She Never Heard the Creation Story
By Jeanette Biesecker, Director of Ministry Advancement Danielle, a 3rd grader in Joy El’s Bible Adventure West Virginia program, was a new student this fall. On first meeting her, volunteers…
4.12 Student Leaders Hold First Summit for the Year
By Nate Marshall Last weekend our 4.12 students had their first Leadership Training Summit for the year! The summit is a special Christian retreat weekend held three times a year…
The Benefits of Having a Retreat
By Miriam Ankerbrand, previous Group Events Coordinator One of my best memories as a teen was going with my church to a nearby camp for a Christian retreat weekend. The…
A Lasting Impact
This is my 31st year serving as a public school missionary. What a joy to start another year of Bible Adventure classes! Another year of sharing the love of Jesus…
A Weekend to Reflect
By Rachel Shively, 4.12 Coordinator In a very fast paced culture, most people quickly move from one season of life to the next and never truly take time to reflect…
The Power of Removing Distractions
By Justin Kipe Director of Camping Ministries One of the key benefits of holding a Christian retreat at Joy El is the time spent away from the routines and distractions…
Where it started
By: Jackie Boyer, Assistant Director for Bible Adventure/CIA As Assistant Director for Bible Adventure/CIA, I’m always interested in learning how people became involved with our Bible Adventure (formerly released time)…
Safe? Will my child be safe at sleep-away camp?
By Aaron E. Ziebarth, Executive Director Every once in a while I receive a question something like this from a parent. They haven’t sent their child to camp before and…
What is the impact of bad news?
By Aaron E. Ziebarth, Executive Director Recently while reading the book “Good to Great in God’s Eyes” by Chip Ingram, I saw the significant value of a week-long Christian summer…
Learning to Lead through the 4.12 Leadership Training Program
By Stephanie Ziebarth, Barnabas Program Coordinator Kyle Swope was fascinated by leadership at a young age. “I always wanted to learn about leadership,” he says. “It was a big draw…