Last Stop: Columbia River Bible Camp

Well, this is it. Our last camp begins tomorrow. What a wonder to consider all that has occurred in these past eight weeks. To reminisce upon our adventures and the work of the Lord is a grand task. Your prayers have been vital in this ministry. All of you supporting us should know that you have greatly effected the Kingdom of God.

Camp Elohim went fabulously. For myself, I'd say it's the camp that I've connected the most with. Having smaller cabins was sweet in that we were able to build deeper bonds with our campers.

I figured ya'll might enjoy some photos. So for your viewing pleasure, here are recent documentations of our adventures.

Kayleigh becomes more acquainted with her previous gymnast self in Prineville,  Ore.

The team enjoys their stay at Jordan Preston's home

This picture perfectly describes our friendship

We were able to visit with the other SMT for a half hour (our paths crossed). Neither myself or Lisa wanted to separate.

We stayed at Justin's house for one evening and it was an incredible blessing

A nice, healthy breakfast on the last day at Pinecroft

The Ecola Team + The Corban Team = One Amazing Week of Camp

Music circle at Pinecroft

Home Stretch!

I just wrote a very long blog. But unfortunately, I deleted it. Yes. I did. I will write more when I can. But for now, this will have to suffice.

We are in Troy, Montana at Camp Elohim. Our campers come in an hour and we have 4-5 campers each. This gives us opportunity to develop more deep and personal relationships with them, allowing for discipleship.

We came from Newport, Washington (Camp Pinecroft). The Lord really worked there, thank you for your prayers. Before Pinecroft, we were at Black Lake in Olympia, Washington. That was a giant camp, however, it was filled with solid teaching and great kids. The focus at both camps was Jesus Christ and nothing else.

I have to go... But please pray that the Holy Spirit would be softening hearts and that we would be filled with new energy. That every day, we would be coming to Him for our strength. Thanks for your prayers. Sorry for the short post.

From Potatoes to Apples.

We now find ourselves at Jordan Preston's house in Yakima, Washington. In a short ten minutes we are leaving this lovely abode to go to Olympia, the home of Black Lake. We will be counseling another group of junior high-ers. The camp as a whole hosts roughly 300 kids. For myself, this is a scary thought. While writing in my prayer journal this morning, I admitted that I was slightly terrified. Just then, Joshua 1:9 came to mind:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."


The Lord goes with us wherever we go. And certainly, we saw proof of that at Shiloh Bible Camp. There, we saw the Holy Spirit working and learned what it truly means to be a vessel of the Lord. Our overnight drive left us exhausted from the get-go. As a result, our dependency on the Lord's strength grew enormously. And as always, he was faithful.


Pray for us at Black Lake. Pray that we would not be intimidated by the size but that we would remember that the Lord is going with us. He will make us strong and courageous. He's had this ministry in the making since time began. God is good and we're excited to see how he continues to work this summer. 

Sarah's girls enjoy the beach at Shiloh Bible Camp

Sitting atop a hill in Prineville, Ore.

Enjoying the 4th of July with Tessa Hall

The boys make a run into a field in Idaho

Camp Praise

Located in Sweet Home, Oregon, Camp Praise is all that it's name says it is. During our time there, the team experienced many things to praise God about. Mainly, the change in the lives of the campers. Most of the kids were familiar with the gospel, and many were already Christ followers. The lesson that we wanted them to take home involved accountability and creating daily devotional habits.

We've been at Tessa Hall's house for the past three days and it has been a huge blessing. The hospitality of the family was a tremendous gift.

Tonight, (yes, the 4th of July) we are driving to Donnelly, Idaho. Please pray for safety. We know it's not the wisest thing but this is how everything worked out. Pray for us as we meet a whole new set of campers. Pray for patience and that the love of Christ would flow through us.

Happy Independence Day!

Ukulele on the Highway

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fx3K-g7dOU

(Unfortunately, videos aren't uploading well on this website. So from here on forth they'll be available on YouTube.)

STORY TIME!

We found ourselves on the highway, with an accident stopping traffic. Watching as the line of traffic grew to a ridiculous length, and realizing that movement was rare, we decided to step out for a bit. The car behind us hosted a young couple with a hyped-up dog and some children. This was enough reason to pull out the ukulele and serenade them. As Kayleigh and I walked along the highway, we were offered money from some father-looking figures from ten cars down who had wandered outside of their vehicles as well.

As a team, we learned that traffic jams were not constrained to the negative reputation they once had. Prior to mine and Kayleigh's adventure, the whole team did a Chinese fire drill. To save you from nausea, I'm not posting that video. But believe me, it was a highly entertaining event.

I will post again this weekend and actually discuss matters related to camp. But for now, here's some comic relief.

Transitions

This is going to be a quick post... I'm sitting in Starbucks with my team, taking a very speedy yet needed internet break. After spending an absolutely lovely night and morning at the Hillier's house in Grants Pass, Oregon, we've found ourselves an hour away from Sweet Home. In this town exists a place called Camp Praise, and it's our next stop.

