Women in the Outdoors is a statewide non-profit organization designed to teach women outdoor skills. Because their numbers outgrew our facilities, the last time Living Waters was able to host this group was in 2012. Due to our increased capacity we were happy to serve them again this year! 170 women and instructors explored the outdoors here at camp on August 16-18th.
The women attended seminars on a variety of outdoor activities both on camp property and off grounds. At camp they enjoyed: the climbing tower, nature center tours, ATV training, nature crafts, wild edibles, fly fishing, wagon rides, TAC, star gazing and campfires. Off grounds they went fishing, canoeing and shooting (skeet, hand gun and safety training).
Hosting this group is a real privilege for camp. This is our opportunity to serve a non-church group and show the love of Christ to all our guests. While the event is not Christian in purpose we do work closely with the leadership on our common goals of getting people to experience God’s creation. Several of the planning committee members commented “we are excited to return to Living Waters, we missed your service, attention to detail and the beautiful grounds.” Andrew and Melissa Jackson were able to provide a Sunday morning service by leading worship songs and sharing a clear gospel message. Andrew says, “it was well attended and welcome.” He also added, “a few ladies told him they were glad to be at a Christian camp because we were able to give them what they don’t often get at other events.” The nature programs also gave the opportunity to present God’s creation.
The Women In The Outdoors, in partnership with the Wisconsin Turkey Federation, allow for opportunities for camp to connect to other organizations. Representatives from the DNR and a PBS film crew were at camp for the event. Next spring the event and camp will be featured on Outdoor Wisconsin!
A group this size is rare for our facility. Although it pushed us to our limits of capacity and facilitation we were able to meet all the needs of the women. The new cabins and the covered wagons as well as RV hook-ups were key to meeting the need. We also want to extend a huge thank you to the many Living Waters volunteers that stepped up in the areas of cleaning, cooking and facilitation of programs.
We look forward to serving the group again in the future!