CWE365 adds Lauren Diehl to Staff

During the summer of 2013, Camp War Eagle broke new ground with it’s first ever, off site day camp. Camp War Eagle at the Jones Center was a huge success. Looking forward to next summer and the 2^nd round of day camp, a new staff member has been hired to craft plans will make Day Camp even more fantastic in 2014. Lauren Diehl, a native of Tulsa, OK and former Camp War Eagle counselor, will bring energetic perspective to both Day Camp and SOAR After School Program. Find out more about Lauren below!

What is your new role at CWE365?

Assistant Director of the CWE Day Camp

What is your history with the Camp War Eagle program?

My first summer was in 2010 and I also worked 2011, both years I got to be a counselor! Also, I was on Day Camp top staff in 2013.

What are you most looking forward to in this new role?

It is clear from the addition of the Day Camp and SOAR After School Program that God wants to expand His love in NWA. I am so excited to be a part of helping to pioneer a new CWE program and serve a new group of kids!

What personal attributes are you excited to use to serve CWE?

God has inspired me to be passionate about kids and their families. Also, I like to make things fun! I can do a variety of accents, wear any costume and not feel shame and dance like no one is watching.

If you could sum up your personal vision for Day Camp in 5 words, what would they be?

Love God, love kids in Springdale!

What did you treasure most about being a counselor at CWE? And a Top Staff at Day

Camp?

Camp War Eagle was life changing for me! I accepted Christ my sophomore year of college and worked my first summer at camp after that. My experience at camp my first summer taught me how to live out the great commission and the great commandments. I loved being a counselor and doing life with the girls and my co-counselors! I treasure the mission I learned from God at

CWE! Day Camp was also incredible. What I loved most about serving at Day Camp was caring for kids and their families. We wanted to see God redeem families as a whole and inspire a desire for Christ within each family.

If you could create one special event for Camp War Eagle, what would it be?

I've always thought it would be so cool to have a special event that celebrates holidays from other countries! Or a special event involving hot air balloons and a petting zoo.

Paint War 2013!

Camp War Eagle hosts more than four thousand campers each summer. However, for some of these students, their experience with camp lasts only a week or two. CWE365 seeks to morph camp into a year-round experience for all CWE campers.

The CWE365 Paint War was our special way of kicking off our school year, which includes clubs, retreats, community service projects and school visits. This thrilling event was a perfect way to welcome campers to the year round family and all it has to offer this year.

Over 400 students and volunteers attended the CWE365 Paint War at The Jones Center, far exceeding our expectations for participation. Divided into cities, students dove, hands-first, into buckets of paint, throwing sponges like baseballs, handing sponges off in relays, and running with sponges tucked beneath their chins, attempting to complete their team relays first. White shirts were quickly replaced with a dazzling array of yellows, pinks, purples and greens. The explosion of the colorful chaos that took place on the south fields of The Jones Center was a sight to behold.

However, all the sponges on the fields were only an introduction to the main event of the paint war; an enormous amount of Indian powder paint. At a single signal, students unleashed handfuls of bright, neon colors that hung in the air like a heavy fog, passing over each city’s base in a rainbow wash. Paint powder floated over students’ heads and clung to students’ shirts. Photo after photo captured the green hair, pink faces and white smiles. Splattered in yellow, pink, green and purple, there was no better way to express the fun and friendships CWE365 fosters throughout the year. 

To see more Paint War photos, check out CWE365's Facebook page.

What we're Looking Forward to!

With the school year well underway and a new Ozone year starting as well, we reflected on all the great things to come over the next two semesters. Here are a few things you can get excited about too, and join in with us at Ozone!

Cass Trumbo, Bentonville Ozone Director, “Planning for this semester, I'm most excited about the thing that's coming first: PAINT WAR! I understand that sometimes it's hard to jump into club when you're new. It can be awkward. BUT NOT WHEN THERE'S PAINT EVERYWHERE. Paint tears down walls and creates a beautiful, unifying mural in their place. With butterflies. And flower-people. Paint War is a perfect opportunity for any former camper or even passerby to get involved with Ozone. COME SEE FOR YOURSELF!”

Ellie Chase, Bentonville Ozone Director, “I’m most excited for Great Pretenders, our annual lip sync competition. It’s awesome to see the hilarious and creative ideas everyone comes up with and how they choose to perform a song! Plus, the all-city event is the perfect time to see people from everywhere else in NWA and have a blast dressing up.”

Matt Morton, Rogers Ozone Director, “I'm excited for the Spring Break trips!  It's awesome getting to see all of your camp friends from the summer again.  I love the games, the talks, the small groups, and serving the community during this retreat.  It's sweet to give back to the community and to see how much you can get done with that many people!  And… I can't wait for Summit Retreat’s RAVE 2014!!”

Alyssa Hanson, Fayetteville Ozone Director, “I'm really excited about our small groups that meet outside of club. I love studying the Bible together, talking about our successes and struggles, and encouraging each other. I'm excited for all the fun activities we do too, such as playing sports together, attending shows at the Walton Arts Center, cooking with girls at my apartment, and many other things. This is going to be a great year!”

Christine Janssens, Rogers Ozone Director, “I am so excited  about regular club events picking up again this year. Club is such a fun time to see the same people each week, build lasting relationships, learn truth, and have fun! The friendships that are established during this time is a blessing to be a part of, and I am so excited to see who else the Lord brings to join us each week for club!”

Erin Wiltse, Springdale Ozone Director, “I’m most excited about beginning a new year of the LEAD program for students and partnering with Mosaic Church. The opportunities that both of those things present excite me: seeing young adults discipled and pushed to be leaders, and having more influence in the community with Mosaic in being able to support families.”

Wes May, Springdale Ozone Director “I’m super excited about club curriculum, where we will be going through the entire story of the Bible in a year with ‘The Story’. Students will be getting a chance to learn more about God’s story  and the story He’s written in their own lives!”

Ricky Shade, Fayetteville Ozone Director, “I'm really excited about cool and awesome Ozone special events like our kickoff event Paint Wars, our all-city lip sync event in the fall Great Pretenders, and for the Spring Break Retreats. Ozone special events give students the opportunity to connect with their friends they met at Camp War Eagle that they don't get to see every week. This allows for those camp friendships to continue well into the year for those students from different cities. Our special events also draw in counselors from far away colleges like Kansas State University and Oklahoma State University, which makes it awesome for campers and counselors to be reunited while in a fun and exciting environment. Special Events rock! Wait.... Ozone rocks!”