BBC Blog
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Family Affair: Father and Sons as Camp Counselors
Last summer I worked for a week at BBC as a counselor. As a parent of three sons who have loved camp for a decade, I was excited to stick around past drop-off and get an insider’s look. When I arrived on Sunday afternoon Meatball handed me a grey staff shirt. The shirt had the…
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Time and Talent. Making Camp Happen.
Bethany Birches was very fortunate to have two young, retired, volunteer couples join the team summer 2021. Rita and Lowell Peachey from Kansas, and Mark and Kathy Alt, of Maryland. Head cook Amber “Cheeks” Bergey who worked with them asked a little about their experience. How’d you find Bethany Birches? Kathy: We found them on the…
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Full Circle: From Camper to Counselor
When it comes to long-time campers who love camp Maja is as loved and well known as they come. Maja has been coming to camp since 2014, when she was 7 years old, and has had the experience we hope all campers can have at camp. I asked Maja how she would describe her experience…
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BBC Easter Program Live Stream
Greetings Camp Friends (Reading this after Easter Sunday? The links below will still take you to the video. Enjoy anytime!) He is risen?! He is risen indeed! You may or may not be familiar with this Easter call and response phrase. We say it together on Easter Sunday. Someone says he is risen and someone replies that…
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Nevin J. Bender, BBC’s First Camp Director, Joins The Great Cloud Of Witnesses
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Ask those who were on staff or came to camp as campers in the 1960s and 70s about their Bethany Birches experience and they will almost certainly reference the rustic and challenging moments that became so deeply engraved in their memories. Back then, the Bethany Birches experience had to be rustic and challenging. Camp was…
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Shifting From Receiving To Giving… Yet Still Receiving
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_id=”michi”] Having been a camper at Bethany Birches for six summers (and a Counselor In Training for one), I knew that I wanted to be a counselor eventually, and I finally got that opportunity last summer, as the youngest member of the 2019 summer staff. Camp had always been one of my favorite places…
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Are We Accomplishing Our Mission? Beyond Anecdotes.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Over the last few years Bethany Birches has been committed to partnering with academic organizations researching the benefits of Christian Summer Camps. Last year the Hope Study (University of Oklahoma) measured whether campers experienced increased hope as a result of their camp experience. The Hope Study 2018 found “The results of this report continue to…
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Be Still And Know That I Am God…. even in the chaos
Hi. I’m Flora, or at camp I’m Gigi. This summer I’m the Day Camp and Leadership Training Director. Every summer I’ve worked here I’ve seen God clearly in the campers, in nature and the community among the staff. This summer I’ve seen him in each of those places, but I’ve also been challenged by the…
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Leon and Rupert Try The Way Of Jesus Together
The other week I returned to the adventure that is counseling at Bethany Birches Camp. I left the routine of my job as the facilities manager and once again became Counselor Rupert. Our cabin group that spent the week in Robin all arrived together on a bus and were part of the Camp Agape program.…
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