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We got a healthy blanket of the stuff this past weekend. The snow fell mostly late Thursday night and left a good eight inches on the ground, making everything a beautiful winter wonderland. This is what I expect of a northern Michigan winter. I love how the snow transforms and gives new life to an otherwise dull landscape.

The snow makes camp life busier as we prepare for the campers, but it is definitely worth the work. The campers were able to enjoy tubing this weekend, unlike last weekend when we didn’t have enough to open tubing.

The big project during the week was painting a sign to put up here at camp for 2012. Reuben Peck and I worked together for the most part tracing the design and then painting the five sheets of 4′ x 8′ plywood that made up the sign. The goal was to get the sign done and up for this weekend’s retreats, but by Thursday it looked as if it wouldn’t be done in time. Reuben decided that it would be done in time and took up the challenge and kept working on the sign late into the night and finished it just in time. I on the other hand had succumbed to a cold so I went to bed early that night. Thanks to Reuben’s efforts the campers had a very cool sign to take pictures by this weekend.

Friday I was in the skate hut for late night skating and it was a lot of fun to see the fathers and sons come down to skate and play hockey. Barakel has a nice hockey rink and a second rink just for skating giving the campers plenty of ice. The next morning I got up bright and early to drill some holes for ice fishing with Reuben. We have the hang of the auger now and we drilled the holes very quickly compared to last weekend. My morning schedule was free so I caught up on sleep a little bit and then kept busy in the afternoon with human ice bowling and flag football. Flag football was hilarious to watch as all the guys gave it their all on the snowy field. Definitely more entertaining than professional football any day.

Sunday was another full day and I was pretty worn out, but God gave strength and everything went well. After worshipping with the fathers and sons in their chapel the little guys left for their own chapel message. Their ages ranged from six to eleven and they all were full of energy, so keeping their attention is quite the trick. I helped out with them and it was neat to see the little guys learn about Christ as Chris Knobloch taught them.

After helping with lunch dishes in the dining hall I went to church at Christ Our Life Church with the Boeve family who are on resident staff here at camp. The building was small but the people inside filled it with life. It was good to spend time in church with fellow believers and hear the Word preached.

Keep me in your prayers as I take a DSST test on Astronomy tomorrow for college credit. I love the stars so studying for the test has been enjoyable.

God has provided greatly for me in many ways, and I am thankful for all of you who have been an encouragement to me and have been praying for the ministry here at Barakel. You are a real part of the ministry here through your prayers.

Busy and exciting. That’s how I would describe this weekend. This weekend began the winter retreat season here at barakel with two retreats: College and Career on the East Side of camp, and Father and Son on the West Side. My work was mainly with the Father and Son group.

Campers on both sides of the lake started showing up friday evening, all excited and ready for the weekend. I got to run the Thunder Express with Lee Brown in the dark for the campers who were brave enough to slide down the ominously black tunnel. Mostly it was the fathers and sons but a few of the college and career people came over. Seeing little guys going down the dark hill with their dads was pretty entertaining. Everybody absolutely loved it, and since we had a little snow on the ground they really shot out at the end of the tunnel.

The retreats kick-off with the first evening chapel session. Tom Harmon was speaking to the Fathers and Sons, and on the East side Doug Rutledge spoke to the College and Career group. I went over and sat in the East side chapel and listened in on Doug. He preached on the will of God and doing what’s right. His basic point that I remembered was that no matter how lowly the job, God can use you. It was good solid stuff and he was an entertaining speaker as a bonus.

After evening chapel I didn’t have anything scheduled so I was able to go down to the ice rink and watch people play hockey. There were also lots of former summer staff that I knew from the past two summers that I was able to see and visit with.

While the darkness was still thick, Reuben and I went down to the lake the following morning to auger some holes in the ice with Lee Brown. This time it wasn’t just a practice run. After drilling Thirty-one holes in the ice both Reuben and I had the hang of drilling holes with the power auger down. I absolutely loved being out on the lake and seeing the dark skies turn light while thick snowflakes fell.

The rest of the day was spent helping with human ice bowling, broom ball, “egg zipping” in the west side chapel, and flag football. I even got to join in on a couple games of broom ball for a team that was short a player. I knew the guys on my team already and we had a blast. They won both games and went on to win the finals with the help of my younger-bigger brother, Taylor, who filled in for me.

