The final week of Guahan Christian Camp for the summer of 2010 has come to a close and what a week it was. From Monday July 19 to  Thursday July 22, rising 3rd through 6th graders gathered for a week of Junior Camp with guest speakers Pastor Joe Henson and his wife Garthea. Pastor and Mrs. Henson spoke in two daily chapel sessions-one in the morning and one in the evening. This week’s theme was “The Armor of God and How We Should Use It.” Pastor Henson reminded the campers that before they could wear God’s armor, the campers needed to be saved. The Biblical teaching each day was an important part of the week but there were many other components as well. On Monday, the campers traveled to Shepherd’s Fold Christian Camp in southern Guam and went swimming in the river, hiking, and more outdoor adventurous activities. Tuesday was a time for bowling and arcade games. Wednesday–Liberation Day on the island of Guam–the campers played extra games like “Sharks and Minnows” and “Everlasting Dodgeball,” had a fun cheering contest, and then watched the holiday fireworks at the end of the day. During the last day, campers enjoyed a game called “steal the bacon” and a final chapel session with Pastor Henson. During this last session, Pastor Henson challenged the campers to be growing and reading the Word of God each day. Another great week of camp is over but the memories and spiritual decisions will last for a life time.

The first week of Guahan Christian Camp at Harvest came to a close on Saturday morning. Around 100 Jr. Hi and Sr. Hi campers had a blast and were challenged spiritually from early morning to late at night. Guest speaker Pastor Mark Kittrell met with the campers twice each day to challenge the campers about their spiritual condition. Morning sessions covered the book of James and “Tests: Evaluation of our Faith – Real or Fake?” In the evening, Pastor Kittrell focused on practical topics that were a real help to the teens. The campers also took part in “cabin devotions” and “God and I time” each day. Kevin Inafuku, who helped throughout the week at camp, reported that “God is doing unbelievable things in the lives of the campers through the preaching of His Word by Evangelist Mark Kittrell.” Pray that the campers will remain faithful to the spiritual decisions they made during the week. On top of the spiritual emphasis at camp, team competitions between Army and Navy took place each day with all sorts of games. Throughout the week the campers also enjoyed hiking, jet skiing, and even rock climbing (special thanks to Mel Hennegan and the Guam National Guard for supplying the artificial rock climbing tower). The campers also enjoyed delicious meals each day. Joaquin Pena put it this way–”Elizabeth Stamper and ladies in the church have organized and prepared the meals each day. The meals are awesome!” Guahan Christian Camp at Harvest is just packed–from the Family Life Center at Harvest, to the Merizo pier and Shepherd’s Fold Camp in Southern Guam, and all the way up to the northern beaches near Ritidian, the campers covered the island, had a great time, and grew in the Lord throughout a great week.

On Thursday evening, July 8, 2010, a number of teens and youth ministry team members from Harvest Baptist Church greeted Pastor Aaron Scott upon his arrival at A. B. WonPat International Airport. Pastor Scott joins the pastoral staff of Harvest as the Youth Pastor and will hit the ground running with a three on three basketball tournament this Saturday for teenagers and two weeks of Guahan Christian Camp starting on Monday, July 12.

July 9, 2010: The final week of Cool School has come to a close. During the last few days, Director Holly Novak reported that Cool School was going great so far and the kids were having a lot of fun.  The children enjoyed Carnival Day on Friday, June 27.  The FLC gymnasium was buzzing with excitement as kids got their faces painted, had an expert artist draw their caricature, won prizes on the games and jumped in the bouncy house.  There was even an inflatable soccer goal where they could challenge their friends to a game! July 2 was water day which is always a hit with the inflatable slide, water balloons, and water games. The Cool School students work hard throughout the week on their Math, English, and Reading and the fun activities are always an exciting cap to the week. On Tuesday of the final week, the kids were able to roast marshmallows for s’mores. Then the students were off to the bowling alley on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday marked the last day of Cool School and parents were invited to  ceremony to close out the year. Each age group presented a short verse or skit as part of the final ceremony and then enjoyed some light refreshments with parents and Cool School staff. Although Cool School is over for 2010, the fun and growth continues for students at Harvest as Guahan Christian Camp begins on Monday, July 12.

