AN UPDATE FROM THE ANTIOCHIAN VILLAGE |
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MEET THE ASSISTANT CAMP DIRECTOR! |
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Hey Villagers! My name is James Matthews and I am very humbled to be one of your Assistant Camp Directors here at AV. I grew up in Pike County PA playing sports (soccer, baseball, and volleyball), hanging out with my best buds, and taking my studies seriously. I attended college in Anchorage, AK where I spent time frolicking the mountains and exploring my faith. I ended up graduating with my Bachelors in Civil Engineering in 2017, and immediately started a Hydraulic Engineering position with the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in Buffalo, NY. While in Buffalo I would frequently come down to the Village to volunteer, where I immediately fell in love with the ministry.
What I love most about the ministry is seeing the staff's dedication and constant selflessness. I have been amazed and astounded by their faith and desire to give back. I believe this kind of dedication and love can only come from God Himself. Their commitment and passion is what originally inspired me to serve in this ministry, and is what continues to remind me how God works through others.
I'm also very passionate about the Village's commitment to experiential learning, which is most evidently exhibited on the Challenge Course (CC). In a world full of lecture style learning (now on Zoom), the CC offers hands-on learning experiences. The CC creates challenges that are:
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SIGNIFICANT - Meaningful and relevant to the participants
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CHALLENGING - Involve new experiences encouraging creative "Out of the Box" thinking
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SUPPORTIVE - Emphasize teamwork to develop trust and healthy risk-taking
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SATISFYING - Build on successes to create greater successes
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FUN - Capitalize on the inherent joy of learning while laughing.
As the new Challenge Course Manager I may be biased, but I love hands on learning! Any time you combine physical activity and learning, count me in!
Thank you all for the warm welcome into the Village Family, I am excited to serve you.
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James has taken responsibility of redesigning our website (check it out!), running our Virtual Camp this past summer, running our database system, and is our new Challenge Course Director. He also got engaged this past summer to Emily Case who was a longtime camper and staff member here at AV. Many years to both of them! |
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This summer, we were very fortunate to have small groups of volunteers working alongside our full-time staff to make necessary improvements to the camp. These volunteers followed a set of safety procedures created through consultation with a medical doctor. The work completed this summer has helped tremendously to preserve and improve our facilities. |
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Holding Virtual Camp this summer allowed us to connect on a different level than we ever have before! Virtual Camp has also allowed us to build a resource that can be utilized for years to come! All of our videos are still on our YouTube page - check it out!
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We have begun praying the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God each Thursday morning during the year at our new icon corner in the Lodge. You are all in our prayers and we ask that you continue to keep us in yours!
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Join us on Sunday, September 20th at 6 PM EST via Zoom for our monthly Alumni Virtual Hangout! This will be a wonderful time of us to connect and share memories. Leading this month's hangout will be AV legend, Fr. John Salem, longtime AV camper and staff member, and current pastor of St. Elijah Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma! Check out avcamp.org for the Zoom link!
Our October Alumni Virtual Hangout will be Sunday, October 18 at 6PM EST via Zoom, and will be led by another AV legend, Fr. James Shadid, pastor of St. George Church in Houston, TX!
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ADULT CAMP VIRTUAL REUNION |
Adult Camp Virtual Reunion will take place on Thursday, September 24th at 7 PM EST via Zoom! We will be joined by Fr. Nick Belcher, who serves as the Episcopal Assistant at the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and as interim pastor of St. George Church in Little Falls, NJ. Fr. Nick also served as an AV counselor and head counselor, and he now serves as one of our session priests during the summer! Fr. Nick will also be our session priest for Adult Camp 2021, which will take place from September 17th-20th.
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Winter Family Camp will take place from January 15th-18th (MLK Jr weekend), 2021, assuming it is safe to gather. This wonderful retreat provides a vacation for families with the opportunity to grow closer to one another and other families, while growing in the Faith! Winter Family Camp is open to families with children of all ages! Registration information will be coming soon!
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Registration will be opening soon for Winter Camp 2021! Winter Camp is a weekend retreat for campers in grade 7-12. This year, Winter Camp will take place from Friday, February 12th-Monday, February 15th (President's Day Weekend), assuming it is safe to gather. It is a weekend full of fun, fellowship, and faith! Stay tuned for registration information coming soon!
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The Bookstore inventory has been updated! |
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Our online bookstore inventory has been updated! Visit our website to check out clothing, icons, books, and more! All products can be shipped nationwide!
