Over the years, there have been hundreds of night games/activities played and put on at our youth camps. They often involve a skit, some tie-in to the pop culture of the time and involve campers running around in the woods in the dark. While not all of the games we play are original to Delanco Camp, the night games as we do them at camp are certainly a trademark.

Here are 10 more:

21. Mission Impossible, Teen 2 2008
“Yet another variation of the age old Capture the Flag game. The one that has been played with gusto for years at Delanco. The opening skit had “Mr. Phelps” being lowered through the ceiling by a rope and suspended in the air for several minutes as our hero hacked into the Evil scientist’s computer. The teenage campers seemed spellbound to the point of rendering the dining hall quieter than a library. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep 85 teenagers totally quiet for 10 minutes? Once the game started the campers seemed to have an even bigger dose of energy than usual for a night game. So that’s my favorite and that was even WITH me taking a whipped cream pie in the face at the end of the night in front of the kids.” -Ric Tucker

See more photos of the Mission Impossible game HERE.

22. Prayer of Jabez
Another ingenious Dave Brown invention. I didn’t play the game but I hear it had something to do with collecting pencils to enlarge your territory or something along those lines.

23. Watergate, Junior High II 2007
“In all the years of planning night games at camp, I had never chosen a political theme, but once we decided to have a ’70s theme one year for junior high camp, I knew that we had to do Watergate, the biggest political scandal of the decade. With the help of Woodward and Bernstein, the teams searched for clues found in fake audio cassette recordings of Nixon talking with his advisor. With the help of Washington Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein, teams searched for clues that eventually led the team to the mysterious ‘Deep Voice’ who revealed the real villain, none other than President Richard Nixon himself. My favorite part of the evening was watching Dave Ralph recite Nixon’s actual resignation speech word for word before waving the peace sign as he boarded his pretend helicopter, which we created the illusion of by using an industrial fan and a sound recording of a helicopter flying.” -Mike Ralph

24. The Simpsons
A great game that was made even better by the surveillance camera footage of Mr. Burns, played marvelously by Will Stichter. Like all good themed night games the key to this one was the set-up, the costumes and the skit that went with the typical excuse to get the campers to run around in the woods.

25. Hockey Night Canada, the Mullet Cup
“Amazing. Best night activity I’ve ever been a part of. Turned the Pavillion into an actual hockey rink and had a tournament to determine which team would win the ultimate prize – The Mullet Cup. Teams were eliminated and it got down to two. The kids playing were really into it. The kids watching were really into it. The staff members were really into it. Everything that went into that event made it unbelievable to be a part of.” -Scott Lederer

26. Planet of the Apes
When I think of night games at Delanco Camp, I think of Planet of the Apes. And the two girls on my team who were so terrified they both dug their nails into my forearm. The basic setup of the game was the kidnapping of all of the campers from the dining hall by people in monkey masks and whips who rounded us up and made us get onto the haywagon where we were taken to their planet to “work in sweatshops making clothes for Kathy Lee Gifford” (the pavilion). We then had to devise a way to escape, but truthfully I had so much fun listening to the apes hanging out around the campfire singing Monkees songs and listening to their leader (played by Mike Ralph) make a political speech about the problem with trash in their planet that I didn’t want to escape. I guess you could say I had a case of Stockholm Syndrome.

27. Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
“It was the only night game I’ve planned that started before the campers even entered the dining hall for the evening activity. I don’t even remember what the object of the game was, but a giant pumpkin was supposed to arise inside the gazebo. The most memorable part was witnessing Jon Falcone almost choke to death on a life-savor candy after falling from the gazebo rafters while trying to help me rig the pumpkin, which was just a stuffed leaf bag, to go up and down using ropes. The plan was to have a staff member’s truck flood lights flash on the gazebo as the pumpkin arose and startled the unsuspecting campers waiting in line, but for some reason the truck’s battery had died, which made the Great Pumpkin’s dramatic entrance seem not so great. Some of the staff members dressed as Peanut characters, including Dave Brown, who wore his Charlie Brown t-shirt and did a dead-on Charlie Brown impersonation.” -Mike Ralph

28. Battle of the Bands
Justin Perry totally made this event with his character, who purportedly lived in Bodine’s trailer and did live interviews with the bands in between songs. The camper band rocked out with their song “Why don’t we go to Haluwasa?” and there were plenty of good tunes from many of the other bands constructed of staff members, campers and visitors.

