AN UPDATE FROM THE ANTIOCHIAN VILLAGE |
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WELCOME TO THE GATHERING PLACE! |
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Hello Village Family! Welcome to The Gathering Place: a Newsletter from The Antiochian Village! We are so excited to provide updates on what has been happening around Camp, spotlight some amazing members of our Village Family, and connect with all of you!
Please feel free to share this with others, and if you would like to be added to our mailing list, please e-mail office@avcamp.org!
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Hey Villagers! My name is Fr. Chris Shadid and I am honored to serve as the new Camp Director at AV! I have been blessed to grow up here as a Camper starting in 1998, a CIT, Counselor, Head Counselor, and Assistant Camp Director. As a baby, I even sat on Fr. Michael Nasser’s lap in – you guessed it – the Gathering Place (yup - that's me and Fr. Michael below)! I am so excited to have the opportunity to serve in this ministry!
One thing I love most about AV is that we are a Christ-centered community. One of our goals is to connect our entire Village Family – both current and former campers, staff, volunteers, and families – to Christ and to the Village. No matter who we are or where we are, the Village is our home and we are all part of the AV family! Our mission is to grow closer to Christ, and by staying connected to our Faith and to each other, we can continue to fulfill that mission!
We hope you enjoy our newsletters as we try to keep our Village Family connected to Christ and to each other. We’ll tell you the latest news from AV, highlight different Villagers, and even read some special messages. We love you and miss you all! Please keep us in your prayers!
And remember, the Village is always your home!
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WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND CAMP? |
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James Matthews, Assistant Camp Director, working on Virtual Camp content!
We are very fortunate to have been able to offer our Village Family 40 days of Virtual Camp! Our staff has worked tirelessly to create and provide virtual programming that is fun, engaging, and spiritually nourishing! Be sure to visit our Youtube channel to view the Virtual Camp videos! Then, let us know what you think by taking this survey!
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Fr. Chris Shadid, Camp Director, power-washing the Metropolitan Philip Welcome Lodge!
We miss having campers here each day! However, we have been taking this time to improve our facilities, in preparation for when it is safe for you all to return to the Village! Currently, we are focussing on power-washing and staining our cabins and buildings around camp! This helps to preserve our facilities, so that we can enjoy them together for many years to come! This work is labor-intensive, and is being completed by our full-time staff and a group of volunteers.
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EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT AT AV! |
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We would like to thank our camper, Anthony Joseph, for doing his Eagle Scout project here at AV! Anthony came all the way from Peoria, IL to lead a group of family and local scouts in building a new shrine for the icon inside the Arch and two carpet ball tables – so get ready to play this new game next summer! Thank you, Anthony! May God bless your journey through scouting and may God grant you many years! |
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Hello Antiochian Village Community! It is my honor to be this month’s Village Alumni Spotlight. My first time at the Village was as a 10-year-old camper who would have much preferred to have been home playing video games than to have been away at a summer camp, but my perspective would change soon enough! As I grew and matured as a young man, I began to appreciate camp and what it had to offer, taking advantage of the opportunities to both learn my faith and build life-long friendships. The Antiochian Village played a major role in who I am as a Christian man today. I spent 7 years as a camper and 3 years as a staff member. In this time my faith was de-compartmentalized, by which I mean that I began to see my faith as the overarching backdrop to my whole life, rather than just another thing I “did” along with school, sports, and family. The lifestyle we experience at camp is one which gives us a taste of holistic Christian living, which we then take home and incorporate into the other 50 weeks of the year. When I was the Morning Program Coordinator, I used to say to some of the staff that everything we do at camp is Christian Education. The behavior the staff exemplifies during a soccer game, a meal, evening program, or the overnight is itself a powerful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This mindset I learned at the Village has been a guiding principle for my life. |
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I recently graduated from The University of Michigan with a degree in Computer Science and worked as a Software Developer for one year. I worked hard to keep the love of service instilled in me at the Village by serving at my church as a Sunday School teacher and chanter. By the end of my first year as a Software Developer, I could no longer ignore the growing desire within me to serve the Church in a full-time capacity. I left my job after one year and moved from Detroit to Phoenix, Arizona to be the Parish Intern at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church. While in Phoenix, I experienced working in a parish full-time as I worked with teens, young children, college students, and adults. My time in Phoenix taught me first-hand what serving full-time in a parish looks like and it assured me in my desire for a theological education. Having completed my internship in Phoenix, I will now be beginning my studies at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York this fall as an Antiochian Seminarian, by the blessing of His Eminence, Metropolitan JOSEPH.