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My name is Erin Kimmett and I am an iconographer. Some of you may know me as Nick & Zach’s mom, and others might recognize me as the Session 3 Icon Camp teacher. But what you may not know is that my love for AV began long before Icon Camp!
The Village opened its doors when I was 15 years old. Already feeling like an awkward teenager, I, sadly, chose not to attend and missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime. Or…so I thought. But God is good, and in His wisdom, found a way to get me to camp after all! When I was 25 years old, I had the great (and life-changing) blessing to serve as a chaperone. For the record, my Sitey had long been the designated chaperone/ volunteer from our parish – a job she adored and looked forward to each and every year! But, in 1991, she gave up her beloved position and suggested that I go in her place (a God-inspired choice, I believe.) That was a summer I’ll never forget, including departure day, which took longer than it should have, because I (the adult in the room) didn’t want to leave camp. I literally couldn’t stop crying and hugging good-bye to all my new-found friends. The Antiochian Village – this little slice of Heaven – had captured my heart and become my home in less than two weeks. I was smitten and would return again and again, in one capacity or another, over the next thirty years…and counting.
The summers of ’91 and ‘92 changed the course of my life forever. I was the one who went to volunteer; who went to serve; who went to help others grow in their faith. And yet, it was I who would be transformed; who would find a depth of faith I’d never known; who would be introduced to my life’s vocation as an iconographer. How ironic.
Just when you think you know where you’re headed, God will show you a new and more excellent way! Perhaps, out of the blue, you will find yourself chaperoning a busload of kids to camp. Then, someone will suggest that you should visit the Icon Studio during your time off. You will walk through the door and feel certain that this is what God meant you to do with your life! That was me. In an instant, my whole life changed.
I became an iconographer, met my husband, Father Joseph, and raised two sons (who did go to camp!).
While I never again served as a volunteer, I did find myself back in the Icon Studio in 2006 -- this time as the teacher -- in hopes of offering back just a little of what I’d been given so long ago. And, for the record, I still receive more than I give.
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Kh. Erin serves as our Iconography Camp Instructor every summer, guiding campers through the process of writing/painting a beautiful icon in a week! Glory to God for her continued service to AV and for inspiring so many of us through the years! |
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Hello people of AV! My name is Ilya (or Ilusha) Gerasimchuk and I was a 3rd session camper for a looong time. I’m from Cincinnati, Ohio and now go to college as a sophomore to Grand Valley State University, and I’m not the only AV goer who’s here either! I’m studying mechanical engineering with a minor in biomedical engineering and to add to the mess I’m on the Swim & Dive team here too.
I honestly don’t know where to start with this. AV is just one of those places you must experience at least once in your lifetime and that is not only for campers. My mother volunteered the last year I went, and she had just as many great things to say about it as anyone else even though she had only been there for the two short weeks we were. The Village is a place where you will meet people that will last you your lifetime and people that you can call your family and actually mean it. The Village is a place where you not only grow as an Orthodox Christian, but as a person too. To this day my cabin and sometimes our sister cabin, ew girls, get together every Wednesday on Facetime and we catch up with one another, have the good laughs we did in the cabins and everywhere else, and at the end of the night we always say prayers because ultimately that’s what drove us together to and in the Village. I have learned so many things at AV about Christ and about myself and the people around me that I would never get the chance to anywhere else. The Village is a family that always has your back and a place you can call home away from home.
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Hi AV! I’m Olivia Ibrahim and I’m from Cleveland, Ohio. I am currently a second year student, majoring in Political Science at The Ohio State University. I’ve been going to camp for 9 years and this was my first year on staff!
The Village has changed my life in so many ways. I’ve created friendships with people that will last a lifetime, and I have had the opportunity to grow with them year after year. Not only have I met so many amazing people, but I truly learned a lot about myself and my faith. The campers, staff, and priests all make up this community that is so special and I am thankful to be a part of it. I grew up in an area where being Orthodox was rare, and to be able to come each summer and be with fellow Orthodox Christians has impacted my life in unimaginable ways. Now, as a college student, I am able to take what I have learned and apply it to my life. I have an extensive connection of people to lean on, that I wouldn’t have if it weren’t for camp. My time spent at AV has also opened up opportunities for me to grow beyond camp. AV introduced me to OCF, College Conference, and endless service opportunities where I have been able to meet and connect with other Orthodox young adults, not only at my school, but schools around the country. I am so grateful for this ministry and everything it has given me. The Village will always have a special place in my heart, and I strive to be a part of it for as long as I can.
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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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If you would like to continue to support our ministry, please click here for information on how to donate!
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