Two 300-ft. side-by-side ziplines with a three-story launching tower became the most popular attraction at camp in 2011. In fact, the biggest complaint on the weekly camper evaluations was that they wanted to do the zipline more often! Thanks go out to our Site Manager Dave Vandercar for designing and constructing this exciting addition.

The summer was also filled with lots of swimming (heat waves will do that), horse rides, mud-pit tug-of-wars, campfire devotions, sneaking behind enemy lines in “Steal the Bacon,” Three Chartreuse Buzzards, garbage ball, and finding anyway possible to make fun of Justin Bieber. We had a great time!

Most importantly, though, campers were told about a God who loves them dearly! It is through this gracious God that we have been blessed this summer. To Him be all the glory and praise for another great summer season at Camp Lakeview!

Lakeview campers bring lots of spending money to camp to purchase snacks at the canteen. At the end of each week, they are given the option of donating some of their unspent money to LCMS World Relief and Human Care, who will, in turn, use it to help feed the hungry worldwide. Campers and staff donated a grand total of $4,621.03 this past summer! We give all the campers a huge pat on the back for their generosity on behalf of the needy. Thanks!

The top 6 spots remained the same as last year, with St. Peter’s Columbus holding the #1 spot by sending 244 campers to camp. A warm welcome goes out to Messiah (Indianapolis) who joined the list for the very first time! Here’s a listing of the Top 20 congregations with the number of 2011 campers:

244 — St. Peter, Columbus

105 — Immanuel, Seymour

90 — Calvary, Indianapolis

71 — Our Savior, Louisville

68 — Zion, New Palestine

67 — Holy Cross, Indianapolis

58 — Our Shepherd, Indianapolis

54 — Carmel, Carmel

49 — St. John, Indianapolis

46 — Trinity, Indianapolis

43 — St. John, White Creek

37 — Redeemer, Seymour

33 — St. Peter, Brownstown

33 — Zion Seymour

31 — St. Paul, Brownstown

31 — Our Redeemer, Evansville

29 — Peace, Seymour

28 — Messiah, Indianapolis

28 — St. John, Sauers

27 — Faith, Bloomington

The “Let the Children Come” Capital Campaign received a huge boost in December when one of our supporters announced their intention to provide a $300,000 matching gift.  This gift has been placed in the family’s charitable trust and will be released month-by-month throughout 2011 to match any new gifts or legitimate pledges to the campaign made during the previous month. 

For example, if someone pledges $500 per year over the next three years, we will receive a matching gift of $1,500 now, making the total pledge worth $3,000 to the camp.  That’s double the money and more than double the impact!

This gift comes at a wonderful time as we are wrapping up the major gift portion of the campaign and expanding our appeal to the rest of our supporters (camper families and past contributors).  We will try to “reach the finish line” of the campaign through a direct-mail appeal in late March followed up by a campaign phonathon in early summer.  This matching opportunity will provide a tremendous incentive for new gifts during these efforts!

As of March 1, 2011 we have received $2,042,985 in gifts and pledges, including the $300,000 matching pledge.  The campaign goal is $2.5 million.

We still have a long way to go, but with God’s blessing, and the help of a tremendous circle of backers, we can do it!  And soon, all of the components of the new camp will be fully operational and we’ll be able to provide a Christian camping experience to every child who wants to come to Lakeview.

Matt Riley landed the position of Program Director for the new Lakeview Villages campsite.  His duties include running the summer program at the new site, planning the Awestruck Festival, hosting retreat groups throughout the year, and staff recruitment and selection.

Also known around camp as “Rufio”, Matt served on our summer staff from 2005-2007.  In 2008, he graduated from Valparaiso University, and has spent the last three years as an elementary teacher on an Indian reservation in South Dakota. 

Matt is originally from Indianapolis, where he grew up as a member of Trinity Lutheran Church.  He met his wife, Jenn, while in college, and they now have twin 10-month-old daughters, Katherine and Elisabeth.

“I’m excited for what the future of Lakeview Villages will be,” says Matt, “and my folks are excited that their grand-daughters moved back to Indiana.”

We welcome Matt back to Lakeview and we pray that the Lord will bless his efforts here.

In January, Camp Lakeview got a little bigger with the purchase of a 12.5-acre property that connects to our northern border (just north of the challenge course).

Even though we desired this land when it first came up for sale, our Board decided not to pursue it because our resources were needed at the new camp.  Then an anonymous contributor who realized the value of the land to the camp stepped forward with the entire purchase price.

Not only will this land extend our woods and provide a home to our new Program Director and his family (see left), it will also offer vehicle access and utility access from Mt. Healthy Road.  This new access point makes all of our existing land north of the creek more valuable — and more usable for future building projects.

We are so grateful to God and this anonymous donor for blessing us with a brighter future for our ministry.

Up to now, Camp Lakeview has not offered a week-long summer camp program for youth in 10th grade or older.  And yet, that is a critical age in their faith life.  Lakeview Villages will change all that!  It will cater to an older crowd than main camp, starting with 5th-graders and continuing through the end of high school.

And even though we’ve always offered programs on main camp up through 9th grade, we see that the attendance starts to tail off after 6th– or 7th-grade.  We believe this happens because some kids who have attended since 2nd-grade might want to try something new after 4 or 5 years.  The new camp will allow them to try something new and give us the chance to continue to have a positive impact in their lives.

Yes, you heard it right! If you are a member of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, you may be able to designate Camp Lakeview as the recipient of some of their money through the Thrivent Choice program. Your eligibility and the amount you can designate depend on the types and values of the accounts and policies you hold with Thrivent.

To designate your “choice dollars” or to get more information, go to their website at www.thrivent.com/choice or call 800-847-4836 and state “Thrivent Choice”. It’s easy to do and it will greatly help our ministry!

Frequently, we are asked why we need to solicit donations for our general operating fund. After all, don’t the registration fees cover the cost of operating?

Well, not completely! The charts on the right reflect 2009 Operating Fund figures. (Total income and expenses were each about $662,000.) As you can see, Program Registration Fees account for just over half of our total income. Without the 27% from Contributions and our annual Dinner Auction, we would be forced to charge much more for each camper to attend. So in a very real way, your contributions to our ministry help us serve more children because it makes the experience more affordable for everyone.

On the expense side, notice that the expenses directly associated with the “program” account for just 58% of our total. Another 14% is spent unavoidably on Utilities and Insurance. And a surprising 27% goes directly to the facility (Maintenance, Depreciation, and Capital Improvements). Without the 27% of Income from Contributions and the Dinner Auction, our facility would be the first thing to suffer. And that would be devastating to our ministry!

That is why donations to our general operating fund are so greatly needed and so greatly appreciated. Please continue to support the Lord’s work here at Camp Lakeview.

If you’ve visited our website since the beginning of the year, you’ve found a cleaner look, more content, an easier way to navigate from page to page, and the ability to give or pay over the internet!

Now, you can use your home computer to pay registration deposits for any program, pay all or part of your registration balance, or to make contributions to Lakeview Ministries or  the Camp Lakeview Foundation.  Payments can be made using a credit/debit card or by making an electronic withdrawal from your savings/checking account.  You can even set up an automatic monthly, quarterly, an annual contribution with a definite ending date.  What a great way to set up a pledge for the capital campaign and never have to think about it again! 

Many thanks go out to Jeff Rothe (St. John, Indianapolis), who helped us give the website a much-needed facelift.