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Camp Moriah

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

From Mandy Lovett: A Good and Simple Bible Study Hack

Posted on June 24, 2025

One more wonderful thing about Camp Moriah last week was that Mandy Lovett came to teach the girls how to teach children’s classes. I loved everything I heard in those classes. It was six hours of hands-on learning and had a great emphasis on simplicity and using available (and affordable ) resources. The girls ate it up and I think they learned much. I did, too.

One take-away for me was Mandy’s emphasis on putting yourself in the Bible event; just pretending you are on the ship with Jonah and thinking of how that would have felt in your own terrified mind, at the time. Putting yourself in the widow’s living room when Elisha asked her to give him the last morsel of bread that she could possibly make. What would you have done?  Can you smell the bread baking?

The simplest thing that struck a chord with me was Mandy’s suggestion that we take all of the five senses and imagine them in each moment of whatever Bible account we are teaching. For example: Put yourself at the foot of the cross. What would have been the sounds piercing that midday silence? You would have heard the loud clang of an anvil hitting spikes and certain cries of anguish.  You would have heard the thud of the cross dropped  in its prepared hole. You would have heard a crowd hushed by the execution they witnessed, and yet, some would cry out to taunt the Savior hanging there. You would have heard the women who had followed Jesus there, including His mother quietly weeping. You  would have heard the conversation about Paradise. You may have heard shrieks of fear when God turned out the lights on Jerusalem that day. You would have heard a mighty rumble when the earth quaked.  

What would you have smelled? You would have smelled human blood. It’s possible that you would have smelled the vinegar or the smoke from nearby fires, since it was cold that Passover weekend. (Peter was warming by a fire a few hours prior to the cross.) Maybe you would also have smelled the sheep that the Jews were bringing from every region to the temple for the Passover sacrifices and the donkeys on which they rode. You may have been close enough to smell the spices that were, perhaps, brought by Joseph, who planned to wrap His body. 

What would you have tasted? We don’t know that there were people eating at the foot of the cross, but we do know that he hung there for six hours in midday, and we know that there was not a spirit of reverence, except for the honor shown him by his mother and the other disciples that were present. So perhaps, some were even satisfying the physical hunger while the Lord was satisfying the desperate souls of all time. 

What would you have felt? Some felt the clothes of Jesus. Some held the spikes. Some felt the rough hewn lumber of the cross. You would have likely felt the cool air when the sun was hidden and maybe you would have tightened your garments around you. You would have felt the ground shake and perhaps some felt the spray of saliva from those who were irreverently mocking the Son of God. Some felt the warm blood when the spikes pierced and then mutilated His flesh. If you believed this was the Son of God, you would have clung to those around you who also believed.

But, more profoundly, what would you have seen? The bound and naked body placed on the cross. The spikes and the blood’s spray. The blood flowing from this forehead and the clanging of Roman armor on the soldiers commissioned to keep peace as they carried out this horrendous horror of capital punishment. You would have seen the scornful face of both–then just one–of the thieves. You would have seen Mary weeping beside John, the centurion piercing the side of Jesus and blood flowing from his side.and dripping in the dust. You would have seen darkness and people running as the ground trembled. You would have seen the body go limp. You would have seen Joseph of Arimathea gently take the lifeless body from the lowered cross. You would have seen the sun come back out and people hurrying away to observe the Sabbath on this passover weekend, unaware that they had just observed THE sacrifice of THE Passover lamb. 

Thank-you Mandy, for this reminder to plug in the human senses when studying. I plan to make this a practice as I unpack passages. 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Camp Moriah… He blessed it again!

Posted on June 23, 2025

 

I’ve said it before. I do not know of a camp that I believe to be as beneficial as Camp Moriah for girls (https://www.1615ministries.com/little-mountain-ministries/camp-moriah). I know of lots of camps which do great things in the lives of kids, but this one is unique in its Titus 2 focus and in the mighty hearts of volunteers and donors that make it possible for all attendees to participate free of any charge. It’s also pretty special that there’s now a simultaneous program geared for the moms and grandmothers of these girls (and any other women who’d like to come.) The only limiting factor is that the space fills up very quickly in the spring when registration opens up. There are no limiting factors in its potential for the future of the church with the help of our great God. 