While at Mt. Gilead we were able to see the faithfulness of God illustrated. The week was not free of struggles, but the Lord became our strength. As a team we did not have many opportunities to function together. That proved difficult, but our King saw us through. We witnessed some lives turn around for Christ. What an opportunity to be able to share the gospel with these kids! Personally, I had never been with someone when they asked Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. Being able to go through the "Romans Road" with campers and to see them put their trust in God was an unthinkable blessing.

As I stated, we had our fair share of struggles. Justin got sick but he was such a trooper. The team couldn't have been more proud. Amongst the girls, we had a hard time relating with a lot of our campers. God put us in cabins where we could be stretched and challenged. We rejoice in these trials because we became stronger through them, and the Lord's faithfulness could shine through. For myself, I had issues with having to be a disciplinarian and not the light-hearted, fun counselor that I would have preferred to be. That was extremely humbling. And I'm thankful for that experience.

Please pray for hearts to be softened at Camp Praise. Pray that we might have energy and strength and that we learn to fully rely on God. (What a hard lesson to learn!) We hope that this post finds you well. Grace and blessings to all of you.

Farewell, Kidder Creek

The people of Kidder Creek have stolen our hearts...

Most likely the toughest part of this summer is going to be saying goodbye. But when it comes to brothers and sisters in Christ, there is no such thing. It is only a "see you later". Concerning this, I wrote a song for the people who we had to say goodbye to.

The more fond I grow

The less I can form the words

This means goodbye for now, but I know not for long

I'll be seeing you when we're singing heaven's song

When we're going home

Our Father's abode

Earth cannot compare to what we'll be seeing there

When we're going home

Our Father's abode

We are now in my cousin Annie's house in Anderson, California. Tomorrow we're driving to San Francisco and having our debrief time there. From SF, we drive to Sebastapool and start our adventure at Mt. Gilead.

But back to Kidder Creek... This past week was focused on maintenance work around the camp. We found ourselves incredibly blessed by the staff and campers. Many times we were weak and exhausted, but the Lord proved Himself faithful and was our strength.

"God sends his love and his faithfulness."

Psalm 57:3

The whole team is excited to finally meet the campers that we've been praying for since January. Please pray that the Lord would soften their hearts to the truth and they would find camp to be a safe environment to share their hearts. Once again, we so appreciate your support. 

SMT girls with fellow maintenance and kitchen staff, Courtney and Mary, whom we love dearly.

Our boys prepared for takeoff.

California, here we come!

    It's bedtime in Eugene, OR, and we've found ourselves settling down after a long day. The Adsits (Ecola's Discipleship teacher and his wife) have opened their home to us. Being here as a team with such a welcoming couple has been delightful.
   To Kayleigh's joy, we made a quick stop at Cabela's. I, (Kylie), suggested we purchase a giant fish pillow. The team was not as gung-ho regarding the adoption.
    Greenview, CA is tomorrow's destination.

Arrival Time: 11 AM 

Nap Time: Car ride 

    Please continue to be praying for us as we go about our summer adventure. Your prayers are vital. Thank you again for your support. We'll talk to you next weekend!

   

Once Upon a Time...

About to leave in the Mean Green Lima Bean! (Our trusty van). We'll be updating every weekend... or at least we'll attempt to. 

Thanks for your support!

Five days till takeoff!

Be praying for us as we have our last minute preparations... And please be praying for the campers that will be in our cabins! 

Summer Schedule

Kidder Creek
June 12-17
Greenview, CA

Mt. Gilead
June 18-25
Sebastopol, CA

Camp Praise
June 26-July 1
Sweet Home, OR

Shiloh Bible Camp
July 5-9
Donnelly, ID

Black Lake Bible Camp
July 10-16
Olympia, WA

Pinecroft
July 17-23
Newport, WA

Camp Elohim
July 24-30
Troy, MT

Columbia River Bible Camp
July 31-August 7
Wamic, OR

The Countdown Begins...

2 Peter 1:3  His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Hello!

I can only assume that you're looking at this blog because you're familiar with the Summer Ministry Team. But in case you need a refresher course, I'll fill you in on who we are:

We are from Ecola Bible School in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Our summer consists of van-dwelling on weekends and camp-counseling on weekdays. Our mission is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to our generation. We have been training as a team since January and feel equipped as we'll ever be for a summer of ministry. It has been emphasized to us that our role this summer is to be a vessel of the Holy Spirit. That is our intention and our prayer. 

We would like to invite you to pray for us as we prepare for this adventure. Our departure from Cannon Beach is June 11th. This blog will have updates about our journey and how specifically you can be praying for us.

Anticipation fills the air as we wait to be sent off. Please pray for us as we "twiddle our thumbs" for the next two and a half weeks!