Past Updates

June 17, 2010: The summer of learning continues at Harvest Cool School both inside and outside of the classroom. From the littlest ones in Hot Tots learning letters, writing their names, and performing arts and crafts to the students in 2nd through 4th grade covering topics like multiplication facts, reading stories, telling time, and reading and writing stories. In 5th through 7th grade, students learn to diagram sentences, cover multiplication, division, fractions and even perform science experiments. Outside the classroom, the fun continues with games like scavenger hunt, kickball, plus cooking, music, drama, art (painting butterflies and making windsocks) and much more. Students in Cool School are looking forward to upcoming field trips to Ypao Beach, bowling, water day, and a carnival day. Cool School ends on July 9th with a closing program at 9am followed by a fiesta.

June 8, 2010: Words like “Great!” “Awesome!” and “Super Cool!” were used to describe the banana splits enjoyed by all the young people in Cool School at Harvest on Tuesday afternoon. Cool School offers a variety of educational and fun activities for K3 through 6th grade and one of those activities is a “cooking” elective on Tuesday afternoons. The first two weeks led to the creation of “trail mix” and “chocolate puppy chow” but today was banana splits. After the Cool School staff dished out the ice cream, students could choose from a variety of toppings like chocolate, pineapple, and strawberries to make their own banana split creations.  Even though the students enjoy the air conditioned comfort of the Family LIfe Center for their activities each hot and sunny day, nothing could make things cooler in Cool School than an afternoon of delicious and refreshing banana splits!

May 26, 2010: The summer Cool School program at Harvest is underway. Open for all K3 through rising 7th graders, the summer program at Harvest is a great way for kids to keep their minds sharp while having a blast and enjoying tons of super fun activities each week. During the first day of Cool School on Tuesday, May 25, the teachers were well prepared and ready to start the day and the Guam Camp Team had great energy as the day began with an assembly and chapel in the FLC Fellowship Hall. During the first week of Cool School, the students are learning about the “armor of God” during the morning chapel sessions. After chapel, the day continues with academic subjects like math, reading, and English. A variety of delicious menu items are available for lunch including pizza, sandwiches, chicken nuggets, and more. After lunch, students play games like carpet ball, foosball, and this week, some of the students even had the opportunity to make a sweet snack in a cooking class with the help of the Cool School high school assistants. The kids loved shaking the bags of chocolate-covered cereal in powdered sugar as they made “puppy chow.”  The students also enjoyed a fun time of playing kickball. At the end of the day, three students were asked their favorite part of cool school and replied “Everything!” The fun summer learning experience continues each week until July 9th.

Harvest Baptist Church celebrated our nation’s 234th birthday with a full day of activities on Sunday. The day began with the regular schedule of services. Stirring selections including a patriotic medley from the church ensemble and music minister Kevin Inafuku’s rendition of “The Statue of Liberty” provided a great start to the day. Pastor Herron tied together our study of “end times” with the July 4th holiday during his message entitled “Independence in End Times” which included “mandates for devoted saints” from 2 Timothy 3:1-17. After the morning service, everyone was invited to a fun fiesta during the afternoon in the Family Life Center. Popcorn and watermelon were abundant as people began heading across the Harvest campus to the FLC and soccer field. Some folks enjoyed the air conditioned comfort of the FLC while Jon Loker, Michelle Hamilton, and Cliff and Marie Paulin provided a “down-home” feel for the day with a variety of songs played on the banjo, violin, guitar, and ukulele. Those enjoying the outdoor activities could also enjoy listening to the music as it was piped outdoors throughout the day. Eight different teams were outside working hard on their creative cooking creations during the Harvest chicken cook-off. Joey Babin eventually was crowned this year’s champion with an Asian sesame seed covered chicken entry. Kevin Inafuku was the day’s emcee and worked his way inside and outside reminding everyone of the various events and times including the soccer tournament (won by a team called “Misty’s Mayhem”), the watermelon eating contest (won by Joseph Erra) the water balloon toss (won by Mike and Helen Middlebrooke), and all sorts of fun activities for children including face-painting and caricature sketches, frog races, and a water balloon cannon. One child summed up the July 4th festivities at Harvest best by exclaiming how much fun they had during the day. That was a sentiment shared by many as this year’s July 4th fiesta was a great success for the church family and guests and promises to be an annual event at Harvest.

