We are still in need of at least 1 MALE volunteer counselor for the four weeks of That Thing this summer.  Counselors have the opportunity to have a positive and eternal impact on student’s lives by being with them and investing time in them 22 hours per day for five days.  Counselors will have a shared experience with students that will create a great environment for development of relationships and, ultimately, spiritual growth.  If you are interested or know a male who might be, please apply or have him apply online at www.gotothatthing.com/leaders.html (scroll to the bottom of the page) and/or contact Matt at (574) 834-2212, toll free at 1.888.MAT.2818, or by email at matt@gotothatthing.com.

Lunch - (12:00-1:00 pm) If you’re looking for a great group bonding experience, put your students into the meal prep and clean-up. Over the years we’ve discovered that the groups who really involve students in this gain a lot of interaction in an environment and situation students aren’t often in.

The One O’Clock to Five O’Clock Free Block (Activities and Things To Do) - The free activity break is from 1:00-5:00pm each afternoon. There are a variety of programmed activities for your students and your group to join in with. You can also program some or all of the time yourself for fun and games or needed group discussion times.

Dinner - For groups using the cafeteria, it will be open from 5:30-6:30pm.

 

General Session - The general sessions will start at 9:30am and are approximately an hour and twenty minutes.  Tuesday’s and Thursday’s sessions will have a leadership networking/training session coinciding with a student entertainment special after the service ends.

• Networking/Training Session - (Tuesday and Thursday)

• Student Entertainment Specials - Tuesday will feature UpRock, part of the That Thing programming team; their unique ministry blends a mixture of hip-hop, dance and story-telling.  Thursday morning hosts the talents of indie-rock band, Our Hero’s End.

Group Time - (Monday and Wednesday 10:50am - 12:00pm; Tuesday and Thursday 11:20am - 12:00pm)  This is your time to decide how to use it.  You can do breakout/unpacking sessions with your students, individual devotion times or just break and head back to the lodge to relax until lunch.

Leader’s Sunrise Prayer - Each morning the Beach House is open with fresh coffee and pastries for leaders. Opening at 6:30am and the coffee will flow until 7:30am.  Stop by, connect with some of the other leaders and pray over your students, leadership, and the day ahead.

Iron Man Club - (6:45am) Something for the overly active students and leaders who like starting the day off with a bang.  Monday will be a 30 minute swim, Tuesday’s the 30 minute run and Wednesday is a 30 minute bike ride (we’ll have a limited number available, please bring you own if possible).  Thursday will conclude with a 1 hour Iron Man course.

Lakeside Worship - (7:30am) This worship service will provide an unexpected service of worship.  There’s no praise band and the teachings are more experimental than expected.  The teachings will come from a Lectio Divina focused on the miraculous healings by Jesus, an aroma-rich metaphor using a mexican delicacy, a selfless prayer time and a Genesis to Revelation scripture reading.

Breakfast - The cafeteria will be open from 8:00-9:00 am. It’s never too early to start thinking about your meals.  You can cook your own food in your lodges or you can have your meals all taken care of in the cafeteria.  Please call 1.888.MAT.2818 to make food service reservations.  All reservations and final numbers must be made at least 16 days prior to the start of the week your group is attending. 

Just another reminder that meal service is only included for single ticket registrations.  Groups booking or sharing a lodge are able to cook their meals in their lodge if they so choose or, for an additional $75 per person, can have all meals provided in the dining hall.  If choosing this option, the meals that will be provided will be Monday breakfast through Friday breakfast.  Please call 1.888.MAT.2818 to make food service reservations.  All reservations and final numbers must be made at least 16 days prior to the start of the week your group is attending.  Call and reserve your spots now!

Below are a few things that we wanted to make sure to remind you of and mention to you here on the blog…

• Check-In for groups is on Sunday each week from 5:30PM-7:30PM
• Check out is Friday at 9:00AM
• Each Morning at 6:45am there will be an Ironman Club.  Students who choose to participate will swim one morning, run one morning, bike one morning, and finish the week doing all three.  Please have students bring a bike if they choose to participate.
• We will have a few different bands on site throughout the week…check them out!

1. Our Hero’s End” - Thursday morning entertainment during the leader networking  -myspace.com/ourherosend
2. “The Matt Loyd Project”  - After Hours band Sunday at the Beach House, listen at myspace.com/mattlloydproject
3. You can hear some free tracks of That Thing’s worship band online at  gotothatthing.com/2009.

So, you are bring a group of students to a week of That Thing!  You are probably asking yourself, “What am I responsible for?”  

First, every individual, with the exception of students, is asked to complete a background check.  Please have all adult leaders/pastors, cooks, and any other volunteers go to www.gotothatthing.com/leaders.html (scroll to the bottom of the page) and register online. Please make sure that upon arrival any volunteers that have not completed the online registration come to the Epworth Forest CC office immediately to complete this process.

Second, please have each student and adult leader/volunteer fill out an iTix before you arrive.  Upon arrival on site, greeters will be at the front gate to greet you and direct you toward your lodge.  Once you get there, start unpacking and have one adult leader from your group come to the Epworth Forest CC office for check in.  You will receive a wristband for every iTix you turn in and your lodge keys for the week.  There will be a medic at the Campus House check in location if you would like to have That Thing staff administer medications (not required).

Lastly, a few odds and ends…
Just a reminder that lodge leaders are required to provide adult leaders to maintain a minimum 1 to 10 adult & gender to student ratio.  It is up to lodge leaders to divide their students up into small groups for the week.  Feel free to get with other groups and/or lodges to do so if you would like. Go to www.gotothatthing.com/2009 and click on “Worship” to download small group discussion questions and curriculum.  Available June 1st.

That Thing will be providing a two-session leadership networking and training experience just for leaders.  It is designed to equip you as leaders with leadership principles needed to help multiply effectiveness in your lives, in your churches, in your work, and in your community!  Stan Buck from Sonrise Church is leading the charge.   He is pulling together some amazing resources that will help encourage, lift, and guide you as well as help you connect with other leaders.  

Discussion will be on Character, Courage, and Kingdom Leadership based on excerpts from 1st & 2nd Timothy as well as the book “Next Generation Leader” by Andy Stanley.  The first 75 leaders to contact us at 1.888.MAT.2818 and ask for it will receive a FREE copy of the book before arriving on site. 

Week 4 of That Thing has now been discounted!  This particular week wasn’t filling up, so we’ve reduced the cost by 25%.  We want students to have a amazing experience while they are here and a critical mass of students on site is a key factor.  Lets fill it up! 

Do you get jazzed by listening, sharing, encouraging, and being a role model to high school students?  Then our camping ministry is just for you! We are looking for volunteers willing to counsel during one or more weeks of That Thing this summer.  As a counselor, you will have the opportunity to have a positive and eternal impact on a student’s life by being with them and investing time in them 22 hours per day for five days.  Counselors with have a shared experience with their students that will create a great environment for development of relationships and, ultimately, spiritual growth for students.  If you are interested or know someone who might be, please apply or have him or her apply online at www.gotothatthing.com/leaders.html (scroll to the bottom of the page) and/or contact me at (574) 834-2212, toll free at 1.888.MAT.2818, or by email at matt@gotothatthing.com.