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New Chile Camp to Receive First Guests in February
QUILLON, CHILE, (January 29, 2002) - Covenant camping has been a blessing for children from all over North America and beginning next month a Covenant camp will benefit adults and children in Chile as well.
The Association of Covenant Camps and Conference Centers (A4C's) sent a delegation of workers January 6-19 to help build a camp in Quillon, located one hour east of Concepcion. The new camp will be ready to receive its first guests for a family camp experience scheduled February 4-13. At least 70 campers have registered, according to Dave Swanson, who led the construction effort in Chile as a representative of Covenant Mission Connection.
Swanson, who is from Bethlehem Covenant Church, Minneapolis, has represented Covenant Mission Connection in eight trips to Chile to help build churches and camps.
Other team members included Craig Ohlhauser and Bruce Peterson of Covenant Pines Bible Camp; Margaret Larson and Colin Betzler of Covenant Park Bible Camp in Mahtowa, Minnesota; Chris Rodriguez, Mark Hanson and Kristin Leonard of Mission Springs Conference Center in Scotts Valley, California; and Paul Erickson of Portage Lake Bible Camp in Onekama, Michigan.
Covenant camping ministries have donated funds for various ministries for nearly two decades, according to Peterson. Camps have donated money to international camp efforts in Zaire, Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, Russia, a Sudanese project in Ethiopia and Chile.
Last summer, Covenant campers contributed $86,000 to help the Chile camp and a Christian camping ministry in Russia, said Peterson, the executive director at Covenant Pines. Funds from campers helped the Chile camp build a dining hall, along with a swimming pool - land had been purchased earlier by the Chile camp.
While in Chile, team members built and installed trusses inside the dining hall and furnished the hall with tables and benches. The group also built a bridge to provide access to swimming pools now under construction. Dr. Marcus Sobarzo, a professor at the University of Concepcion and the president of the Covenant Church of Chile, helped oversee the construction efforts.
The camp is similar in appearance to many of the Northwest Conference camps, said Peterson, with numerous pine trees surrounding the facility. The camp has cleared a field for soccer and there is land for a garden and other activities. There are no living quarters for guests, so campers will reside in tents for the initial camps.
Future plans call for construction of a bathhouse and a home for the camp's resident directors, Juan and Lidia Arias. A team of leaders is in place to run the upcoming camp. The Chile camp hopes to have multiple camp events and to rent out the facility to other organizations
The logic behind a new camp in Chile comes from the impact the camping experience has had on Covenant children and their friends in North America. One camper out of every 14 became a Christian at Covenant camps in North America last summer. One out of every three campers rededicated their lives to Christ. The Chile camp will eventually run children's camps to supplement family camps and other church-related activities, although most Latin America camps are geared for families.
The Covenant Church of Chile, which is part of Confederacion de las Iglesias del Pacto Evangelico (CIPE), has had several of its eight congregations assisting the camp ministry. Peterson and Swanson say they are confident the leadership at the camp will help the camp experience make a significant impact.
"Everybody on the team wants to go back," said Peterson after returning from Chile. "The people were wonderful and the Chile group has extremely strong leadership there. It's really a well-planned effort - they've invested a lot of time and energy into it."
"A pleasant surprise was the way they've moved ahead with plans, hiring contractors to do jobs (such as building a swimming pool) that volunteers couldn't do," said Swanson. "And they had obviously thought through the possibility that volunteers would be able to help (with building the dining hall). But the construction wasn't the major accomplishment. It was getting to know the people."
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