CWE365 & Youth Strategies Journey to Colorado (part 1)

The following was written by Springdale Ozone Director, Erin Wiltse.

Bulldogging: to wrestle a steer to the ground by holding its horns and twisting its neck.How did I get to a place where I took part in an activity known as “bulldogging?” Let me tell you where all this began: the Jones Center parking lot at 3:30am on a Monday morning, ready to board for our van journey to Yampa, Colorado.  Yampa. Where’s that?  The same thought kept running through my mind as I wondered what exactly I had gotten myself into.  Traveling with 7 high school students on a 16 hour trek across multiple states can be an overwhelming experience when you have little expectation.  What I learned is that at times no expectation is the best expectation to have.

These Camp War Eagle students work together for the organization Youth Strategies (to learn more about the vision of Youth Strategies, please check out their website).  Having worked hard since the beginning of April, the trip to Fish & Cross Ranch was a reward planned to build the students both as a team and in their personal relationships with Jesus Christ.  

And so it began...

Lots of singing, eating, talking, reading, game playing and sleeping defined the road trip, and it was great!  The trip became increasingly intimidating as we entered the mountains during the last five hours of our journey.  Signs stating things like, “Falling Rocks,” “Avalanches Possible,” and “If your brakes fail, keep going until exit is available” can be stressful as you take the wheel (trust me on that one).  As the Lord’s faithful hand guided us safely though, we made it to our destination.  Greeted by cows, horses, dogs and a bunch of friendly faces with dinner ready on the table, we knew we hit the proverbial jackpot of great places in the United States.  That first night we sat around a fire and were asked to throw in a log.  Before we could make the blaze erupt with the addition of our logs, we had to explain what the log represented. It had to be something in our lives, something we wanted to leave behind or be rid of.  Whether it was a lie we believe but shouldn’t, a temptation that easily leads us to sin, an unnecessary attitude, a relationship problem, or something else. We shared openly with one another as our hosts helped bring the goal of the week into focus. The goal was simple: allowing Christ to bring us freedom as only He can.

Stay tuned for parts 2 & 3 of the CWE365 & Youth Strategies Adventure!

Stepping into College

As Camp War Eagle 365 continues to press forward to increase its influence in the lives of 2nd-12th grade students in NWA, we also want to do our best to help with the transition from grade school to college. As a ministry, we deeply value the great gift that continued education can offer our students. Knowing that college can be a seemingly unattainable dream, we want to walk with and guide our students by offering opportunities to explore college and make the process of applying less overwhelming.

Making connections with NWACC has been a great blessing and has offered us wonderful opportunities to educate our students on post-secondary possibilities. On July 20th, 15 CWE students attended a college visit seminar with the professionals of NWACC. They were able to tour the campus and see different facilities, classes, programs offered, etc. They also had some sit down time with Jayme Johnson, Admissions Recruiter, where they listened to a presentation on the process of application, scholarships and finances. With plenty of time for questions and answers, the students walked away with a sense of understanding on the next steps of life as they work to make their desire for college a reality.

An Icy Summer Night

For those of you who don’t know where the Ozone office is located, it’s probably because we’ve never held an event there; and for that you should be thankful--thankful that we never tried to cram 60 people into what used to be known as our office. However, just recently, the Ozone office was moved to room 130 at the Jones Center in Springdale (which is perfectly capable of holding over 60 people)...

Ozone Room!

Ozone Dining Room & Kitchen!

Because of the partnership with such a superb facility, we are able to offer more opportunities for families and children in NWA by hosting some of our events in the same building we office out of. Our hope is that families and students will be able to stay connected to the community by being a regular part of Ozone activities and, therefore, be submerged in the growing population of Northwest Arkansas.

What better way to introduce what we do, where we are and why we do it than to invite our families to Family Night! Families and friends from all four cities met at 6pm last Saturday, July 23rd, at the Jones Center for some mid-summer Ice Skating! The rink was filled with people of all ages and abilities who spent a joyful hour skating, or possibly even scooting, around in the 50 degree room. What a great break from this hundred degree heat!

An hour and a few bruised tailbones later we turned in our skates and relocated to a warmer room! There we had some ice cream sundaes topped with chocolate syrup, nuts, M&Ms, and whipped cream! While chowing down on our delicious treats we played board games, had conversation, and talked a little bit about what Ozone offers to students in NWA! Families got the opportunity to ask questions about our program and get a feel for what we do year round!

If you missed this opportunity visit our website at www.cwe365.org! There you will find information on kickoff events and parent meetings at the beginning of the school year! You can also find your city directors’ contact information and email them with any questions you may have! Don’t let your students miss out on all of our fun events and activities this fall!