BCY News

Penticton First Baptist Church and The Ark Youth Centre suffered a fire and smoke damage Thursday, April 14th. We give thanks that no one was hurt and that the fire damage was contained to the kitchen.

The Ark Youth Centre is located in the basement of the church. Although the fire didn’t spread, there was extensive smoke damage throughout the rest of the building. A restoration crew got to work immediately to clean the church sanctuary, which was ready for Sunday services. The youth centre itself cannot be used until the damage is repaired. At this time, the cost of damages has not yet been assessed.

The Ark had only recently re-opened after suffering extensive water damage almost exactly a year ago. Please pray that the Ark will re-open again soon once renovations are complete and that God will work through this experience in the lives of the youth. Please pray that the need to clean and repair the building one more will be used in some way to open the lives of youth and everyone involved to God’s work in our lives.

Heartland News

Pelican Lake Baptist Camp will be sold sometime in the near future with the proceeds applied to the camp’s debt and the remainder put into a trust fund. The decision to sell the camp came at its Annual General Meeting on April 10 in Brandon.

The small Canadian Baptist camp in the Heartland, located on 60 acres on Pelican Lake southeast of Brandon, has been struggling for several years and has not held camps for the past couple of summer camping seasons. The camp has a debt of about $45,000 for new washroom facilities and operating costs.

Read more after the link.

BCY News

Sylvan Acres Ministry is being transformed by a bold new vision that will radically change Canadian Baptist camping on Vancouver Island.

Sylvan Acres Ministry, which is owned by the CBWC, had run a traditional summer camp near Youbou on Vancouver Island for many years, but in the last few years it had struggled to attract campers and run sustainably. No official camping programs were offered in 2008 or 2009 and the future of camping looked bleak. Something needed to change.

Historically, Sylvan Acres has been run by the Vancouver Island Association of Churches, a group of 15 CBWC churches. These island churches met and decided the camp needed oversight more consistent with that given other Canadian Baptist camps. They decided to create an independent camp board. Three island churches are represented on this board (instead of 15) and the camp has been made accountable to the CBWC Camping Committee, like other CBWC camps. This new structure became official in July 2009.

The new board brought in Jeff Dyer, formerly the Executive Director of Gull Lake Centre and now the COO of the Mustard Seed Society), as a consultant to help them with visioning. Through this process, the board believes God is calling Sylvan Acres to a new vision for camping that would focus on community and creation care by starting a year-round community retreat and ranching ministry.

Follow the link to read more.