Jack Noment Camp 2011 Update
Read the 2011 report from Jack Norment Camp in Paraguay.
Camp Jack Norment* has the only programs of its kind found in Paraguay in areas of outdoor ministries, ecology, and leadership development. The transformational impact of Camp Jack Norment is far-reaching. It hosted more than 17,000 people of all ages during 2011. Groups from the Disciples of Christ in Paraguay, Friendship Mission, and other organizations came for programs for all age-levels and for families.
The Camp Jack Norment hosted a program for short-term camps and walks in 2011; a total of 11 days of one- and two-day camps were held. Ecology Club was held on Saturdays under the direction of the head of Environmental Education Camp. Various educational activities were held related to ecology during the year.
Camp Jack Norment directors collaborated with the course, “Blessed Recreation,” in a joint effort with Youth for Christ (Uruguay) and the Kairos Foundation (Argentina). This event was held at the Jack Norment Camp in July for the first time in Paraguay, after having been held in Uruguay and Argentina in previous years. The invitation to participate was extended to all the churches of the Disciples of Christ in Paraguay.
After passing through the Instructor Training Institute, the Camp Jack Norment Director was authorized to offer leadership courses at basic- and higher-level camping. This basic level course was conducted with two groups. There were 17 graduates, who were sponsored by their local churches. This thorough course includes ten sessions of four hours, and two sessions of 48 hours (mini-camps). This course was held, again sponsored by the Camp and the various congregations, in September 2012. A second level course for camp leaders, done in a similar pattern to the first, includes a practice camp with campers.
During 2011, many work projects were completed in the various areas of Camp Jack Norment. Restrooms were remodeled, special lighting installed, trees were planted, and general maintenance was accomplished. In the farm area of the Camp, a henhouse was built, new pens for cows and goats were constructed, and the main barn and pasture were expanded. The Camp also purchased a new laptop and printer as well as two new chainsaws and a brush cutter.
Jack Norment Camp leaders have identified several needs for the future, including: the formation of a specific board of decision-makers to be responsible for supporting the overall functioning of the Camp; a contract agreement for senior kitchen staff; the construction of a new water well to supply the new tank and then the whole camp; redistribution of the water system (main connection and the new water tank), some roof replacement; construction of a shower house; and replacement or refurbishment of a hall ceiling in one of the buildings.
* Jackson Clair (Jack) Norment was born in 1928, the second son of Disciples of Christ missionaries to Paraguay, Malcolm L. Norment and Arabella Marvin Norment. Jack first traveled to Paraguay with his family in 1931. They returned to the United States in 1935 when his mother was critically ill. She died in April 1937. Malcolm Norment and his two sons, Malcolm, Jr. and Jack, returned again to Paraguay in 1938, one year after the passing of his wife and their mother.
In October 1942, Jack was at school in Buenos Aires when he became ill with scarlet fever. He died four days later, seven years after the death of his mother. In 1948, six years after the passing of Jack, the Disciples of Christ Church in Paraguay established a camp and named it Jack Norment in remembrance of Jack and the many contributions his family made to the church.