Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
Ft. A-Maze-ing

An exciting addition to the fun activities offered at Camp Joy is the expansion of the outdoor, walk-through maze. Fort A-maze-ing, as the maze is now called, now boasts four second-story towers, a second level of mind-boggling stairways and walkways, and a re-designed floor plan. Campers who thought the maze was difficult might be stymied by a whole new level of excitement and adventure inside the walls of Camp Joy’s Fort A-maze-ing!

Monday, June 9th, 2008
Valor Summer Conservatory
Valor Summer Conservatory, a ministry that allows Christian musicians in college to be able to learn from qualified instructors over the summer time, officially begins today. VSC voice, piano, and string-playing students will practice and learn over the summer in order to prevent a year’s development from being lost in the summer. The president and Executive Director of this ministry that is being hosted on the campus of Camp Joy are Stan Eby and Duane Ream, who both teach music at Bob Jones University. Dr. Eby arrived at Camp Joy June 1, and is looking forward to instructing and preparing his students this summer. VSC students will be able to learn from a variety of instructors and guest speakers, and will also enjoy “field trips” to learn from professional musicians in Milwaukee and Chicago. We are very excited about this important ministry and are looking forward to what the Lord will do through Valor Summer Conservatory this summer.

To view Valor Summer Conservatory's website, click here.

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
Family Cabins
Despite a long and snowy winter, progress on the new hill-side cabins has been amazing. So far, six cabins are under construction with several more planned for the future. These new buildings will be useful and versatile in their functions here at Camp Joy. Once completed, this project will provide possible housing for Valor Summer Conservatory students as well as cabins for families to stay together in during Family Camps.Each completed cabin will have four single beds in the loft and a king-size bed on the ground floor. The cabins will also have a lounge area, a complete bathroom, and a fireplace. Although most of the cabins will be set up like this, otherswill be slightly different. Some cabins will not have a bathroom and will function as meeting or storage buildings. One of the cabins will be built toreplicate a small church. This building will function as a multi-media room that will be air-conditioned and hold twenty-five to thirty people at a time.This building will show creation-science videos during general recreation time and can also function as a chapel for services.

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
Bookstore Expansion
The bookstore is ready for the summer! Come and enjoy the expansion that has been made to allow for a larger variety and selection.

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
Heritage Room

Camp Joy is pleased to announce the completion of a vital expansion project that has created an efficient kitchen, greater storage space, and a beautiful new dining/meeting room. A brand new dishwasher and stainless-steel dish room; new walk-in refrigerator and freezer; a storage room for tables, chairs, and decorations; and even a new paint job are included in the completion of this job known collectively as the “Kitchen Expansion Project.” This expansion includes a beautiful new dining room that can also function as a meeting room for the Valor Summer Conservatory staff or students, a dining hall for sponsors or staff, or a room available for board meetings or children’s services. Because of the picture collages that capture different places or people at Camp Joy past and present, this new room has been officially named “The Heritage Room.” The Heritage Room and the kitchen expansion not only a wonderful addition to Camp Joy, but also a testimony to the Lord’s leading of and provision for His ministry here.

Friday, February 8th, 2008
New Look in the Lodge
Recently, some volunteers from one of our supporting churches came to Camp to help us remodel our lodge.  The Fireside Room, Dining Hall and lodge hallways got a fresh painting with new colors: dark reds and browns, with red and blue (team colors) on the halls that our campers use during the summer. 
We also did some extensive remodeling on the east wall of the Fireside Room, putting in a new door, cutting windows, hanging awning and putting up wood paneling in preparation for the new "Snack Shack" that will be serving campers this summer.

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
Winter Weather
We've been on hold building our cabins because of snow - we're certainly not complaining though!  The snow has been great for winter activities during our retreats!  Here are our three partial cabins under a blanket of fluffy white stuff!   We intend to have these three cabins completed by May, and a few others if the Lord allows.  When we get a thaw, we'll be back on top of the cabins, finishing roofs, putting in dormers and shingling them.  These cabins will be used by our Valor Summer Conservatory guests this summer.  We would be thrilled to have individuals or church groups who can help with these projects!  If you're interested in donating your time to working on our new cabins, use the new Volunteer page on the website to send us an email!

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007
Excavation
We recently had an excavator digging behind our gym and up the hillside - preparing for the gymnatorium expansion and several new family cabins.  The sponsor dining room (the last part of our kitchen expansion project) is wrapping up nicely and is ready for use now.

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
Work Projects
The Craft Shop is being built a little at a time.  We recently cut and installed windows in the building.

The kitchen work is moving very well!  We are currently tiling the walls for our bakery, drywall has been going up quickly, the new dishwash machine is installed and in use, and much of the painting is done!  Please continue to pray for the completion of the sponsors' dining room - that is still a big part of the project to finish!

Thursday, May 17th, 2007
Kitchen & Craft Shop Expansion
Praise the Lord for progress being made on our building projects right now!

We recently had a team of volunteers from Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, SC, who worked on our new craft shop.  They put in doors, light framing, and facia soffit on the building.  We still need to install screens, siding, flooring and drywall before summer.

Great progress has been made on the kitchen as well.  Our firewall is almost done and the new dishwasher is installed and working well.  Please pray for the Lord to provide the corner portion of the dish counter.  Also pray as we hang drywall in the sponsors' dining room - there is still much to be done to have that room ready for use.