I know a mom who drives both ways (twice!) from Texas so her daughter, Isabella, can be there.  “It’s worth it and more’” she says. Another mom made the two trips in one week from north Florida and others were in attendance from Georgia and Missouri. The top twenty highlights, from my vantage point (in no certain order) are listed below. But the highlights were truly happening all the time. They were not magic moments, but the hand of His providence was all over the whole week! 

(Disclaimer: I am just a teeny little cog in this machine. Directors Carla Michael and Maria Seibert are the ones who work so hard year-round to make this happen. If you ever want to invest in this unique venture, let me know and I can put you in touch!)

 

  1. A girl who was converted, by Cody Michael of Project Unify, about four years ago as she and her mother sought shelter from a Florida hurricane in a dark and scary church building. She learned the gospel by flashlight, while the storm raged, making that awful hurricane a gift of eternal Providence for her soul. She returned again this year for Camp Moriah. Her devotional on Thursday morning was a powerful reminder of the potency of the simple gospel. I pray she will be the beauty from those ashes through the eternal ages. 
  2. Late nights in the library. I got to sleep there in the middle of all the books in that church building. And, almost every night, before I slept, some mom or counselor or camper came around to talk about spiritual challenges and we always prayed together about whatever it was. Then I just watched as God seems to always provide just what is needed, or at least a starting point toward the healing or the needed peace or the biblical answer or the restored relationship. I had no answers; not really. But we knock and God opens. 
  3. The amazing women from area churches who cooked and served the food every day. The hearts behind that counter were Matthew 25 sheep hearts!
  4. The song we made up and sang all week. It had a Back Street Boys tune and beat, but the lyrics were about things that matter. 
  5. The chance to visit the building where a church established in 1805 met for almost two centuries. The story of Old Philadelphia arrested my attention and I count it a true privilege to have been able to teach a lesson about restored New Testament Christianity to the girls, in the same place where Marshall Keeble, Jesse Sewell and David Lipscomb preached. I’m still amazed we got to do this. And we learned how much the Christians of the nineteenth century endured to worship; no bathrooms, no air-conditioning, no padded pews or sound systems. We also got to hear descriptions of how master and slave worshipped as one in the antebellum assemblies of that body of believers. In that building, I stepped off a “stagecoach” in my long apron and bonnet and, from an old Bible in my very old trunk, I showed the “women of an 1810 community”  how to start a church when there is none. I got to do that! What a blessing that I got to do that in that place that shouted “restoration.”  But what a blessing we really CAN do that, ANYWHERE, in the whole wide world. We can restore the New Testament church. 
  6. The sweet hospitality of the ladies who taught the girls how to make cornbread in their brand new iron skillets. They even seasoned the skillets for them. What a blessing that those skillets were donated by that skillet company, for every girl! And how special that they got to gather in the homes of various community Christian women and mix and bake together!
  7. The Viola Pizza Company teaching those girls to make hand-tossed pizza that was, perhaps, the best I’ve ever eaten! They let 50 girls make individual pizzas! This followed a lesson, in the local church building, comparing making pizza to hospitality. 
  8. The night, in the library, I got to show a counselor details about how to have a Bible study with a camper…a study she was to have within the next few hours….And the way that little camper came to me the next day and said “ I found out some things about my counselor. She is a great teacher! She really made me understand a lot about the Bible!” That little girl’s family are not members of the church of Christ. But they are allowing that sweet thirteen-year-old to come to Polishing the Pulpit. Again, this week touches eternity. 
  9. The way the girls want me to meet their mamas on the last day. 
  10. Wednesday night when they let my husband, Glenn, be the visiting speaker at the midweek Bible study. When I get covered up and way too busy, he takes the slack. He brought the Thursday breakfast foods. I hope I do that for him sometimes, too. (and he brought a great message about how we know we are saved.)
  11. Sewing! Every girl completed a pair of comfy pajama pants. For a while there, I thought a lot about that verse, “Whatsoever you sew, that will you also rip!” But every mistake had a correction and every girl finished the project. They wore them out at the fire for singing. In fact, I saw pajamas at every event after Wednesday.  
  12. Every single bit of Bible teaching. And there was a lot. 
  13. Beautiful singing! I especially loved “The Greatest Command.” (And yes, we had girls who were great at the bass part!)
  14. Diaper cakes we made. This class was done by a dear new friend, who became a Christian just last March, through the efforts of Cassie Michael and others. She’s a third year digger and has helped with camp for at least three years. I assumed she was a Christian. Hearing about her baptism was THE highlight of the Moriah experience this year. I even got to watch her lead a song!  And she gave me a tile coaster she had made featuring the song “Trust and Obey” It’s a treasure in my kitchen.
  15. Mrs. Sue’s Turtle Cake!
  16. The West Huntsville women who made three of our meals. That means they fed 150 hungry girls last Thursday. Betty Hall, Lisa Holmes, Rebecca Averitte and Jennifer Crowden were onsite that day to heat up the food and dish it out! Tracy Jeter did an amazing job of managing that kitchen for the whole week! Several churches helped in big ways.
  17. The morning I got up and went into the auditorium of the building and three women were in there doing a zoom Digging Deep session.  There were women from at least four different states.  Technology lets great events for Him collide!
  18. The fact that, when it rained, and we had to sew instead of play on a water slide, they were all…”Oh good! That’s okay. We get to finish our pajamas!” Several of them finished and then, all on their own, made little totes or pencil bags. Some of them will be sewing for life! 
  19. Five sunrises in one of the most beautiful places in Tennessee. 
  20. Seven girls who said all of the memory work. Three procrastinated past the announced deadline, so they had to say this verse, in addition:  “I made haste, and did not delay to keep Your commandments”  (Psalm 119:60). We had a little pinning ceremony for all of these finishers!