My time at the Antiochian Village set me on a course to serve the Church for the rest of my life. The virtues of love for one’s neighbor by serving them, as exemplified to us by Christ, has been imparted to me in my time at the Antiochian Village and especially by people such as Fr. Anthony Yazge, Fr. Michael Nasser, Fr. Christopher Shadid, Dn. Marek Simon, my counselors, campers, and fellow staff members.
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The part of the Village that sticks out to me so much is that I can still name every kid in my previous cabins and every counselor I've had since my first year; from Patrick Hanania in Cabin 31, to Lance Anenson in Cabin 48. The Village will always be my home and I will always have brothers and sisters there. My family lives all over the world, but my spiritual family will always be my fellow Villagers. As I grow up, I finally realize why we call them our brother and sister cabins and brothers and sisters through Christ. These are the people who have had some of the biggest impacts in my life and I could never ask for a better home to go to for two weeks every summer. I will forever cherish the relationships I have made knowing that they will last a lifetime. |
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Hi AV family!! My name is William Maghes and I am a Session One camper from Canton, Ohio. I attend Saint George Church in Akron, and am currently a Junior at Jackson High School where I play soccer and wrestle.
I’ve been going to the Village since I was nine, and I was supposed to hike this year. Every year I go to the Village, it impacts my life in a better way. When I was younger I used to think the reason it was so easy to make great friends at the Village was because you only see everyone for two weeks and you can’t see their bad sides like kids from school. It took me until two years ago to finally realize that the reason campers and counselors from the Village become so close is because of our faith and how strong we grow together through Christ. The greatest reality from the Village is that I can call anyone I have met there at any time and I know they will answer their phones and be ready to talk. The Village is home to me and many others. When people say, "take the Village home with you" it seems hard at first until you realize that the Village isn’t a place, but it is the environment we have created with everyone there through Christ.
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One of the best memories I have is from my hike year. We were living in the Chalet at the time, as hikers, which made it even better because I had made a full circle! So many of us had started in the Chalet together as nine-year-olds. One morning, we woke up really early to see the sunrise. The sun rising over the football fields was so peaceful and full of beauty. We were able to see so much of God's beauty. I will also mention that our brother cabin didn’t end up showing up, because they slept through the alarms!!! It is one of the things I love to laugh about, because not only was it classic, but we were all such a tight group that it felt as though we were actually brothers and sisters!! Every time we were together, we made another memory that I treasure!! |
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Hi! My name is Nina Kallil! I am from Grand Rapids, MI and I study Vocal Jazz and Contemporary Music Performance at Roosevelt University. I have been going to camp for 11 years, and this was my second year as a staff member.
When I think about my time at the Village, I remember so many special memories that I’ve made growing up, all of which have impacted me so much! Every year had something different that was amazing and special in its own way. One highlight for me is looking at how much I’ve grown, growing up at that place and how much it has helped mold me into the person I am today.
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Operation: It Takes a Village |
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We have been absolutely blown away by the support of our Village Family throughout Operation: It Takes a Village. As a non-profit, the Village heavily relies on summer income. Through your donations and generosity, we have been able to raise $40,000, which is contributing to: utility expenses, maintaining our grounds, maintaining our vehicles and buildings, and supporting our full-time staff. We are so grateful, and feel extremely blessed to have such a strong and supportive Village family! |
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If you would like to continue to support our ministry, please click here for information on how to donate!
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Cade Scott, Assistant Camp Director, packing bookstore orders to be shipped! |
Our online bookstore is open! Be sure to check it out! Any orders placed will be shipped quickly and support our ministry! |
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Support the Village while shopping on Amazon! Choose "The Antiochian Village" on Amazon Smile. This will donate a portion of each purchase to camp! We appreciate your continued support! |
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