We are happy to report that despite weather reports of snow, snow, and more snow coming tomorrow, we are already thinking about the summer!

​Today, we sent the 2019 summer camp brochure to the printer, which means that it will be on its way to you later this month. We will also have it posted here on the website in just a couple of weeks.

​Start planning now to join us for a week or more in the summer of 2019. We have a lot of great camp opportunities, including: swim camps, sports camps, music theatre camps, family camps, and much, much more.

See you this summer at Mechuwana!

The 2018 summer camp brochure will be mailed soon, but you don't have to wait! Download the brochure and registration form today. The brochure includes fun old camp photos and information about this summer's 70th anniversary celebration happening on Saturday, July 14. Learn about all of the camps (many of our long-time camps as well as a few new ones) and then fill out the registration form and start planning for a week or more at beautiful Camp Mechuwana this summer! We can't wait to see you.

Have you marked your calendar for Sunday, November 5? We sure hope so!

We had such a great time at last year's harvest supper that we're doing it again! Join us from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the Commons for a harvest meal of chicken, green beans, potato, rolls, and more - and have a chance to tour camp to see our newest buildings and the start of our picnic pavilion! 

Bring friends and family and members of your church and plan to join us for an evening of delicious food, wonderful fellowship, and a chance to spend time at Mechuwana.

Learn more and download a poster about the supper to post in your church or other community space. 

Join us on Sunday, November 5th! If you are interested in volunteering before or during the event, please contact the camp office.

The walk-in fridge and freezer in our Commons kitchen have served us well, but after 37 years (they have been there since the Commons was built), they are on their way out this week. Replacing them is an updated, more energy-efficient refrigeration system! This update is thanks to the generosity of so many of you - and we can never thank you enough! This new refrigeration system will save us on electricity costs and will ensure that food is kept at a safe temperature. Stay tuned for photos once the project is finished!

Mechuwana Harvest Supper on Sunday, November 6: Come see old friends, meet new ones, and enjoy a harvest supper with all the fixings! $7 for adults, $4 for youth ages 5-11, and free for children ages 4 and younger. All money raised will go toward our new, more energy efficient walk-in fridge and freezer. Join us in the Dining Commons any time between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. - come early for guided tours of our new year-round buildings. 

Download this poster to share with your church, community, family, and friends. 

Harvest Supper
Sunday, November 6
Come anytime between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m.
Camp Mechuwana Dining Commons
93 Holmes Road, Winthrop

$7.00 for adults 
$4.00 for children ages 5-11
Free for children ages 4 and younger

Come early for guided tours of our new year-round buildings! 

After nearly 40 years, it’s time to replace our kitchen fridge and freezer with new, energy efficient ones. We hope to raise the $10,000 still needed to complete this project this fall and winter so we have the new equipment in place for our 2017 summer season. All funds from this Harvest Supper will go toward this project.

Bring your friends, family, church members for a delicious harvest supper with all the fixings!

Questions? Call the camp office (207) 377-2924

Learn more about this event and sign up today here. If you have questions about this event, please contact Mike Griswold at mbgriz@gmail.com. Hope to see you on the links - to support Mechuwana and our scholarship program.

We encourage anyone considering participating in our Mechuwana Missions Camp program to watch this great video from a group from Pennsylvania. If you have participated in a missions camp at Mechuwana before, we would love to see your photos and videos to share - please send them to mechuwana@gmail.com.

For the ninth time in 30 years, the 29ers, a missions group from Michigan, have come to Mechuwana for two weeks to work on a variety of projects that include: painting floors and new window shutters in all the cabins; installing new energy-efficient light fixtures in all the cabins; construction and roofing on the new year-round village; sewing curtains for the new village; and the list goes on.

Here are a few photos from their visit so far. We can't thank them enough for their hard work and enthusiasm!

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On August 23rd, friends of Mechuwana gathered to celebrate the installation of new solar panels on the third retreat building and the construction of a new year-round village behind the dining commons. This dedication was read by Mechuwana youth during worship, which was led by Rian Lewis and Chip Simpson:

The Past

Perhaps nowhere in our church is the past remembered with such reverence as the camping ministry. There are many reasons for this. Here are a few:

1. Camps tend to have multiple generations taking part in their ministry. 

2. Older volunteers impact very young campers' lives and those young campers never forget that kindness and love they felt from those older volunteers.

3. There is an understanding that the ministry came to be because of hard work, dedication, and courage. The impact on our own lives forces us to reflect on the question: What if this place did not exist, how would my life be different? And so we are personally thankful for those who made this place possible.

4. We pause and take time to acknowledge and give thanks to those who came before us. 
And so today we once again give thanks to those who showed great courage, who were persistent, who had a dream and did not let that dream die. We give thanks that the Holy Spirit led them in this direction. And we give thanks that they trusted in the generations yet to come to take care of this tremendous gift. 

The Present

The volunteers and leaders of right now have embraced the gift, and have gladly taken on the challenges of running this ministry. We ask for prayers as we make decisions that we know will impact future generations.  
We ask that the local church continue in relationship with us and that this relationship is strengthened in the years to come. 

We acknowledge that it is not an easy road we walk down. There are many challenges that we face as a denomination, a church, a people—challenges that could not have been foreseen just a few years ago.  But we move on with God, with the understanding that we can meet any diversity. We are especially thankful for the younger generation who already understand the gift of Mechuwana.

And so today we dedicate our new year-round village area. May God bless this new part of our ministry, and may it open doors that we cannot even imagine.

The Future

Our ministry thrives on tradition, on memories. But not just old traditions and old memories; it also thrives on new ideas and the ability to reinvent itself. We can change and still keep our values, our sense of belonging to something bigger. We have faith in the generations to come just as the founders had faith that we would continue what they started. We are excited about what new opportunities our ministry will give to people. We are excited about the lives that will be changed here. We believe that this ministry makes our world a better place, and with your help and with God's constant guidance it will continue to do just that for generations to come.  

AMEN