I know some of you moms who are reading, personally. You have worked so hard to keep your children from the devil’s present work in our culture. This is a great place to give your girls a little more of what you have already put in them. 

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Camp Moriah Time Again!

Posted on June 15, 2025

The blueberries are in. The grandkids are getting ready for Camp Ney-a-ti., our West Huntsville Bible camp. The speaking calendar is bursting at every seam and that means it’s time for Camp Moriah. too.  It’s my favorite kind of camp ever, because it’s got all the things I love the most!

It’s got  girls ages 12-18. That’s the best, most teachable, most potential-packed, most open-minded age, in the first place. And when they come to this place because they want to learn how to be the meek women of God, who through their future marriages and homes, will bring Him glory…well, that’s the best kind of classes a girl like me can ever teach! (They teach me!)

It’s got the best camp food I have ever eaten, and I have eaten a lot of camp food. Camp food is always a great blessing, but sometimes it’s stretching the noodles. Not so at camp Moriah. Moriah’s food is prepared by a different group of ladies every day, from various area congregations, and it is nothing like stretched noodles. Special shout-out to the West Huntsville ladies for Thursday’s food. I can’t wait!…’specially those breakfast casseroles and those poppy seed chicken casseroles! 

It’s got  THE best all-around attitudes—both workers and kids—of any camp I’ve ever attended. It’s close quarters and tight bath areas, but I never hear ANY complaining by anyone. It’s like everyone is thrilled to be stepping all over each other, waiting for showers, and holding doors  for people to pass through… and the most common question I hear is “Is there something I can help with?” or “Can I carry something?” 

It’s got the best field trips. I guess it’s because we limit the number of attendees to the three cabins we have, so we are maxxed out at about 55 girls, We are small enough to pile into a few vans and see and do and minister and play. I love that. This year, we are going to get to go to an old restoration site and actually teach about restored New Testament Christianity in a place where a Civil War era group met and worshipped. We will worship there! I get to teach THERE! We get to raise THOSE rafters!

It’s got  the best directors. Carla Michael and Maria Seibert are filled with meekness and probably don’t even call themselves directors. They are so engaged in planning what will help girls go to heaven that everything they do is tied to that one theme. I’ve seen them back up and call the girls together and say “Well, we want to be sure no one gets the wrong idea. The Bible teaches this…” whenever there was even an inkling that something implied was not right on target with what the Bible says. They are extremely conscientious about the teachers and counselors and that’s why the most diligent mamas are all about this camp. There are some other women who work so very hard with that pure and heavenward purpose for the girls…teaching, cooking, cleaning, organizing and counseling. I know I’d leave some out if I started naming. But I will say, I don’t know anyone who loves their sweet souls more than Rebecca Averitte!

