AN UPDATE FROM THE ANTIOCHIAN VILLAGE |
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Dear Village Family,
As we reached the end of Session 4B this summer, the one thing I kept saying in my mind was, "Thank you God...we made it!" We are blessed to look back on the summer and know that we had 8 sessions of camp, 2 Hike Weeks, 722 campers, 31 CITs, more than 60 staff, and 1 amazing Christ-centered summer. We were blessed to get through the summer safely without any known cases of COVID or any major issues. Our campers and staff created a wonderful environment focused on Christ, and together we prayed, we played, and we worked on our salvation, striving to grow closer to the Kingdom of Heaven.
This summer we welcomed back faces we have not seen for at least 2 years (and wow our campers were each a foot taller!), we did so many things differently (arrival day, Gimme Shop, outside meals, masks indoors), and yet it still felt the same. Despite any guidelines or changes to our program, the center of it all - Jesus Christ - remained the same, as after all, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). My favorite thing this summer was to hear our community worship the divine services together, and of course to hear people laughing and playing.
I realize all of this was only possible thanks to so many people working so hard. First of all, His Eminence Metropolitan JOSEPH, His Grace Bishop THOMAS, Mr. Dimitri Zeidan and the Village Council, and Mr. Fawaz El Khoury, Mr. Salim Abboud, and the Board of Trustees for giving us the blessing to hold in-person camp this summer. Dr. James Rossetti and Dr. Badie Al Nemr for helping us formulate our safety protocols. All the campers and their families for coming to camp - many of whom drove great distances just to be here. Our session priests who volunteered their time to be with our campers. Our summer staff who worked so hard, sacrificed so much, and gave their campers everything they had, to ensure they had a positive experience and stayed safe. And of course our Village Family and parishes who kept us in their holy prayers all summer.
This summer, we all came together as a Village family, and brought camp back! Thanks to everyone, we were able to have the opportunity to grow closer to God at this beautiful place.
I want to thank all of you - our entire Village family - for helping to make this summer possible. Thanks to your love, support, and prayers, we are able to continue this ministry at this beautiful place. And even after an amazing summer, our work is just beginning! We just finished a wonderful Adult Camp weekend (see more below), we are preparing to raise money for camper scholarships at our Fort Ligonier Days gyro booth, we have our Alumni Weekend in November, we are preparing for our annual appeal, last night we started our monthly Alumni Zoom calls and summer staff Zoom calls, and we are preparing to open registration for Winter Family Camp, Winter Camp, and Summer Family Camp. I thank you all for helping this ministry continue and thrive in a time in which we need Christ more than ever. I am beyond thankful and humbled to serve here and I cannot thank you all enough for your continued support.
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Please know that you remain in our prayers every day. We miss you and love you. Please keep us in your prayers and we hope you will join us for an upcoming program soon!
In Christ,
Fr. Christopher Shadid
Camp Director
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Check out our full Summer Camp photo album on SmugMug.
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This summer one of our AV alumni generously donated funds to repave and extend our small basketball court; so, we now have two full-size basketball courts! We want to thank the alum who donated to make this project happen, and it is a wonderful example of how support from our alumni continues to sustain and improve the ministry and grounds of AV Camp!
We are still in need of funds to purchase and install two basketball hoops, because the court now faces the opposite direction. We also have many other projects here at AV that we are hoping to complete. If you would like to help us complete the basketball court, or if you are interested in contributing to another project, please e-mail frchris@avcamp.org!
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Yesterday we wrapped up a wonderful Adult Camp weekend! We welcomed 50 campers from ages 22 to 69. Fr. Nick Belcher spoke about the topic, "Unless you become like little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven," (Matthew 18:3), and we got to do so many of our camp favorites such as tie-dye, angleball, and our Saints scavenger hunt. Thank you to everyone who participated and we hope you will consider joining us next year! |
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Calling all Alumni!
Join us from November 5-7 for our Alumni Reunion Weekend, commemorating the 20 year memorial of our first camp director, Fr. John Namie.
We will officially kick off the weekend Friday morning by driving up to Ellwood City monastery where we will pray the Trisagion prayers of mercy at the grave of Fr. John Namie.
Uncle Paul Finley will be joining us as the keynote speaker for the weekend and will be leading our teachings and discussions.
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We've got a busy year ahead of us here at AV!
Mark your calendars for all your favorite programs!
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Winter Family Camp
January 14-17, 2022
Registration opens September 24, 2021!
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Winter Camp
February 18-21, 2022
Registration opens October 29, 2021!
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Summer Family Camp
May 27-30, 2022
Registration opens January 21, 2022!
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Summer Camp
- Session 1: June 19-July 1, 2022
- Session 2: July 3-15, 2022
- Session 3: July 17-29, 2022
- Session 4: July 31-August 12, 2022
Registration opens January 8, 2022!
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YEAR OF THE YOUTH TOWNHALLS |
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This fall, the Assembly of Bishops will continue to sponsor monthly townhalls as part of the “Year of the Youth” for youth ages 18 and younger. These Townhalls will be Zoom calls with hierarchs, where youth will get to join breakout rooms, get to know our bishops, hear them talk about the topic of “Who do you say that I am?”, and get to ask them any questions they want! Please spread the word and encourage our youth to attend these amazing opportunities!
- September 28th, 7pm EST – Southeast & Central East Regions
- October 12th, 7pm CST – Central West Region
- November 9th, 7pm PST – Northwest Region
- December 14th, 7pm PST – Southwest Region
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