, plumbing tools, and the like - if they will fit - bring them. *We do have a supply of most equipment needed, but our numbers are limited, so please bring what you can.* If your mission is in evangelism, park ministry, or other such, please bring whatever you would like to support such. For example, some teams have come with puppets, craft projects, games, story-telling props, musical instruments and similar. One of our suggested activities is picture-taking. We offer to take group shots for tourists free of charge and put their pictures on our Friends page. If you want to participate, bring a small digital camera - the higher resolution the better. This is a GREAT ministry! If you are on an evangelism team, bring some plastic grocery bags. The Baptist Center at Western Heights provides food for hundreds of people each Tuesday and Thursday - we help out on Tuesdays. It helps if we show up with stacks of neatly folded bags. These should be sorted by size with any dirty or torn bags weeded out. The idea is to have a stack of bags that you can easily pull five or six off the top of to start down the food line with those receiving food. Some teams have shown up with boxes of books for local school reading programs, others have done fundraisers for school supplies to be distributed. We ask you to seriously consider your alternatives for what your team can do for the Kingdom. We are always in need of building supplies, roofing materials, paint, and other home repair items. We would be blessed if you could engage in fund-raising activities for such anytime. Don't limit your imagination in the part you can play in our ministry. We see God working in hearts every single day. Skills If you have skills, bring them; if you don't, come ready to learn. All we ask is a willing heart and a desire to share Christ. Our creed is Honoring God, Serving Others, Sharing Christ. That best describes what we do. We are performing some sort of project for most mission opportunities, but the tasks are never the focus, the people are. Believe it or not, we have been allowed to accomplish some extraordinary projects with a team of sixth-graders; and won souls in the process. Don't get nervous about your abilities, we train as we work. God will provide all we need. Packing List and Dress Code Click for Packing List and Dress Code PDF Information Exchange We're busy, you're busy... We will stay in contact by every available means. A phone call is usually best as we can answer a quick question almost anytime. We prefer you follow-up calls with an email to ensure understanding for both parties. If you call to tell us the male female ratio of your group and we are on a roof with a current mission team at the time, we are going to hear the numbers, promise to remember them, try to remember which team it is about, maybe even be able to write them down and put it in our pocket along with the other ten papers in there, but that number or paper or information is going to mysteriously vaporize before we make it home that night. Please send us information by email. Requirements There is a list of information we need from you in order to accommodate you. There are also some things that will happen over time that should happen according to a schedule. Refer to the bottom of this form for info... Miscellaneous We promise to give our all. We are always looking for alternative opportunities for planning surprises. Sometimes funding for a project doesn't materialize, sometimes weather stops a job, sometimes a completely different opportunity becomes more pressing that what was originally planned - we switched gears one week to help feed a crew of Red-Cross volunteers searching for a drowning victim. These are merely opportunities from our perspective. God is more often at work when things go wrong than when they go perfectly as planned. It is our prayer that you are open to the Lord's leading and realize that we spend an enormous amount of time planning, but must yield to the Lord's will when our plans don't match up with His. We are in continual prayer, and our focus is on the business of the Kingdom: (Proverbs 16:3 KJV) - Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. There may also be times when we will ask you to help us with infrastructure projects at the Camp. For example, we are working on a plan to build a tree-house style classroom for our Creation Exploration Camps. We would appreciate your input and help. We have maintenance tasks such as trail cleaning, playground equipment servicing, cabin upgrades, and similar that we hope you will enjoy helping us with. Remember that everything we do here is tight budget, and Christ-focused. Anything done for the Camp is done for those who will attend seeking Christ. The playground seat you paint today may be the same one sat upon by a day camper who finds Christ while visiting the Camp. Paperwork These are the forms we need from you, and the paperwork you'll want to provide your members with.
Camp Tipton Mission
Team Reservation - Return this to complete your Team reservation
2010_Opportunities_at_Camp_Tipton - Print this list of our Mission Opportunities Camp Tipton Mission Team Group Profile - Return this to inform us of the profile of your Team Camp Tipton Mission Team Release - Bring one of these COMPLETED for EACH member of your team Camp Tipton Mission Team Packing List - Dress Code - Print one of these for EACH member of your team Spiritual Concerns Sometimes in all of the rush to prepare for a mission trip, we forget to prepare our hearts. We have some suggestions that can help. Click for Spiritual Preparation PDF Prayer Once you have decided as a team to come to the Camp on mission, we trust that you will engage in unified prayer for the many needs of your trip. First and foremost, that all people involved in the ministry whether they be part of the staff, visiting team, persons ministered to, passersby in a park, building or others we may encounter find in us a spirit of love that could only come from the Creator, and that this love would make them thirst to know Him. Then for teach individual connected with your team - that they will find in Christ a pure and willing heart for the work of the mission. Come to the Camp expecting the Lord to bless our work. I would also caution you to understand that our work is not measured by men; it is measured by the Creator. A perfectly planned and executed project falls short if God is not involved completely. When we confess our daily sin, allow God to conform our hearts, and seek Him in all we do, we can be confident our path is His and that His will is being accomplished regardless of how we might measure the results. Charles Spurgeon was arguably one of the greatest of God's preachers in the mid 1800's. He was instrumental in preparing many preachers and others for the ministry through his college. From the beginning the ultimate object of the college was the conversion of people. The first student, Mr. Medhurst, once came complaining that he had been preaching for three months without knowing of a single soul having been converted. "Why," said Spurgeon, "you don't expect conversions every time you open your mouth, do you?" "Of course not," was the answer. "Then that is just the reason you haven't had them," he replied. Last Words There is no silly question. If you don't find your answer above, please call us. We love to connect with our mission teams and we really want to go into the week with a unity of heart and purpose. We live this every day as best we can. Don't forget to pray for us!
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