It’s got no boys. I like boys. But I love the focus we get during this week with just the girls. There’s no ABHD this week (Attention to Boys and Hyperfixation Disorder). I love camps that have both girls and boys. I think they need to happen. You’ve got to find the Christians somewhere! But this alternative is wonderful, too, once a year!

It’s got the Word. Everywhere. All the time. Even the sewing and gardening and cooking and canning is full of Titus 2. It’s a practicum in the ideals that Paul said older women are to teach younger women. I, frankly, can hardly even believe we still get to do this in 2025. But this practicum will be reaping its harvest in Christian homes and sweet babies growing up for Him in 2035 and beyond. 

I’m glad for this privilege.

http://1615ministries.com/little-mountain-ministries

Bless Your Heart by Cindy Colley

Moriah–“Chosen of God”

Posted on June 26, 2023

Last week I heard a heartwarming story about the conversion of a young teen girl whose life had gone awry following the death of her father and a subsequent downward emotional spiral. Her heart was convicted in a dark and powerless room during a hurricane disaster relief effort by Christians from Decatur, Alabama and middle Tennessee who were ministering in emergency mode on the coast of Florida. Studying with this young woman by flashlights directed at their Bibles, these Christians changed her life for the good and they changed it for good! So there she was, last week, at Camp Moriah in Winchester, Tennessee, hundreds of miles from home. She even brought a mentor from her home church in Florida, or rather the mentor brought her. This young married mentor just may have needed the spiritual breath of fresh air more than even the camper did. 

I heard about her baptism in the midst of a power-packed week of intense study and play with a group of about 30 girls at Camp Moriah, a provision of Little Mountain Ministries (https://www.1615ministries.com/little-mountain-ministries/camp-moriah). I heard her pray following my lesson about the Lord’s Supper “God, we don’t even think like we should when we are taking communion. We don’t realize. We don’t even think about how hard it was for you to give your only son for us. Help us to do better.” I love this girl and the God she serves!

I got to know a young teen who came to the camp at the behest of her faithful parents, but against her own wishes. Returning home, she was on fire for evangelism and has already reached out to ask a friend to study. I love this girl and the God she serves!

I talked intently with another girl who just landed her first job in fast food. She wanted to ask specifics about how to maintain a positive and Christ-like attitude in an employee space filled with cursing and debauchery. She was serious about this. I love this girl and the God she serves!

I got to know an amazing teen girl who made the decision to put on Christ last Tuesday night. when I was congratulating her on the best decision of her life, I found out that her grandfather was my son’s basketball coach in Jasper, Alabama. what a small world in Christ! I love this girl and the God she serves!

I ate across the table from a sweet and beautiful girl who had just given her very first devotional at the cross in the woods behind the cabins. She talked about how we have to be like children to have our place in the kingdom. I love this girl and the God she serves!

I had a six-year-old sleeping most of the week in the floor of my room (which was the church library.) This six-year-old led a song and gave a speech for the group, too. I love this girl and the God she serves!

I watched intently as women who had given up all other activities for the week, poured themselves into young women who can make homes and enable good elderships of the future, who can make the congregations they will touch stronger for souls within and for evangelism without. I watched women spend all kinds of hours in that kitchen, preparing great (best camp food ever) meals for fifty women with camp appetites.  I got to know a group from Oklahome who came to watch this camp, so they could go home and launch their own version in their home state. I watched teachers teach hard things about modesty-with-flair and homemaking while showing them the joy in marching to the beat of a different drummer than this old world’s parade to ultimate sorrow. I watched tongues held at the right times and words seasoned with grace when needed.  I watched a panel of great elders’ wives answer questions and actually make young girls dream about being leaders’ wives in the Lord’s church. These girls left camp knowing exactly to whom the Lord’s church belongs and why we have to keep giving Him the respect and obedience that are necessary when we are a part of a theocratic monarchy, rather than a denomination. They honed their abilities to evangelize and they certainly learned how the church is distinctive in a world of relativism in religion. In short, they developed spiritual muscles. I love these women and the God they serve!

I watched girls shop thriftily, prepare meals with zeal, make amazing soap scrubs, learn calligraphy, host a tea party, memorize the Scriptures and grow watercress. And they did it all while loving the learning and laughing heartily. I really cannot recommend this week of amazing girl-growth for Him enough. Can you tell I love this camp and the God it honors?  It will begin on Father’s Day again next year. Mark that down!