29. Glow Stick Game
The basic idea behind this game is to collect glow sticks in the woods. Missy Kirkbride is a big fan of the game because she said it is scary, especially when “counselors jump out of the dark and take your glowsticks.”

30. Band on the Run
Like the Paul McCartney song of the same name, this game had camper bands on the run in the woods. All part of the School of the Rock theme for that year’s Junior High 2 camp. I don’t recall too much else about it other than having a good time as always.

Have recollections about any of these games? Post them in the comments below. Have recollections or images/videos you can share of any other games you’ve participated in or been involved with at Delanco? E-mail them to matt.ralph@delanco.org.

Over the years, there have been hundreds of night games/activities played and put on at our youth camps. They often involve a skit, some tie-in to the pop culture of the time and involve campers running around in the woods in the dark. While not all of the games we play are original to Delanco Camp, the night games as we do them at camp are certainly a trademark.

Here are 10 more:

11. Escape from Arkham Asylum, Camp Meeting 2009
This video pretty much says all you need to know about this night game and the nightmares Joe Cusack’s Joker impersonation gave some people.

12. Hypnosis Game, originated Camp Meeting 2000
The hypnosis game was originally known by the not-so-PC name of Escape from the Narcolepsy Clinic. A Dave Brown creation, teams attempt to return the patients to the clinic but whenever the bell rings the patients go to sleep, making it a difficult chore.

13. National Treasure, Teen 1 2005
Back when the dining hall doors weren’t reversed and you were able to have people come running in for skits at full speed… those were the days. Around the height of this movie’s popularity, putting it into a night game made complete sense. In planning we couldn’t agree on how best to make the clues for the treasure the kids had to find. They scampered around camp only to find that the treasure was hidden somewhere with a virtually indecipherable code. When they figured out the code led them to the dock the game ended with everyone wanting more. -Scott Lederer

14. Delanco Idol, various
This has been done at a few camps over the years and is more or less a thematic version of the Talent Show, but word has it Rich Dugan and Blake Gederberg are pretty dang good at putting one of these events together. Which makes sense because Rich and Blake are pretty much my personal Delanco idols.

15. Coffeehouse
This is more or less the Talent Show done in the dining hall instead of the Tabernacle. I’ll never forget the year Mike and I were visiting Teen Camp and Ricky asked us if we could put a coffeehouse together for that night. We rounded up some permanent staffers to help us transport all of the furniture we could find on the grounds to the dining hall. A huge roll of bright pink shag carpet we found in the rafters of the Pavilion also came in handy to create a kind of ’70s motif and atmosphere to match the dining hall’s wood paneling.

16. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
I don’t remember a lot of the details about this one, but it was for an ’80s themed camp when Chuck Thornley was dean. I remember people dressed up as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and having a blast with my team, but not too much else. T-U-R-T-L-E Power. If you recall more, post about it in the comments below.

17. Star Search
This one was Kevin Wolf’s “favorite night game ever.” In this game, campers had to run around and find stars that reflected off of a flashlight’s beam.

18. Balloon Game
I don’t know the name of the game, but there was one where there were balloons all over camp and they were worth different points. You had to get as many as you could while there were staff out taking your balloons or popping them. It made hiding them from the staff challenging. -Mel Herring

19. Scavenger Hunts
Back in the day when I was a camper we did a lot of scavenger hunts. If camp had a scavenger hunt king, it would be Wally Kappeler.

