Escape to Emmaus: Primitive Shelter Building

Thanks to the folks who came out for our EtE Primitive Shelter Building day this morning.

Leaf Raking

Report to District Conference

 3011 W. Camp Rd. • Oregon, IL 61061
(815) 734-4268 • manager.campemmaus@gmail.com
www.campemmaus.org

Encounter Creation. Experience God. Ignite your Faith.

September 30, 2025

To the Delegate body of the Illinois/Wisconsin District Conference:

On behalf of the Camp Emmaus Board, Staff, Volunteers, Investors and Supporters, I bring you greetings and I am honored to share with you the many ways that Camp Emmaus is impacting the lives of many people on the local level, in congregations, and in the church at large.

The theme for the 2025 summer camp programming was Another Way, where campers, staff, and volunteers embarked on a journey to discover how they experience the way of God that often presents another way of living out their faith. The ministry at Camp Emmaus is one in which we continually seek to discover the way to God’s love; embodied in Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit. In doing so, lives are forever changed and that is why camp is more than just a setting, it’s an embodied experience that we share with others. I pray that camp will always be a place where we discover the another way that is different from the world’s way.

Camp Emmaus 2025 Highlights:

• We celebrated 77 years of outdoor ministry.

• Memorial Day Family Camp attendance was 35 and Labor Day Family Camp also had 27 people.

• Spring into Camp had 41 people in attendance

• Summer Camp by the numbers: 127 campers (up 13% from 2024) and 54 staff and volunteers representing 13 congregations in the northern tier of the district.

• New amenities and features: New water heaters in the Retreat Lodge and Pool house, new LED Lights in the Craft Cabin and Bathhouses, new ceiling tiles in both bathhouses, new bridge across the creek wide enough for the mower to cross, walk-in cooler flooring & shelves, new wood shed by the council fire circle, new wood shed at the basketball court, new sand at the gaga pit and volleyball court.

• We were able to raise over $25K this summer to purchase a new commercial dishwasher that will be installed before summer 2026 camps.

• The camp board had our winter retreat in which we created a new mission statement for the camp as well as continuing to lay the groundwork for the next decade of ministry at Emmaus and where God may be leading us to new ministry opportunities. We’re excited to dream together and imagine what camp will grow to be in the next chapter of outdoor ministry.

• Our camp staff, board and volunteers have both done incredible work extending the ministry of Camp Emmaus to several guest groups, and they have sought to be wise and diligent stewards of our financial resources. We continue to have a variety of rental groups and are always looking to find creative partnerships and programming to widen the circle of our ministry.

• A big thank you to our staff and volunteers for all the work (seen and unseen) that goes into keeping this camp looking and functioning as well as it does. Thank you for your passion and gifts to make Emmaus the sacred space that it is and will be for future generations.

• Come see us at our display booth to pick up some Emmaus gear, brochures and more.

2026 Summer Camp Schedule:

May 22-25 Memorial Day Family Camp
June 12-13 CiT Training
June 13-14 Elementary I Camp (Gr. K-2)
June 14-17 Target Sports Camp (Gr. 7-12)
July 5-11 Senior High Camp (Gr. 9-12)
July 12-18 Survivor Camp (Gr. 6-8)
July 19-23 Intermediate Camp (Gr. 3-5)
July 26-Aug. 1 Middle School Camp (Gr. 6-8)
Aug. 6-8 Women’s Camp
Sept. 4-7 Labor Day Family Camp

We share this report about the ministry taking place at camp so that you may know how such experiences of immersive Christian community help people know and experience first-hand the presence of God in ways that nurture hope for our present and future. As we continue the work of Jesus at camp, we ask that you prayerfully consider how you might have a role in the ministry of Camp Emmaus. And as always, we look forward to partnering with you and look forward to what God has in store for us in 2026.

Check us out at www.campemmaus.org or follow us on Facebook.

Respectfully,

Randall Westfall
Camp Emmaus Manager/Administrator

Camp Emmaus is an outdoor ministryof the Illinois/Wisconsin DistrictChurch of the Brethren since 1948. Nestled on 99 acres of rolling woodland in the Rock River Valley in north-central Illinois; We provide a setting where you can encounter creation, experience God, and ignite your faith.