The rest of the Chapel sessions during the week were a little different from the first one. The first chapel Tom Harmon spoke to the whole group of Fathers and Sons, but for Saturday’s and Sunday’s chapel some of the younger boys left midway through the chapel to go to a chapel service geared towards them. Chris was the speaker and did an absolutely fantastic job of keeping the attention of the kids and teaching them biblical truths. I was there for “crowd control” but Chris was great with them and I didn’t have much crowd controlling to do. The little guys really seemed to enjoy it a lot and learned well.

Sunday afternoon after all the campers had left, a couple of my good friends from this summer, Dan Knox and Zach Waltz stayed the afternoon and went and had Mio Pizza with Reuben and I. The pizza was excellent as always and the fellowship with the guys was great.

All in all it was a great, exciting week and a good beginningg to the winter retreat season. Today I’m taking it easy and doing a bit of reading for my coming test on Astronomy. I thank you all for your prayers and support, you have been a blessing and an encouragement. Continue to pray for the ministry here that we would be used by God for His glory.

P.S.

Both of my trailer-mates and fellow seasonal staff guys have blogs which they update regularly. Check out Reuben at lausdeoatcamp.blogspot.com and Cody at excitingcody.blogspot.com

A bright sun and blue skies made the day cheery as I drove up to camp earlier this week on Tuesday. The roads were clear and made for easy traveling. I arrived at camp mid afternoon.

In little more than an hour I settled my things into what will be my new home for the next few months, a placed affectionately called the “trailer” by the young guys who have lived in it during the summer as YAPs or as Seasonal Staff like me. I have two “trailer mates”: Cody and Reuben. Cody is the “old guy” who has been around and knows all the ropes. This will be his third winter season here at Barakel. Reuben is the “young buck” and is new to seasonal staff like me. I’ve known both of them for the past two years, and we all get along well.

Yesterday I enjoyed the special “staff fellowship” time with all the full-time staff and the other seasonal staff. We spent the morning singing, hearing the Bible recited from memory, then listening to the Gardener’s life story, and even shared communion as a group. I had the privilege of hearing my dad guest preach during the fellowship from 1 John 4 on the subject of loving each other. Messages like that are timeless and I know I needed to hear it. You should read 1 John 4 if you get the chance. God’s word is powerful.

The rest of yesterday afternoon I spent learning some camp procedures and then working together with Reuben on assembling some broom ball goals. That was pretty much the whole day, and after supper I made my way down to the ice rink and played a game of hockey with the numerous staff children and Cody and Reuben. My skating and hockey skills are lacking but I hope to improve them over the winter.

Campers will be arriving late in the day tomorrow, so it should be a full, busy day. I’m excited as they come. Pray that we’d be prepared and give the campers a great stay here, but most of all that they would see Christ in us as a staff.

One week. The time until I move to Camp Barakel, where I will be living this winter. I will be joining as seasonal missionary staff. The opportunity to be at Camp Barakel, and to serve Christ and others in the place where “Surely God Has Blessed” really has me excited.

Camp Barakel is truly a great place and I have had the joy of serving there as a counselor the past two summers. Having a group of seven, eight or nine young guys to counsel and being able to lead during a week of camp is a lot of fun. It is also challenging spirtually and physically, and overall is a learning and growing experience. I love the camping ministry, and I love the ministry of Barakel, because they love the Gospel.

Camp Barakel exists to glorify God and to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. Camp provides a fun, relaxing enviroment for the campers where they can enjoy being outside in Michigan’s north woods, and ultimately be challenged and renewed in their walk with Christ during chapel sessions and fellowship with other believers.

Winter as seasonal staff looks a little different than summer camper-counseling. Campers don’t come for a whole week but instead for a weekend, and there will be all ages of people coming for different retreats throughout the season. Helping mainly in the program department, I’ll aid in preparations for the coming campers during the week, and when they arrive I’ll be part of running the program.

This winter is an exciting time for me to be at Barakel, and I appreciate your prayers! A few ways that you can pray for me this winter are:

• For strength and safety physically as I do things around camp.
• Spiritual strength and growth while I serve.
• My financial needs.
• Wisdom as I continue my college studies while at camp.

Thank you so much for your prayers, already I’ve been greatly encouraged by the many people who have told me they are and will be praying for me. I plan to continue posting to this blog and keep you updated, so be sure to check back for more later!