Catching Up

The summer is half over and the good intentions to put something up more often as the camp's rolled along turned into just that, "Good Intentions."

Thankfully all those who have given so much to be a part of the summer's youth camp program went way beyond good intentions. They have given of themselves to provide the Christian camping experiences for the campers that have come to the first youth camps.

We are seeing that the number of youth campers is remaining about the same as usual. There is no great increase, but also no great decrease. The July camps have seen the largest numbers.

I am consistently impressed by the quality of the programs and the resources of the volunteers as the weeks come together.

I wanted to share a few images here as well.

First in relation to the Missions Building project. Here are some pictures from the Groundbreaking ceremony that was held on March 26. About 75 people turned out for the Ground Breaking Ceremony. Each person had the opportunity to jump on the gold shovel and turn a bit of dirt to symbolize the start of construction. It was an awesome and humbling experience to be in the presence of so many who love the Lord and love what God is doing through the ministry of Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp.

For an update on the project: We are still waiting to receive the building permit, but we are now planning to demolish the existing building in September. The next steps include site preparation and concrete work before the steel structure can be put up.

We are starting a new capital campaign as we still need to raise funds in order to complete this project. It is called "Our Devotion-His Glory" as we devote ourselves to making the dream of this new building into a reality.

I came across this challenging statement: What if the way you lived, loved, and led actually reflected what you believed. It challenges the tension between who we are on the inside and what we portray on the outside. Perhaps yes we really do believe in Jesus in our heart, but for one reason or another we fall short in portraying that belief in our actions. Or, no we really haven’t totally given ourselves over to trusting in Christ, but we do a good job of presenting a veneer of faith in our daily lives.

While the Scripture says that “God looks on the heart,” we also learn from Scripture that our actions reveal the attitude of the heart. Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” In these verses the action of confessing is linked with what we believe in our hearts.

The ministry of Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp is vitally connected with putting into practice what we believe concerning Jesus and God’s love for the world expressed in Him. We believe that God works through His church to establish His healing presence in the world. We believe that God calls us to cross cultures to proclaim the Gospel. We believe God wants families to be strengthened and exhibit relationships that reflect His love. We understand that God entrusts us with the ministry of hospitality, to provide a safe place where people can rest and be renewed in their relationship with Christ.

We believe that God calls the Camp to be a place for people to experience His call, His grace, and His love. The Camp is a place where people can practice what they believe so that they can be more effective servants of Christ when the return home. We believe the Camp is place for God to use to draw people to Himself.

In light of what we believe, we keep working to enhance what God has to work with here. The summer camping programs are almost upon us. We have over 200 young people pre-registered in the camping sessions. That about 100 more campers registered than at this time last year. The family conferences are also ahead of schedule in preregistrations. The most significant is Week of Missions which is also over 200 people and 100 more than last year.

On the Missions Building project; the plans were submitted in application for building permits. We did decide, however, not to start physical construction until after Family Bible Conference. This will let us use the current building through the 2008 camping season. But, if the permit process goes smoothly look for things to start happening rapidly this fall.

We are planning a Groundbreaking Ceremony and Reception on May 26 at 2:00 pm here at the Camp. You are invited to attend as we officially launch this project.

So it has been a long time

So, it has been a long time since I have taken the time to update the reflections of this blog.

We have had a number of things going on this spring. The picture here is of the new crosses that were placed on the hill overlooking the Camp. The December storms blew down the big center cross. My dad from Mill City built these out of some trees on his place. Then a bunch of guys from Mill City came for their annual men's work retreat and put them up.

The second picture here shows them here working with Phil to set them up. We have had a number of work parties this spring that have added great improvements to Camp: the new trail to the crosses was expanded, a sidewalk from Myrtleward to the Dining Hall was created, the basketball area between the Dining Hall and Lakeside Lodge was first broken up and then poured afresh. These along with a number of cleanup projects has the Camp set up for the new season.

I will try to type to you again sooner with the update on how the summer camping season is shaping up and how the Missions Building project is coming along.

Thoughts in February

It is kind of nice to see the sun starting to break through now and again. The sun is starting to warm us up after a tough weather winter and is creating that special shade of new growth green signaling the beginnings of spring. Another sure reminder of spring are the registration forms arriving in the mail or online. There has been a good response to the discounts being offered for early registration. We think it will help the campers by providing a less expensive way to experience camp while at the same time helping the Camp by providing income in the lean spring months and by giving the program directors earlier information on the number of campers they might expect.

