Fellowship Bible Church has a long history and storied tradition of camp meetings.   From Family Camp at Monadnock Bible Conference during the 1980’s to the more recent Camp Fellowship at our church property here in Methuen, FBC has consistently been a proponent of offering the families of our church a focused time to get away together for fellowship, family fun, and spiritual growth.

Labor Day 2015 was no exception!  For the third year in a row FBC has utilized the WILDS of New England as its family camp destination.  Many thanks to Rand Hummel and the faithful staff of TWNE for making this past weekend such a joy! The weather was absolutely spectacular with 80-degree days and 50-degree nights.  The night sky put on a particularly spectacular display of stars with the Milky Way strewn clearly across the heavens.

The WILDS of New England is nestled in the beautiful hills of Deering, NH and is the perfect setting for our church getaway.  It is located less than an hour’s drive from Methuen.  Its accommodations are rustic but comfortable enough.  Activities range from the sedate to the extreme.  You might see people sipping coffee and playing a quiet game at a table in Cool Beans, or enjoying an evening hayride, or hear someone screaming as they fly down the newly-installed zip line, or see kids and adults alike in a heated battle of laser tag.

Attendance was down a bit from previous years with about 50 – 60 people present for the weekend, but the benefit was as valuable as ever. There is nothing like a retreat setting to get to know the people of your church.  Eating together, listening to God’s Word together, laughing at the crazy antics of the TWNE staff on stage, singing together, and doing some crazy activities together combined for a rich, personal, spiritual, and community experience that we won’t soon forget.

Our special speaker this year was Brent Meyers.  Brent is a missionary to South Africa and is the nephew of long-time FBC partner, Ken Meyers.  Brent had a series of fascinating and helpful messages on the topic of Conflict Management.  After giving several CM principles that he teaches at the college level in South Africa, he delved into an exposition of the book of Philemon, explaining in detail how Paul approached Philemon with the problem of his runaway slave, Onesimus.  Thank you, Brent, for your insightful and helpful messages!

If you were unable to attend this year’s Labor Day Weekend at the WILDS, I hope this little bit of news will whet your appetite for next year!