20. Who Killed John Candy?, Junior High 2 2006
Played on John Candy day at the Canada-themed Junior High 2 camp. Campers find out that John Candy didn’t really die of natural causes and must track down characters from John Candy’s films to find out who killed him and why. The Jamaican Bobsled team practicing on the bridge and the polka band from Home Alone were my favorite parts.

Have a recollection of any of these games? Share it in the comments. Have photos, videos or other recollections of any of these or other games? Send them to matt.ralph@delanco.org.

Over the years, there have been hundreds of night games/activities played and put on at our youth camps. They often involve a skit, some tie-in to the pop culture of the time and involve campers running around in the woods in the dark. While not all of the games we play are original to Delanco Camp, the night games as we do them at camp are certainly a trademark.

Here are 10 of the contenders:

1. Delanco Wrestling Association, Jr. High 2 in 2003
This was more of an event than a game, but I have fond memories of this one that all came swirling back when I watched the DVD. Here’s a clip of it:


2. EZ Pass: The Game
A classic spoiler game where everyone got an EZ Pass, which was a blank note card. If a toll collector caught you he would mark off your EZ Pass. After you get caught five times you’re finished. You had to make trips back and forth from the tabernacle to the dam where you got a point each time you made it. -Dave Brown

3. Sardines
This one is a camp classic I remember from way back in my junior high days. Simple and straight-forward – your group finds the group hiding and joins them – but still tons of fun.

4. Egg Stravaganza, Junior High 2
All I really remember of this night activity was the smell of the tarp afterward. It was pretty nasty, but the games that all involved eggs in one way or another were pretty fun. I mean, who doesn’t love getting messy playing stupid games on the soccer field at night?

5. Who Stole Britney Spears’ Baby?, Memorial Day Weekend Camp
Who stole Britney Spears baby was a station to station game with a story line that we did at memorial day camp the first year it was adults only. Start here find a clue from Britney asking you to find little Sean Preston who somebody just went and stole. She gives you the first place to go. There you find a clue from Kevin, next you find a clue from the papparazzi, then from various other characters and you keep moving forward hoping to be the first to find poor little sean preston and return him to the tender loving care of his mommy, Britney. -Dave Brown

6. Bread Basket Game
“See this bread basket. Go in the woods and find it.” It may have been a last minute game idea with no real planning involved, but I laugh every time I think of Tim Bock up on stage in his deadpan voice explaining the rules of this game.

7. Talent Show
The campers get to showcase their talents, counselors and staff get to make fools of themselves (as usual), and everybody else gets some free entertainment. What else could you want? -Emily Onorato
Case in point: Timmy’s Choking.

8. Alien Invasion, Junior High 2
The thing I remember most about this night game was the UFO crash scene. It was kind of creepy. A UFO crashed in the camp and abducted some campers. We had to figure out what happened to the campers.

9. Crocodile Hunter
Doug Pettit was way over the top in his impersonation of the Crocodile Hunter. I believe he even got bit by a snake. Talk about method acting.

10. Manhunt
Another classic that is the foundation for a lot of the themed games. Pretty self explanatory.

Have a recollection of one of these games? Post it in the comments. Have a recollection of one not listed here? E-mail it to matt.ralph@delanco.org.

Camper Gabby Lashley spoke at the Delanco Dinner on Saturday, March 6, about her experiences at two camps last summer.

There are also some pretty sweet old school pictures with the article, which you can read HERE.

When you’re finished reading Steph’s article, you can check out the rest of the Winter 2010 issue HERE.

Jesus talked more about money than he did about love or grace. Jesus talked more about money than he did heaven. But when we think of Christ’s message to us, these are often the themes we tend to think of first. The kingdom of God was the only other topic that Jesus talked more about than money. For Jesus it was the kingdom of God, then money, in terms of what he wanted to convey in his teaching. Often we find Jesus talking about both of these subjects at the same time. This is because the two are closely linked.