Please be in prayer for Pastor Herron and his family as they travel to the states to attend the funeral of Pastor’s father, Tom Herron, who passed away on Thursday, July 1.  Pastor will be flying to California on Monday, July 5, in order to attend the funeral while Mrs. Herron and the children will be leaving shortly thereafter. The funeral arrangements are pending. Although there is sorrow at Mr. Herron’s passing, Pastor Herron’s family rejoices that Mr. Herron is with the Lord he loved and served throughout his life.

Guahan Christian Camp is a resident camping experience full of fun activities that is designed to help Guam’s youth grow spiritually. This year’s theme is ARMY vs NAVY as campers will be divided into two teams for fun, wholesome games and activities. There will be two weeks of Guahan Christian Camp this summer for 3rd-12th graders. Junior and Senior High camp with guest speaker Mark Kittrell begins on Monday, July 12–camp fee is $129. This camp is for rising 7th-12th graders.  Junior High with speaker Pastor Joe Henson begins July 19–camp fee is $89.  The cost includes a t-shirt, food, lodging, and all activities. You can preregister for camp for $25 (non-refundable). CONTACT US for more information.

School is out, but the campus of Harvest Ministries continues to see much activity. Summer is the perfect time for a number of maintenance and construction projects to take place. The most noticeable improvement to the campus is visible just outside the HeBrews coffee shop as a crew extended the tiled walkway all the way around the front of the three story classroom building and back to the elevators. The finished product is a wonderful visual enhancement to the Harvest Ministries campus. At the same time, the Harvest maintenance department has been systematically repainting the three story classroom building–doors and all. Another crew is hard at work repairing and replacing the railing on some of the hallways to make sure that they are safe and secure. Inside, the audio-visual department has been putting the finishing touches on additional data projectors so that the goal of having data projectors in every classroom is now complete. In the church building, a crew has completely removed everything from the church nursery and is thoroughly remodeling and redesigning this area of ministry. All of these projects point to the effort to be good stewards of all the beautiful facilities with which God has blessed Harvest ministries.

Congratulations to Class of 2010 Harvest Christian Academy graduate Matthew Perez, winner of the 2010 Shieh Su Ying Scholar Athlete Scholarship. Matt was a member of this year’s Eagles’ championship volleyball team and second place soccer team. HCA had two students named as finalists for this year’s Scholar Athlete award as Miles Herron was also named a finalist. According to the Shieh Su Ying Scholar Athlete website, The “Scholar Athlete Program was established in support of Dr. Shieh’s Clinic mission: to provide quality health care and at the same time promote community education on health by encouraging the public, especially young students, to stay away from alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Finalists are chosen out of the nominated athletes and invited to the Shieh Su Ying Scholar Athlete Banquet to commemorate their achievements.  At the banquet one Female Athlete and one Male Athlete out of the Finalists is announced, and will receive a scholarship designated towards their college fund.” Read more about the awards ceremony on the Pacific Daily News website.

The students of Harvest Christian Academy are on summer break until August, but for a number of teachers the learning continues into the summer. For the first four weeks of summer, Harvest offers Masters level courses as part of the BJU graduate education program. The first class this summer is Assessment of Learning taught by Dr. Tim Watson. The topics covered include writing tests, developing grading schemes, standardized test scores and what they do and do not mean, and more. Students (Harvest faculty) also are using a web based program as part of the course to submit material and take exams. The opportunity to work towards a Masters degree is a tremendous resource for both the school and the faculty. The faculty can further their education without the expense of off-island travel while the school benefits from having teachers who are continually staying sharp and learning each summer.