We were saddened a few weeks ago as one of our promising young summer staff workers died tragically in a car accident on Highway 101. Beth Bryson was a local girl who had worked for us in the kitchen the past two summers and also helped occasionally as we provided food service for various retreat groups. Beth was a hard worker with a quirky sense of humor and a desire to make friends with every person she met. She really worked her way into our hearts as she represented the Camp’s ministry well. At her memorial service held at Nestucca High School, her deep faith in Christ was presented as a witness to the community. It just makes me stop and think and praise the Lord for the number of young people who work behind the scenes in the Camp’s ministry and their positive influence on the lives of others because of the presence of Jesus in their lives.

The work is progressing on the Missions Building project. The foundation plans are near completion and we are working with the contractor concerning the timing of actually putting up the structure. At the January board meeting the Board of Directors approved a loan with Oregon Coast Bank for up to $400,000 to make sure that we have the funds to complete the project. Our plan is to use first that which has been designated for the Missions Building project so that when we need to draw on the construction loan we can keep that amount as low as possible.

Since the Our Dream-His Glory campaign is coming to a close here in 2008 we will be launching a new program, seeking fresh commitments to underwrite the loan and pay off the construction costs of the Missions Building.

As these plans are coming together we are so excited to see this new gateway to the Christian camping experience here at Wi-Ne-Ma. The memories and the ministry that was carried out in the old building will be carried on by the coming generation of missionaries, campers, families, and friends as the Missions Building continues to be a place where people are challenged and encouraged to by dynamic witnesses for the Gospel of Christ.

Some More Camp History

This has been an interesting week for weather. Started with snow on the ground yesterday, rain and wind today, and a heavy surf warning for tomorrow. So it seemed good to stay inside. The crew, along with the help of the Thursday volunteers have been working on remodeling the bathrooms in Morse Lodge. Meanwhile, I went back through Bill Morse's book to collect information about the history of the Camp. Here is a link

http://www.winema.org/Documents/History/camphistory.htm

to several things put together in a collection of information on the Camp's history.

I also found a really good website telling about the person Wi-Ne-Ma. Follow this link
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/spring/winema.html

Enjoy looking around at this.

Starting the New Year

A January Storm - Watch the Waves Pound Around "the Rock."

The turn of the New Year marks the time when I have to get serious about preparing for the summer camping season. But it is also the time of year when staff members get in their vacations, go to camping conferences, and enjoy the holidays with their families, friends, and churches. While the storms keep hitting us (and thankfully, there has not been any significant damage)they force us to slow down on getting the various projects done that we would like to get done.

But, I am glad to announce that a new look website is now published. We tried a couple of new things and cleaned up a bunch of old files that had been hanging around since the Camp first got on the Internet several years ago. I can't remember how long it has been. Go to www.winema.org and poke around.

We are trying some new things with discounts for early registration. It helps campers to find a less expensive way to enjoy Camp. Early registration also helps us have a better idea of how many to expect.

A number of things seem to be coming together on the Missions Building Project. I will have to make a post just to reflect on the various answers to prayer we are seeing there.

After the Storm

It is Thursday December 8 and the power has just been restored to the camp following the storm we experienced from Sunday through Monday night. The power went out on Sunday afternoon as hurricane force winds shook us up a bit. Here is a link to the local paper's article on the storm.

The Camp did not sustain a great deal of damage. The main effects were dealing with the power and communication outages. Cell phones came back into use on Wednesday and the power this morning. We had a number of trees go down on the access road up to the crosses. Here are a couple of pictures of the cleanup.






The big middle cross above the Camp blew down. This picture is a view of the Camp at the height of the storm Monday. Check out the gazebo.



In Camp we did have a couple of trees come down on the Morse Lodge roof. But it seems like they just rested there and did not break through the roof.

The winds also blew some of the roofing off the Missions Building as well. Compared to what other communities are experiencing around us the Camp really came through pretty well.

We just come to appreciate those who worked throughout the storm and thank God in our prayers for the emergency crews who worked to get the roads open so quickly, the power crews who have a tremendous task in getting us all hooked back up again, and the various community groups who opened places where people could get hot food and shelter. Thanks also to the many Wi-Ne-Ma friends who called to offer their prayers and assistance at this time. Here is one more picture looking from the crosses over the surf on Monday morning.

In the midst of the storm on Monday, trying to stand against the wind by the crosses, I was reminded of the story in Mark 4:35-41 of the time the disciples were caught up in fear in the midst of the storm. Jesus tells the winds and the waves to "Be still." In that moment the disciples realized that in Jesus lay a greater power. Jesus' power is such that he commands the wind and the waves to obey and they must. Yet, for us he invites us to obey his commands.

Thanks for your prayers for the ministry of Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Camp