Dave Ramsey, a New York Times best-selling author, is very helpful in lending a humorous definition and understanding of stewardship. He says that, ‘In church language, stewardship is code for building a building.” As funny as it may be, sadly it is also very true. The only time we really begin to get serious about financial matters in the church or other nonprofit organizations are when they need money. Unfortunately, these are all misuses of the word and overall concept of giving.

Steward or stewardship isn’t in my language today. I can’t remember ever using it as part of my daily conversations. When was the last time you mentioned stewardship? “Honey, make sure you put your money in your piggy bank so you use it later in your stewardship.” Stewardship needs to be redefined for us.

The New Oxford American Dictionary has three ways of expressing the definition of a steward or stewardship:

1. A person who looks after the passengers on a ship, aircraft, or train…
2. An official appointed to supervise arrangements or keep order at a large public event…
3. A person employed to manage another’s property, especially a large house or estate…

All three definitions reference the concept of looking after or supervising something that does not belong to the individual steward. They are, as the third definition states, called to manage another’s property. To be a good steward is to be a good manager. So when the King James Bible was being translated in feudal England, this was a concept that would have been understood by the readers. God is the giver of all good gifts; we do not own anything, so we are the stewards of God’s resources. Fast forward to today… we do not own anything, but we are God’s managers. God owns it all, so we should be good managers for God’s glory and purpose.

For example, the parable of the talents expresses several truths, but one of the most forthright is the concept that the servants were called to manage the talents that were given to them by the owner. They did not own the talent, but were given talents according to their ability. The owner’s approval or disapproval was not based on their worth as individuals, but the judgment is based on what each servant did with their talents. The one who earned five more is not necessarily a better steward than the one who earned two. This is not the message from Jesus. The point is made in the one servant who buried the talent and earned nothing. This individual in the parable is supposed to be for us a clear example of what not to do. If we do not get the point, then Jesus has some hard-to-hear statements about the servant being cast out. But let us not be so hard on this one servant.

We are all created in the image of God. As part of being created in that image is the understanding that we can share God’s character. God is a tremendous giver. You remember one of the most popular verses you learned as a child, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only son…” We are created to give, and tempted to keep. Rev. Adam Hamilton says that there are two voices that tempt us away from our God-created purpose of giving- the voice of fear and the voice of self-gratification.

The voice of fear is something inside of us that causes us to worry or doubt our source of security. It is a voice that says, “What will happen to you if you give this money?” We begin to hold and hoard the resources that God has given to us. But like that servant, our hoarding does not truly provide us with any true security. The voice of self-gratification is a recapitulation of the voice from our culture that tells us that we are defined not by who we are but by what we have. It says, “If you give, there will not be left for you to get this or that.” It is a voice that drives us toward obtaining the treasures on earth, while the voice of truth speaks for us to obtain treasures in heaven. Both of these voices impact our lives in different ways. We hear them throughout the day and in different places. The big game is coming up and even though we have a decent TV, it would look so much better if we had a larger screen. The voice begins to whisper. We are out shopping and the voice of self-gratification begins to work its magic as we convince ourselves that this item that we want quickly turns into an item we so desperately need. We are living in fearful times.

The financial consequences to our actions are coming to fruition. The house we couldn’t afford, the car, (with payments) we just had to have, the items we put on credit have caught up to us now with high interest payments. We are afraid because for many of us, there is, “too much month left at the end of the money.” We hear the voice of fear every time we may watch the news or read the newspaper.

The only way these voices can be silenced in our lives is through trust. When you give your life to Christ, and put your life in God’s hands, you begin a journey of trust. You live your life in a different way. Your life is no longer lived for yourself, but you begin to lead a life that is pleasing to God. Your life is an act of worship. You begin to put into perspective what you truly value and what your priorities are. So when the voice of fear begins to pop back up, (and it will), you are exercising faith when you trust in God. You align your life with God’s word and finally realize that God has some interesting things to say about how we handle our resources.

When the voice of self-gratification begins to whisper again, you can remember that you are seeking things that are above and you have learned how to live a generous and self-giving life. This is a life that is Christ-like. If Christ was a giver, then we ought to be givers. The true joy found in giving occurs when we make a difference in the life of someone else. Wesley further encouraged us to:

“Render unto God, not a tenth, not a third, not half, but all that is God’s, be it more or less; by employing all, on yourself, your household, the household of faith, and all mankind, in such a manner that you may give a good account of your stewardship… Brethren, can we be either wise or faithful stewards unless we thus manage our Lord’s goods?”

Today let us become good managers of all that God has entrusted to us. Let us love God by how we give. Can you continue to trust God as you give to the ministry of Delanco Camp? We are anticipating and expecting another great summer of ministry out at camp and we encourage you to become financial partners with us. As you give, would you prayerfully remember Delanco Camp?

Go to delanco.org/support for more information about how you can support the camp with your gifts, offerings and talents.

Thank you to everyone who participated and made this event such a success.

We had 20 online scavenger hunt athletes competing and I think it’s safe to say that all of them know a little more about Delanco Camp, this blog and our friends than they did when we first started on this journey.

While it’s not as hard I’m sure to say goodbye as it was for Carlton Bodine III to leave the actual Winter Olympics in Whistler, it’s definitely been fun.

We actually ended with a tie at the top of both the team and individual competitions. One consistency between the two was Christy Schnyer, whose Audubon UMC Youth Group team finished tied with Eastern University, and tied with Mike Ralph (Realville, Mantua UMC) in individual points. She, Dan Ulrich (Sicklerville UMC, Eastern University) and Mike Ralph each tied for nine medals as well.

With that said, we’re going to crown Christy Schnyer as the DC Blog 2010 Olympic champ.

Good work, Christy! Christy will get a gift card to her favorite place to shop online, purchased through Goodshop of course. Dan and Mike will also get prizes for their stellar performances and everyone who participated gets a round of applause for a job well done. You guys rule!

Joanna Coppedge will be sharing with us as we set aside a weekend to learn, worship, fellowship and retreat from “survival mode.”

Joanna Coppedge is a missionary in Arua, Uganda. She is serving Jesus there with her husband, Billy, and her two small daugters. She is presently on homeland ministry assignment. She has a passion for building relationships that will strengthen the believer and build up the church of God.

Women of all ages are invited to join us all weekend for this retreat. If you cannot get away for the whole weekend, please join us on Saturday.

Click HERE to download the brochure. Feel free to share this information with those you know who may be needing a time of retreat.

We look forward to seeing you at this very special event!

Tenth Avenue North has a new single out, the first off their forthcoming album The Light Meets the Dark.

You can purchase the new single and also help the camp by going to Goodshop HERE and legally downloading the track off iTunes.

The song is called “Healing Begins.” Let us know what you think of it in the comments below.

When translated from French to English this phrase means faith moves mountains. I think this is just a beautiful saying. The best part of it is that it’s true.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” Philippians 4:13.

I believe that a lot of the time teens limit themselves. They say “I can’t do that” or “I wish I could do that.” All too often we forget to pray and ask for God’s help. He is here for us. He is with us and with Him we can accomplish anything.

We must be sure to act following His will, but if what we seek to accomplish pleases our heavenly father then we should not stop ourselves from doing it. Often we stop ourselves due to others’ opinions. We get put into boxes that we are afraid to venture from. God tells us though that we should not be afraid. He doesn’t leave us.

Why should we be worried about anyone’s opinion aside from our God’s? Deuteronomy 31:8 states, “the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.

Do not fear or be dismayed.” So we should not be afraid to break free of our stereotypes and do great things for God because He is walking with us allowing us to achieve things that we believe to be impossible.